An Inquiry into the Opinions and Thoughts of Subhi Mansour with an Emphasis on Ṣalāt in the Qur’an

Subhi Mansour is among the renowned Egyptian Qur’an scholars, who believe in the sufficiency of the Qur’an. In his two books, “Al-Ṣalāt bayn al-Qur’an al-Karīm wa al-Muslimīn” and Al-Qur’an wa kafā Masdaran li al-Tashrī‘ al-Islām”, he tries to present some argumentations for his principle, i.e. the sufficiency of the Qur’an and the issues based on it, especially ṣalāt. His basics are: 1. The Qur’an is the only Islamic source. 2. The difference between nabi (Prophet) and rasūl (Messenger) is in terms of real and legal personality. 3. The Prophet has ordered prohibition of writing hadiths. Concerning ṣalāt, he believes the Prophet’s ṣalāt is the same as the Prophet Abraham’s, which has been popular and known among the Muslims and even the polytheists; therefore God has avoided mentioning the details and the number of rak‘as of ṣalāt in the Qur’an because mentioning it has been futile and vain. In justification of the non-mentioning of the number of rak‘as of ṣalāt in the Qur’an as well as the details of other rulings’ topics such as Ḥajj, etc. he has given certain argumentations that lead to rejection of sunna. In this article, the writer examines his viewpoints on two issues (principle and basis) and responds to them according to the Qur’an. It is clarified in this article that the bases set up by Mansour (especially ṣalāt) are incompatible with his principles.