The Approach of Muhammad Shahrur to the Sunnah and Scope of Its Authenticity

Muhammad Shahrur, like the majority of Quranism and contemporary Arab intellectuals, has limited the authority of Sunnah and does not consider the Hadith as a source of religious legislation (Tashrī') after the Quran. By denying the essential infallibility, the knowledge of the unseen and miracles of the Prophet (pbuh), along with considering the Prophet's words (pbuh) as his mere opinions and unrelated to revelation, he has denied the basic principles of authenticity of the Sunnah. Focusing on criticizing the traditions in whole or in part, he carries out text analysis of the Hadiths. But in examining the Isnad of the traditions, he has only paid attention to the critique of the justice of the Companions as one of the main principles for Sunnis. He divides the Prophetic Hadith based on the Prophet’s (pbuh) different statuses as follows: a vast number of traditions are personal and belong to the Prophet and hence inappropriate to be followed; part of it belong to the time of the Prophet and are not suitable to be applied at other times and finally only a small portion of it which has been transmitted in numbers or through Qur’anic verse are appropriate to be followed. In this essay, due to the importance of the subject, as well as, the huge difference between Shahrur's view and the famous opinion in this field, his view has been studied.