By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī Modern Western critical inquiry into texts carrying religious authority have been carried out on the assumption that those texts are of natural (this-worldly) origin and therefore any claims of supernatural origin are simply mechanisms by which the religious authority of those texts are established and sustained. This is supported by the historical fact that the Christian scriptures came to be recognised only when the establishment of geographically dispersed [and to some extent competing] Christian communities became apparent. Only after one of the dominant communities had forged an alignment with the political authority of the Roman…
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Orientalists and hadith scholarship: some reflections
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Modern Western critical inquiry into texts carrying religious authority has been carried out on the assumption that those texts are of natural (this-worldly) origin and any claims of supernatural origin are simply mechanisms by which the religious authority of those texts is established and sustained. This approach is supported by the historical fact that the Christian scriptures came to be recognized as authoritative concurrently with the establishment of geographically dispersed and, to some extent, competing Christian communities. Only after one of the dominant communities had forged an alignment with the political authority of the Roman…
View More Orientalists and hadith scholarship: some reflections