The Qur'an and the Hadith as sources of Islamic law

Abstract

Legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah/Hadith present various forms of challenge to legal scholars. This chapter presents a general historical overview of these two sources of Islamic law in addition to some of the challenges that they pose to jurists, both as independent and complementary textual sources. It deals with a brief introduction on the definition, authenticity, status and authority of these two sources both in the classical Sunni view and in some modern studies, followed by a discussion of specific case studies that illustrate their nature as legal sources. The chapter suggests that the notion that Islamic law is based on what its textual sources 'say' is untenable. It outlines how the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's Sunnah/Hadith were used as Islam's primary legal sources. The primary legal sources in the classical Sunni view of Islamic law are the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's Sunnah/Hadith.