Unconventional Duha Research Unitary

The Qur’an establishes the link between taqwā, furqān, and renewal: “O you who believe, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion (furqān), remove your misdeeds, and forgive you” (Qur’an 8:29, Sahih International, 1997). The mujaddidūn of Islamic history embodied this principle through their distinct relationships with the Qur’an and Hadith. Each mujaddid’s method of study, interpretation, and application of revelation became the seed of tajdīd (renewal) in their century.

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 101H)

Qur’an. As caliph, he ruled by direct reference to the Qur’an and Sunnah, rejecting Umayyad customs and reorienting governance toward divine law (Hitti, 1970).

Hadith. He initiated the first major collection of hadith, commissioning Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī to preserve Sunnah systematically (Brown, 2009).

Method. For ʿUmar, the Qur’an was governance in action, while Hadith became institutional preservation. His tajdīd flowed from re-centering political and social life upon revelation.

Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204H)

Qur’an. Extracted legal universals from Qur’anic verses, forming the basis of uṣūl al-fiqh (Kamali, 1991).

Hadith. In al-Risālah, he elevated Sunnah to equal weight with Qur’an, harmonizing them as dual sources of law (Schacht, 1964).

Method. The Qur’an provided principles; hadith provided application. His tajdīd was the systematization of revelation into a coherent legal science.

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241H)

Qur’an. He defended the Qur’an’s uncreated nature during the Miḥnah, enduring torture rather than concede (Melchert, 1997).

Hadith. His Musnad compiled over 30,000 narrations, making Sunnah directly accessible (Brown, 2009).

Method. The Qur’an was his creed, Sunnah his preservation. His tajdīd was safeguarding the authenticity of revelation under political duress.


Imām al-Ghazālī (d. 505H)

Qur’an. Practiced tadabbur, using Qur’anic verses to diagnose spiritual diseases in Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn (Griffel, 2009).

Hadith. Selected narrations not for isnād precision but for their ethical and spiritual resonance, integrating them with Qur’anic principles.

Method. Qur’an guided his self-purification; hadith grounded it in prophetic practice. His tajdīd was reconciling Sharīʿah (law) with ṭarīqah (path of the heart).


ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 561H)

Qur’an. His sermons frequently interwove Qur’anic verses as direct moral exhortations (Trimingham, 1998).

Hadith. Quoted narrations as transformative wisdom, often emphasizing repentance, humility, and tawḥīd.

Method. For him, Qur’an and Hadith were dhikr and daʿwah, living reminders. His tajdīd was reviving moral-spiritual consciousness through scripture.


Imām al-Nawawī (d. 676H)

Qur’an. Embodied its ascetic ethos—living simply, eating little, and devoting himself entirely to study and teaching (Ibn al-ʿAttār, 1970).

Hadith. His Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn and Arbaʿīn distilled hadith into practical guides for ethics and spirituality (Al-Subkī, 1999).

Method. Qur’an gave him discipline and zuhd; hadith became his teaching method. His tajdīd was pedagogical: shaping generations through ethical distillation.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911H)

Qur’an. Authored al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, an encyclopedic guide to Qur’anic sciences (El-Rouayheb, 2015).

Hadith. Memorized vast collections and wrote extensively in defense of Sunnah.

Method. Qur’an was to be catalogued and preserved; hadith to be defended. His tajdīd was encyclopedic preservation across disciplines.


Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī (d. 1176H)

Qur’an. Translated it into Persian for accessibility and authored Fawz al-Kabīr on Qur’anic hermeneutics (Baljon, 1986).

Hadith. In Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bālighah, he interpreted hadith as divine wisdom for civilizational order.

Method. Qur’an provided access; hadith supplied sociological application. His tajdīd was renewing revelation’s relevance for a declining Mughal society.


Patterns in Qur’an–Hadith Relationship

1. Qur’an as Furqān. It provided discernment across contexts—governance (ʿUmar II), legal reasoning (Shāfiʿī), spiritual purification (Ghazālī), moral pedagogy (Nawawī).


2. Hadith as Living Sunnah. It was preserved (Aḥmad), systematized (Shāfiʿī), popularized (Nawawī), defended (Suyūṭī), and spiritualized (Jīlānī).


3. Method of Study.

Legal systematization: Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad.

Spiritual reflection: Ghazālī, Jīlānī.

Ethical distillation: Nawawī.

Civilizational application: Walī Allāh.

Thus, the tajdīd of each mujaddid flowed directly from their Qur’an–Hadith method: revelation was not abstract text, but the living axis of renewal.


References

[1] Abū Dāwūd. (2008). Sunan Abī Dāwūd. (M. al-Albānī, Ed.). Dār al-Salām.

[2] Al-Subkī, T. (1999). Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.

[3] Baljon, J. M. S. (1986). Religion and thought of Shah Wali Allah Dihlawi, 1703–1762. Leiden: Brill.

[4]Brown, J. A. C. (2009). Hadith: Muhammad’s legacy in the medieval and modern world. Oxford: Oneworld.

[5]El-Rouayheb, K. (2015). Islamic intellectual history in the seventeenth century. Cambridge University Press.

[6]Griffel, F. (2009). Al-Ghazali’s philosophical theology. Oxford University Press.

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[8]Ibn al-ʿAttār, M. (1970). Tuhfat al-Tālibīn fī tarjamat al-Imām al-Nawawī. Damascus: Dār al-Qalam.

[9]Ibn Khaldūn. (2015). The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history (F. Rosenthal, Trans., abridged ed.). Princeton University Press. (Original work 1377).

[10] Melchert, C. (1997). The formation of the Sunni schools of law, 9th–10th centuries C.E. Leiden: Brill.

[11] Qur’an. (1997). The Qur’an: English translation of the meaning (M. Khan & M. al-Hilali, Trans.). Riyadh: Dārussalam.

[12]Schacht, J. (1964). An introduction to Islamic law. Oxford University Press.

[13]Trimingham, J. S. (1998). The Sufi orders in Islam. Oxford University Press.