The Question
How does distinguishing between the station of messengerhood and the station of prophethood affect the understanding of Sunna, obedience, and hadith?
The Idea in the Atlas
Shahrur holds that conflating the prophet with the messenger expands the sphere of obligation without proper control. He therefore distinguishes between what relates to the station of messengerhood and what relates to the station of prophethood, and then rereads Sunna, obedience, and emulation on that basis.
Quick Entry Points
- The messengerly and prophetic Sunna
- The messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna
- Sunna
- the prophet
- the station of messengerhood
- the station of prophethood
- Al-Hashr 7
Reading Questions
- What does distinguishing between the prophet and the messenger mean?
- What are the limits of obedience in Shahrur’s thought?
- How does this distinction reorder Sunna?
- Where do the points of tension with hadith scholarship and jurisprudence appear?