Hadith Authority in Late Modern Islamic Ethics: Reframing Transmission, Rational Deliberation, and Normative Moral Reasoning
Keywords:
Hadith authority, Islamic ethics, rational deliberation, normative moral reasoning, Islamic hermeneuticsAbstract
Hadith authority remains a central issue in contemporary Islamic thought because late modern Muslim societies increasingly encounter Prophetic traditions within conditions shaped by moral pluralism, historical criticism, digital circulation, biomedical and technological change, and intensified debates over religious authority. This article examines how hadith authority can be reframed in late modern Islamic ethics without reducing it either to formal transmission-based authenticity or to unrestricted rational reinterpretation. Employing a qualitative textual-hermeneutical method, the study analyzes selected reports from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Sunan Ibn Mājah, and al-Arbaʿūn al-Nawawiyyah, supported by relevant Qur’anic ethical principles and modern scholarship in hadith studies, Islamic hermeneutics, and normative Islamic ethics. The findings show, first, that transmission functions as epistemic continuity by securing responsible attribution to the Prophet through isnād, matn awareness, and scholarly verification. Second, rational deliberation provides interpretive coherence by clarifying the domain, context, purpose, and applicability of authenticated reports. Third, normative moral reasoning ensures ethical accountability by evaluating hadith application in relation to intention, non-harm, mercy, proportionality, public welfare, and broader Islamic moral objectives. The article argues that hadith authority is best understood as layered normativity, in which transmission, rational deliberation, and normative moral reasoning operate as mutually constitutive dimensions of responsible Islamic ethical judgment. This integrative model contributes to hadith studies, Islamic hermeneutics, and contemporary Islamic ethics by moving beyond the binary between traditionalist authentication and modernist critique.
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