Die Rollenvielfalt des Propheten und die Normativität von Hadithen im Spiegel moderner Rechtsdiskussionen. Eine komparative Gegenüberstellung von Standpunkten arabischer Autoren des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

The following article deals with the contemporary legal discourse on the question of how to assess the normative significance of the hadiths in the light of the different roles played by the Prophet Muhammad during his lifetime. This discourse is illustrated by presenting the viewpoints of modern Arab authors. The presentation examines the taxonomies (schemes) as well as the legal-methodological criteria according to which the roles of the Prophet are categorised. One key question is to what extent these taxonomies and criteria can be regarded as novel or unprecedented in comparison to the approaches of pre-modern authors, and to what extent they are sufficient for an accurate demarcation of the different roles of the Prophet. In this context, the impact of these taxonomies on the assessment of the Prophet’s infallibility (ʿiṣma) from the perspective of the authors is also discussed. The other key question pursued in this article is how the authors under discussion interpret certain hadiths with a legal-practical reference against the background of the taxonomies created. Based on these interpretations, it becomes clear what use (especially in the practice of faith) is attributed to the hadiths in the reality of contemporary Muslim life.