Quranism

Quranism
The Quran cover
TypeTheological and intellectual movement
ClassificationIslam
ScriptureQuran (the only authority for divine law)
TheologyQuran-centered; rejects the binding authority of Hadith as a source of law
StructureDecentralized by design (no central authority or clergy)
FounderNo single founder
OriginModern form emerged in the 19th–20th centuries
(with historical roots in early Islamic debates about the authority of Hadith)

Quranism is an intellectual movement within Islam. People who believe in Quranism are called Quranists. Quranists believe the Quran alone is the full and true guide for Muslims. They do not believe the Hadith (sayings said to be from the prophet Muhammad) should be used as religious law.[1]

Quranists do not always agree with each other. Some think Hadiths can be used as old history books, but not as religious rules. Others reject Hadiths completely. All Quranists agree that Hadiths cannot be used to make religious law.[2]

Many Quranists say the Hadith books were written a long time after Muhammad died. They also say Hadiths have mistakes and do not always agree with the Quran or with each other.[3]

Most people who believe in Quranism prefer to just call themselves Muslims. They do not like being called by a special name.[4]

There is no single group or leader for all Quranists. Some scholars call Quranism a way of thinking, not a separate group of Islam.[5]

History

Quranists say Muhammad did not want his sayings to be written down. They say the second caliph, Umar, also stopped people from writing Hadiths.[6]

A group called the Kharijites, who lived very early in Islamic history, also believed people should follow the Quran alone.[7]

In the 1800s and 1900s, new thinkers in Egypt and India began to say Islam should be based on the Quran alone. Important early thinkers were Syed Ahmad Khan, Chiragh Ali, Muhammad Abduh, and Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi.[8]

In the 1900s, Ghulam Ahmed Perwez started a group called Tolu-e-Islam in Pakistan. This group is still active today.[9]

In the United States, Rashad Khalifa said the Quran had a secret number code based on the number 19. He started a group called United Submitters International. He was killed in 1990.[10]

Many Quranists do not agree with Khalifa's group. They say Khalifa wrongly called himself a messenger of God, which goes against the Quran.[11]

What Quranists believe

Quranists believe the Quran explains itself. They read one part of the Quran to understand another part, instead of using outside books.[12]

Quranists say the word "Sunnah" in the Quran means the way of God, not a list of the prophet's personal habits written down by other people.[13]

Most Quranists still pray, fast, give charity, and go on pilgrimage. But they get the details from the Quran itself, not from Hadith books.[14]

Some differences from mainstream Islam:

  • Many Quranists do not think the hair covering (hijab) is required. They say the Quran only asks people to cover their chest and dress with modesty.[15]
  • Many Quranists do not accept killing a person for leaving Islam. They say the Quran says there should be no forcing in religion.[16]
  • Many Quranists reject stoning as a punishment. They say the Quran only talks about flogging.[17]
  • Quranists usually see Jihad as a word for effort or self-improvement, not always as war. They say fighting is only allowed to defend against attack.[18]

Around the world

Nobody knows exactly how many Quranists there are in the world, because many hide their beliefs. In India, about one million people are thought to follow Quranism.[19]

In some countries, like Turkey, Quranist teachers can work at public universities.[20] In other countries, Quranists have been arrested. In Egypt, a Quranist writer was held in jail for more than a year.[21] In Saudi Arabia, a Quranist writer named Hassan al-Maliki was arrested and faced very serious charges.[22] In Sudan, some Quranists were charged with leaving Islam and were later let go.[23]

Criticism

Many Sunni and Shia scholars do not agree with Quranism. They say the Quran itself tells Muslims to obey the messenger, and this means following the Hadith too.[24]

They also say the Quran does not explain small details, like exactly how to pray, so the Hadith is needed to fill in these details.[25]

Quranists answer that these details were passed down through many years of common practice, not through written Hadith books.[26]

Well-known Quranists

  • Muhammad Shahrur (1938–2019), a Syrian engineer and writer.
  • Kassim Ahmad (1933–2017), a Malaysian writer.
  • Edip Yüksel (born 1957), a Turkish-American writer.
  • Ahmed Subhy Mansour (born 1949), an Egyptian-American scholar.
  • Gamal al-Banna (1920–2013), an Egyptian writer.

References

  1. ↑ Fanack, "Quranists, Islam's Outcasts", 30 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Reformist Movements in the Indian Subcontinent and Their Views on the Quran.
  3. ↑ Sayeed, Ahmed. Truth Is Law, Faith Is Flaw, 2021, p. 177.
  4. ↑ Fanack, 2025.
  5. ↑ Fanack, 2025.
  6. ↑ Musa, Aisha Y. Hadith as Scripture, 2008, pp. 25–29.
  7. ↑ Hansu, Hüseyin. Debates on the Authority of Hadith in Early Islamic Intellectual History, 2016, p. 521.
  8. ↑ Rahman, Fazlur. Modernist Muslim's Approach to Ḥadīth, 1993.
  9. ↑ Qasmi, Ali Usman. Questioning the Authority of the Past, 2012, p. 216.
  10. ↑ Musa, Aisha Y. The Qur'anists, 2010, p. 13.
  11. ↑ Musa, 2010, p. 19.
  12. ↑ Mahmoud Ayoub, Contemporary Approaches to the Qur'an and Sunnah, 2012, p. 27.
  13. ↑ Musa, 2010.
  14. ↑ Musa, 2010.
  15. ↑ Yüksel, Edip; al-Shaiban, Layth; Schulte-Nafeh, Martha. Quran: A Reformist Translation, 2007, pp. 507–510.
  16. ↑ Quran 2:256.
  17. ↑ Quran 24:2.
  18. ↑ Quran 2:190, 22:39.
  19. ↑ Padalkar, Ravindra. Muslims – Around the World, 2024.
  20. ↑ 19.org, "Associates and Affiliates".
  21. ↑ United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, 2021.
  22. ↑ Human Rights Watch, "Saudi Arabia: Religious Thinker on Trial for His Life", 23 June 2019.
  23. ↑ The Guardian, "Sudan threatens 25 Muslims with death on charges of apostasy", 16 December 2015.
  24. ↑ Musa, 2010.
  25. ↑ Musa, 2008, pp. 95–98.
  26. ↑ Musa, 2008, pp. 25–29.
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