The Authority of the Prophetic Sunnah and a Refutation of the Claims of the Deniers of the Two Revelations

Recently, some have emerged claiming that Imam al-Shafi'i was the first to propose the concept of "the two revelations," asserting that adhering to the Sunnah obstructs Quranic verses. These are repetitive claims that lack scientific evidence and clash with the explicit Quranic text.

Quranic Evidence for the Non-Recited Revelation

The concept of the two revelations was not innovated by al-Shafi'i; rather, the Book of Allah indicates it in various places, including His saying:

{The foolish among the people will say, "What has turned them away from their qiblah, which they used to face?"}

Here a fundamental question arises: Were the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions facing Jerusalem based on a Quranic verse? The reality is that there is no verse commanding that, which proves that the initial direction was by revelation from the Sunnah, as confirmed by the Quran: {And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger}.

Further evidence is found in Surah at-Tahrim:

{And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement... she said, "Who informed you of this?" He said, "The Knowing, the Acquainted has informed me."}

Thus, Allah informed the Prophet ﷺ of a matter that was not revealed in the Quran, which is a definitive proof of the existence of divine revelation alongside the Quranic text.

The Sunnah as an Clarification and Detail of the Quran

How can one who denies the Sunnah implement the pillars of Islam? The Quran established general principles, and the Sunnah provided the clarification, as He said: {And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them}.

• How do we know the number of rak'ahs for the Maghrib prayer and its description without the Sunnah?

• How do we determine the amounts of Zakat and the details of Hajj rituals?

• How do we understand the context of the verses regarding the Slander (Ifk) or Zihar without the narrated reports?

The Collapse of Historical Claims

Among the absurdities promoted by proponents of this view is the claim that Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur conspired with al-Shafi'i to change the religion. Historical fact destroys this nonsense; al-Mansur died when al-Shafi'i was a child of eight years old.

Those who accuse the people of the Sunnah of freezing the Quran are, in reality, the ones obstructing its rulings by following modernist methodologies that transform legislative verses into mere historical texts with no practical value in our contemporary reality.