In this session, we will explore the importance of the Qur’an and the hadith in the construction of Islamic thought. The Qur’an and the hadith are not equal, neither in terms of their authority nor in the extent to which each one is to be followed in shaping theological understanding and jurisprudence. Theological and juridical schools will sometimes place greater emphasis, in some domains, on the hadith than on the Qur’an. The main question to be asked in trying to find an answer to this question is: why have the Qur’an and the hadith come to have the places they occupy in Islamic tradition, and what are the intellectual and thus political outcomes that stem from the typical placement of the Qur’an and tradition [the hadith]? The issue of “returning to the Qur’an” that came up in ideological discussions in the Islamic world over the course of the 20th century will also be analyzed.
The focal point of this session is the question of how the Qur’an took shape as a book, and what...
