Approaching the Sunnah - Comprehension and Controversy

The first chapter sets out the qualities that characterize authentic application of the Sunnah: universality, coherence (so that different spheres of human responsibility are not split), compassionate realism, moderation, and humility. The second explains standards and procedures for determining the Sunnah in the fields of jurisprudence and moral instruction. The third chapter illustrates through detailed examples common errors in understanding the Sunnah - reading hadiths singly without sufficient context, confusing legal and moral inunctions, means and ends, figurative and literal meanings... - and it proposes remedies for these errors.