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110chapter twojurisprudence that we propose in this volume. The following sixprinciples summarise our definition of the sunna of the Prophet:1. The oral tradition, that is, the entire collection of ÈadÊths, whetherclassified as reliable or weak, as supported or singular, has no bindingauthority. The reason for this is that the sunna consists of humanlegislation, and human legislation, as the #ulam§" themselves toldus, changes according to the historical context in which it is passed.The key criterion for their implementation (or modification) is theextent to which they are (or are not) in harmony with the Book andsocial reality. If they are in harmony they should be implemented,if they are not in harmony then they should be modified. We donot follow the tradition of overriding the authority of the Book, sobluntly expressed in the tradition of some \anafÊ scholars: ‘If theviews of the Sheikhs [of our school] contradict the views of theQur"§n, we adhere to what the Sheikhs say’.2. The sunna of the Prophet is the first ijtih§d, that is, one out of manyalternative options that MuÈammad (ß) exercised in order to issueconcrete injunctions that embodied his application of the divineabsolute idea. His sunna is the first ijtih§d, but not the last and notthe only one. It is the first successful attempt to adapt divine lawand order to social reality.3. The sunna of the Prophet authentically reflects MuÈammad’s (ß)magnificent ability to create—while receiving the revelations of theBook—a legal, social, and political reality in full congruence withthe divine text.4. The legal injunctions of MuÈammad’s messengerhood ( al-ris§la)have only limited validity. One has to bear in mind that he receivedthese verses within a period of only ten years while he lived inYathrib (Medina). Surely, the social and political situations hefaced in those ten years cannot possibly constitute the only situationsthat people faced at that time all over the world. And giventhat there will be no further revelation and no new messengerhooduntil the Last Day, surely MuÈammad’s ten years in Yathrib cannotpossibly cover all the circumstances that we will encounter nowand in the future. The emergence of different and novel situations,which need to be handled by Islamic law, will make obsolete themethod of analogical reasoning that takes its basis in MuÈammad’s