Approaches to hadith and sunnah in Egypt in the modern period

Due to its geopolitical position, Egypt, which is home to an educational institution such as al-Azhar, is a country that attracts attention, influences and directs the studies on basic Islamic sciences in the 20th century. After 1798 French invasion, efforts for Westernization, sending students abroad for education, translating Western works, the settlement of many orientalists in Cairo within the scope of educational activities, Arab and Muslim intellectuals, especially from Syria and Lebanon, choosing Egypt as a center, the revival of Mu'tazilite teachings, and contact with thinkers from Indian subcontinent paved the way for a radical change of mentality inside. This change, which directly affected perception of religion in the society, deeply affected the perception of the Sunnah, which intervened in the smallest details of life. As the dynamics that led to the change took effect, the skeptical approach towards hadith and sunnah in Egypt increased in quality and quantity day by day, and while the reliability of hadiths was questioned via criticism of the historical process, the sunnah was subjected to debates such as whether it was within the scope of tashrī' or whether it was outdated due to the principle of maslahah. Despite not being at level of literal imitation, there are points where these other approaches to hadith and sunnah overlap with orientalist and Mu'tazilite teachings. Among the main criticisms of the classical methodology are that it's based on the criticism of hadith instead of textual criticism, that the criticism of the hadith isn't successful, that there's a problem of trust due to the lack of writing down the hadiths, and that many fabricated and Isrāiliyat-based narrations have infiltrated the reliable sources of Sunnah. In the face of this growing trend, al-Azhar continued its approach of not compromising on tradition in its criticism of hadith and sunnah. Al-Azhar hadith scholars, who regarded the classical method of hadith as the ideal method, believed that the said criticisms were based on poor knowledge and prejudice. Though they don't claim that al-Bukhārī is pure and his work is uncritical, they consider it their responsibility to endeavor to refute even the simplest criticism of the hadīths in al-Bukhārī with both ancient and new evidence. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Egypt was the scene of intense debates between those who wanted to return to the essence of true Islam the hadiths that were claimed to be mawḍū and the Egyptian hadith scholars who argued that these hadiths were not mawḍū and accepted religion could be restored with these hadiths. Due to its geopolitical position and the scholarly movements it's the cradle of, Egypt is a point that should never be neglected in terms of Islamic sciences. This study aims to trace the different tendencies that emerged in Egypt in the 19th and 20th centuries regarding hadith and sunnah, and the relationship between these tendencies and the classical period, especially the Mu'tazilites, and orientalist thought in a comparative manner.