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Quranism (Arabic: القرآنية, romanized: al-Qurʾāniyya) is an Islamic movement that holds the belief that the Quran is the only valid source of religious belief, guidance, and law in Islam. Quranists believe that the Quran is clear, complete, and that it can be fully understood without recourse to the hadith and sunnah. Therefore, they use the Quran itself to interpret the Quran, an exegetical principle known as tafsir al-Qur'an bi al-Qur'an.
In matters of faith, jurisprudence, and legislation, Quranists differ from Sunnis, who consider the hadith, scholarly opinions, opinions attributed to the sahaba, ijma and qiyas, and Islam's legislative authority in matters of law and creed in addition to the Quran.[1][2] Hadith-espousing sects of Islam differ with one another over which hadith they view as reliable, but their hadith collections are mostly overlapping.[3] In contrast, Quranists do not advance another corpus of assertedly authoritative hadith; rather, they criticize hadith altogether and do not recognize any as authoritative.[4][5][6] Whereas hadith-followers believe that obedience to the Islamic prophet Muhammad entails obedience to hadiths, Quranists believe that obedience to Muhammad means obedience to the Qur'an.[7][8] This methodological difference has led to considerable divergence between Quranists, and both Sunnis and Shias (the two largest sects in Islam) in matters of theology and law as well as the understanding of the Quran.[4][9]
Quranists date their beliefs back to the time of Muhammad, who they claim prohibited the writing of hadiths. As they believe that hadith, while not being reliable sources of religion, can serve as historical records, Quranists cite some early Islamic writings in support of their positions, including those attributed to caliph Umar (r. 634–644) and materials dating to the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. Notable figures who have promulgated Quranist beliefs include Chiragh Ali, Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi, Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Maitatsine, Mohamed Talbi, Kassim Ahmad, Rashad Khalifa, Yaşar Nuri Öztürk, Edip Yuksel, and Hassan al-Maliki. Significant Quranist organizations have formed in countries such as India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and the United States. In the 21st century, the Quranist position on the hadith has gained traction among modernist Muslims who reject hadith that they believe contradict the Qur'an.