The Principle of Moderation (Wasaṭiyyah) in Navigating Dialogue with Quranists: A Case Study in Malaysia
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Aug 16, 2026
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Muhammad Taufiq Amat Famsir
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1689-7179
Faisal Ahmad Shah
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4196-575X
Norazam Khair Mohd Ithnin
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5279-7777
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1689-7179
Faisal Ahmad Shah
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4196-575X
Norazam Khair Mohd Ithnin
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5279-7777
Abstract
Objectives: This paper examines the persistence of Quranist thought in Malaysia and argues that despite various efforts, the problem remains unresolved. It therefore proposes a wasaṭiyyah approach as a balanced alternative to guide more effective engagement.
Methodology: This qualitative study employs documentation, observation, and content analysis. Primary data were drawn from Quranist writings, supported by scholarly literature. In addition, observational insights from direct engagement and dialogue sessions with individuals inclined towards Quranist thought were utilised to inform the construction of a preliminary wasaṭiyyah-based framework for engagement.
Findings: The study finds that Quranist rejection of hadith is shaped by Orientalist influence, weak religious literacy, and simplistic thinking reinforced by online communities. A wasaṭiyyah approach grounded in wisdom, compassion, and gradual clarification offers a more constructive framework than either harsh condemnation or permissive neglect. Engaging with Quranists requires perseverance, sincerity, and balance in fostering dialogue.
Originality/Value: The study proposes a context-specific conceptual framework that shifts engagement from polemics to principled daʿwah, offering practical guidance for preachers and institutions. It recommends future research to examine classical precedents of engaging heterodox groups and empirically test this framework through interviews and case studies.
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Keywords
QuranismHadith RejectionWasaṭiyyahDaʿwah Engagement
References
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Abdul Ghani, M.Z. Don, A., & Osman, K. “Keistimewaan dan Ciri-Ciri Wasatiyyah Dakwah.” In Dakwah dalam Pelbagai Dimensi, edited by Abdul Ghafar Don and Ahmad Irdha Mokhtar. Bangi: Jabatan Pengajian Dakwah & Kepimpinan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2017.
Afwadzi, Benny. “Epistemologi Inkar al-Sunnah: Telaah Pemikiran Kassim Ahmad.” Al-Furqan: Jurnal Ilmu al-Qur’an dan Tafsir 1, no. 2 (2018).
Ahmad Shah, F. Kaedah Tepat Memahami Hadis. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya Press, 2023.
Aini, Z., Zarrina, C., & Zulkifli M. “Pendekatan Dakwah al-Wasatiyyah.” Afkar 20, no. 1 (2018).
Alavi Mehr, Husayn, & Fathi, Mahdi. “Challenges of the Quranists’ Intellectual Foundations.” The Quran: Contemporary Studies 1, no. 1 (2022).
al-Baghawī, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥusayn ibn Masʿūd. Maʿālim al-Tanzīl fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān (Tafsīr al-Baghawī). Edited by ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Mahdī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420H.
–––. Sharḥ al-Sunnah (in Arabic). Edited by Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and Muḥammad Zuhayr al-Shāwīsh. 2nd ed. Damascus and Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1983/1403H.
al-Dimashqī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Ṣāliḥī. al-Kanz al-Akbar min al-Amr bi al-Maʿrūf wa al-Nahy ʿan al-Munkar. Edited by Muṣṭafā ʿUthmān Ṣamīda. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1996/1417H.
al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad. al-Iqtiṣād fī al-Iʿtiqād. Edited by Anas al-Sharafāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Minhāj, 2021.
Ali, A.M.M. “Ittijāhāt al-Qurʼāniyyīn wa al-ʻAqlāniyyīn fī al-ʻAṣr al-Ḥadīth fī Inkār al-Sunnah.” (in Arabic). Majallat Dirāsāt al-ʻArabiyyah 51, no. 3 (2025).
Ali, Izwan Mohd et al. “Kassim Ahmad dan Pemikiran Anti Hadis.” Jurnal al-Anwar 7, no. 1 (2019).
al-Khayr Ābādī, Abū al-Layth. Ittijāhāt fī Dirāsah al-Sunnah Qadīmuhā wa Ḥadīthuhā. Selangor: Darul Syakir, 2005.
Almajeedy, A.M. "Structural and Thematic Coherence in Qur’ānic Sūrahs (Taswīr): A New Domain in Qur’ānic inimitability (Sūrat Al-Nisā’ as a model)," Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies 40, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.29117/jcsis.2022.0321
Al-Qaḥṭānī, Mar’ī bin Muḥammad ʿĀʾiḍ. “Mawqif al-Qurʼāniyyīn min al-Rasūl.” Majalah al-Andalus li al-ʻUlūm al-Insāniyyah wa al-Ijtimāʻiyyah 10, no. 85 (2023).
al-Qarḍāwī, Yūsuf. al-Khaṣāʾiṣ al-ʿĀmmah li al-Islām (in Arabic). Cairo: Maktabah Wahbah, 2003.
al-Qurṭubī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad. al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad al-Bardūnī and Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsh. 2nd ed. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1964.
al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān. Edited by ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī. Cairo: Dār Hajr, 2001/1422H.
Amat Famsir, M.T., & Ahmad Shah, F. Pemikiran Liberal dalam Kritik Matan Hadis: Di Mana Silapnya? Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya Press, 2024.
Amīn, Aḥmad. Fajr al-Islām. Windsor: Muassasah Handāwī, 2017.
Armayanti, D., & Zulhidah. “Inkar Sunah: Asal Usul dan Perkembangan Pemikiran Inkar Sunah di Dunia Islam.” Tashdiq: Jurnal Kajian Agama dan Dakwah 2, no. 1 (2023).
Asrār, ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿAbd al-Ghafūr. “Ḍawābiṭ li-Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah fī al-Taʿāmul maʿa Ahl al-Ahwāʾ wa al-Bidaʿ.” Majallat Abḥāth, no. 14 (April–June 2019).
bin Azhar, M. N. Facebook post, May 31, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/mh77yMaDAs6FVMqh/?mibextid=oFDknk
bin Usman, Abur Hamdi, & binti Gasmin, Norhamizah. “Golongan Quraniyyun: Implikasi terhadap Pemikiran Masyarakat Islam.” In e-Proceeding of 3rd INHAD International Muzakarah & Mu’tamar on Hadith (IMAM 2018). Kajang, Selangor: Hadith Research Institute (INHAD), International Islamic University College Selangor, 2018.
Darussamin, Z. “Kassim Ahmad Pelopor Inkar Sunnah di Malaysia.” AlFikra: Jurnal Ilmiah Keislaman 8, no. 1 (Januari–Juni 2009).
Ghawrī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Mājid. Inkār al-Sunnah Tārīkhuhu wa Firaquhu wa Dawāfiʿuhu. Selangor: Penerbit KUIS, 2016.
Ghazali, Mohd Al’Ikhsan et al. “Strategi Menangani Kemelut Golongan Anti Hadis (GAH).” Sains Humanika 8, no. 3.2 (2016).
Ibn Balbān, Qalā’id al-Iqyāl fi Ikhtisār ʻAqīdah Ibn Ḥamdān ed. ʻAbd Allāh bin Muḥammad al-ʻAbd Allāh. Beirut: Dār al-Minhāj, 2023
Idris, M.A., Muhamad, H., & R. Ibrahim, R. Zirwatul Aida. Metodologi Penyelidikan Sains Sosial. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya Press, 2018.
Ilahī, Khādim Ḥusayn. al-Qurʼāniyyūn wa Shubuhātuhum ḥawla al-Sunnah. Ṭāʾif: Maktabat al-Ṣiddīq, 2000.
Meerangani, k. A., rosele, m. I. ., & marinsah, s. A. . (2020). "Pendekatan Wasatiyyah dalam Interaksi Inter-Agama di Malaysia: Wasatiyyah Approach in Inter-Religious Interaction in Malaysia." MANU Journal of Humanities 31, no. 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.51200/manu.v31i2.2420
Nasir, Mohd Norzi et al. “Metode Kassim Ahmad dalam Kajian Hadis: Satu Penilaian dalam Timbangan Metode Ilmiah Ulama Hadis.” Hadis: Jurnal Ilmiah Berwasit 11 (2026).
Nouri, Asma. “Applied Fiqh in Al-Qaraḍāwī’s Thought: An Analytical Study of Its Foundations and Methodology.” (in Arabic). Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies 43, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.29117/jcsis.2025.0403
Reynolds, Gabriel Said. The Emergence of Islam: Classical Traditions in Contemporary Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012.
Suliaman, Ishak. “Liberalisme dalam Anti Hadith di Indonesia dan Malaysia.” In Islam Liberal: Isu dan Cabaran, edited by Abdul Karim Ali and Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor. Selangor: Persatuan Ulama’ Malaysia, 2009.
Suparman, Deden. Anti-Hadis dan Engkar Sunnah: Suatu Kajian Perbandingan Antara Malaysia dan Indonesia. Dissertation, Jabatan Sejarah dan Tamadun Islam, 2003.
Yaakob, Omar. “Menolak Penyelewengan Pemikiran Anti-Hadis.” IKRAM, April 21, 2014. Accessed August 10, 2025. https://ikram.org.my/menolak-penyelewengan-pemikiran-anti-hadis
Zmigrod, Leor. “Psychological ‘Signature’ for the Extremist Mind Uncovered.” University of Cambridge. Accessed August 14, 2025. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/extremistmind
How to Cite
Famsir, Muhammad Taufiq Amat, Faisal Ahmad Shah, and Norazam Khair Mohd Ithnin. 2026. “The Principle of Moderation (Wasaṭiyyah) in Navigating Dialogue With Quranists: A Case Study in Malaysia”. Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies 44 (2). https://doi.org/10.29117/jcsis.2026.0454.
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