Epistemological Foundations and Rhetorical Persuasive Strategies in Imam al-Shafii’s Establishment of the Authoritativeness of the Sunnah and His Confrontation of Its Deniers

This study examines the role of al-Shafii in affirming the authoritative status of the Prophetic Sunnah through an analytical approach that integrates two complementary perspectives: the epistemological foundations underlying his conception of the sources of Islamic legal knowledge, and the rhetorical and argumentative strategies he employed in defending the authority of the Sunnah and responding to those who questioned its evidentiary status.The study aims to uncover the epistemic structure that shaped al-Shafii's understanding of the relationship between the Quran and the Sunnah, and to clarify how this structure is connected to the persuasive mechanisms he utilized in constructing his arguments within the context of early Islamic scholarly debates.Adopting an analytical methodology based primarily on the examination of al-Shafii's writings -particularly his seminal work al-Risalah-the research combines epistemological analysis with rhetorical examination of his argumentative discourse.The study concludes that al-Shafii's defense of the Sunnah was not merely a polemical response to his opponents; rather, it constituted a comprehensive intellectual project aimed at articulating a theory of the sources of legal authority and the principles of legal reasoning.His rhetorical style functioned as a deliberate argumentative instrument that strengthened the authority of the Sunnah and reinforced its position within the framework of Islamic legal reasoning.The findings further demonstrate that the interaction between epistemological structure and rhetorical argumentation played a central role in consolidating the authority of the Sunnah as a foundational source of Islamic law, and significantly contributed to the formation of Islamic legal theory in the classical tradition.