An Introduction To Hadith

The Hadith are traditionally believed to be the words of the Prophet, memorised by his followers and eventually written down in the second century. However, for years Western scholars have been questioning their validity, and saying their link with the Prophet is tenuous. This book concentrates on the origins of the views presented in the Hadith and compares them with those of the Qur'an, focusing on the areas of fasting, prayer and marriage, and examining their treatment in exegetical literature before they passed into legal and ritual writings. It is a clear introduction to a complicated set of arguments.

As the second main source of the true religion of Islam, hadith has a history full of ups and downs as far as the manner of its transmittal and the periods of its compilation and publication are concerned. Those who are acquainted with Islamic history have all acknowledged that from the time of transmittal up to now, hadith as been associated with many desirable as well as undesirable events, and its compilation and publication in some periods have had both faithful advocates and stern adversaries. For this reason, learning the “history of hadith” – though a piece of knowledge outside the different branches of the science of hadith – is essential for all those who want to benefit from the Sunnah and the corpus of hadith especially in view of the fact that the beginning of hadith compilation and its mechanism have not been the same for the proponents of the various Islamic schools of thought, each of them having a different opinion whose outcome may adversely affect the credibility and status of the existing traditions (ahadith). The present book, which has been written as a textbook in the tertiary level of Islamic studies, endeavors to present the general subjects relevant to hadith and its history as well as to acquaint the students of this field with the Sunni hadith collections and the Four Books (Kutub al-Arba‘ah) of the Shi‘ah in a simple and easy-to-understand approach.

Although Hadith science can often seem inscrutable, understanding Hadith science is crucial to understanding the foundations of Islamic theology, shariah, and Islamic thought. This book outlines the history, development, and current practice of Hadith science with special attention to Shi‘a scholarship. Introduction to Hadith covers hadith terminology, sources of hadith, chains of narration, categories of hadith, the criteria for hadith narrators, and transmission of hadith. Additionally, it includes a translation of a seminal work on Hadith studies, Dirayat al-Hadith, by the renowned sixteenth-century Shi‘a scholar al-Shahid al-Thani ­– the work that paved the way for the modern Shi‘a study of Hadith. For the past decade Introduction to Hadith has been designated as a textbook in Islamic studies courses worldwide. This is an essential read for anyone seeking to learn more about hadith analysis, Islamic law, Islamic history, or the Islamic scholarly heritage. Seond edition

Allah preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companions and those after them to memorise, write down and pass on the statements of the Messenger Muhammad and the descriptions of his Way, as well as to continue the blessings of practising the Sunnah. Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allah caused the Muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals of incredible memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of precious wisdom of their Messenger from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the enormous number of 'ulama', the Companions and those who followed their way, who had taught in various centres of learning and helped to transmit the legacy of Muhammad - all of this achieved through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of Hadith. The methodology of the expert scholars of Hadith in assessing such narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken/fabricated etc., forms the subject-matter of a wealth of material left to us by the muhaddithun (scholars of Hadith, "traditionists"). This short treatise is a humble effort to introduce this extremely wide subject to English readers. A useful supplement is included for the first time to the original treatise further expounding on branches in the Science of Hadith.

An Introduction to Islam, Fourth Edition, provides students with a thorough, unified and topical introduction to the global religious community of Islam. In addition, the author's extensive field work, experience, and scholarship combined with his engaging writing style and passion for the subject also sets his text apart. An Introduction to Islam places Islam within a cultural, political, social, and religious context, and examines its connections with Judeo-Christian morals. Its integration of the doctrinal and devotional elements of Islam enables readers to see how Muslims think and live, engendering understanding and breaking down stereotypes. This text also reviews pre-Islamic history, so readers can see how Islam developed historically.

An Introduction to Hadith is a comprehensive textbook on Hadith, the narrations from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) designed for beginners or intermediate level students of Islamic studies.

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