Towards Understanding Hadith: Exploring Ten Key Issues

Imam Abd al-Hayy al-LaknawiHamzah Hassan (translation)Paperback, 240 pages9781915265463 In 1291/1875, during his stay in Hyderabad Deccan, Imam al-Laknawī responded to ten questions concerning the hadith sciences posed by the Ahl-e-Hadith scholar ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-Lāhawrī, which resulted in this indispensable work. The text emphasises the importance of the chain of narration (isnād) in all religious matters and discusses weak hadiths, their conditions, and implementation. It also evaluates various collections of hadiths and Qur’anic exegeses, assessing the authority of narrations within them. It offers a framework for resolving conflicting scholarly verdicts concerning hadith grading and narrator analysis and addresses how to navigate ostensibly conflicting hadith texts. Additionally, it explores the legal implications when a Companion does not implement a hadith he narrates and tackles situations where a Companion’s word or deed contradicts a Prophetic hadith. The work’s value is enhanced by the annotations from Shaykh ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah. It is a crucial resource for anyone utilising hadiths in any capacity and fills a gap in English-language literature on these topics.