This a very comprehensive book about ulum hadith, which is a branch of study or sciences of hadith. The author discusses almost every branch of this topic. It starts from the delivery, isnad, sahihayn, biographies of muhaddithuns, problems and defects in hadith collection, conflicts, abrogated hadith, 3 classifications of hadith and end with a conclusion. A very good book for one who are interested to delve in the proper study of hadith.
However, for a lay person like me, with no shariah background, the information is overwhelming. I only browsed through about 40% of the book. For those who wanted to read this book, I would highly recommend to really read chapter 1 to 4. Then just do a superfast reading of chapter 5 to 14. You can reread those chapters, if you decided to further venture into ulum hadith, later on. Then read slowly chapter 15 to 20.
The first 4 chapters give us an eye opener about the hadith compilations. The meaning of isnad, matn and methods and the effort of the muhaddithuns used to compile the sahihayns. Chapter 4 gives the background stories of the 6 sahihayns ie Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, An Nasai, Ibn Majah and At Tirmidhi.
Chapter 5 to 14, discussed all the other branches of ulum hadith. Too much and too detailed for me.
Chapter 15 to 17, discussed the 3 types of classifications of hadith. What are the differences between sahih, hassan and daif. What are the differences between marfu, mawquf, muttasil, maqtu, muannin, muannan and muallaq. What are the differences between fard, gharib, aziz, mashhur, mutawatir and ahad. It is great to read, especially on the first and third classifications.
The second last chapter discussed the actual prerequisite of a sahih hadith. It discussed some of the hadith with improper matn. Especially in the ahad hadith. Particular discussion on the hadith about the 73 fractions of muslims, which is an ahad hadith. Also problem is some hadith which is not in sync with the Quran.
The conclusion is a must read. It gives some overview and hope for a better compilation of hadith. A discussion on Qaradawi's suggestions on recompiling the hadith into one proper encyclopedia which only include sahih and hassan hadiths. Qaradawi suggested for the ummah to prepare a 3 volume encyclopedia. The first is the compilation of the list of all the hadith narrators. The second is a compilation of the list of isnads of the hadith, whether one or more than one. The last volume a the exclusive compilation of sahih and hassan hadith.
I don't give good justice in writing this small review. You need to read this textbook, to really enjoy the knowledge.
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