Zafar Ahmad Uthmani

The importance of hadith as the basis of Islamic law, theology and ethics cannot be underestimated. Alongside the Quran it constitutes the second source for Islamic shariah and ones practice. While no Muslim will challenge the authority of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as many have differing views with regards to ascertaining exactly what the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said and did. This difference is a consequence of the diverse methodologies employed in establishing the normative practices of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The spectrum of ideas and opinions encompass the entire scope of thought from outright rejection of hadith to a highly literal reading of it. This translation provides yet another approach to understanding hadith. The translated text is the introduction to a large multi-volume work in Arabic called I'la as-Sunan. The original work was a response to the ahle hadith allegation that the school of Imam Abu Hanifah is deprived of hadith. In this introduction, the author pens his methodology for writing the I'la as-Sunan. The author endeavours to deconstruct the false understanding that hadith science is absolute and fixed. He argues that since the science of hadith is not prescriptive in the shariah, no one group can lay claim to it or claim a universal understanding of it. This book will be of interest to students who have a penchant for abstract theories and methods and to the advanced students of hadith and Islamic thoughts.