Salih bin Ahmad Rida
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Salih bin Ahmad Rida is a contemporary Islamic scholar and researcher specializing in the scientific inimitability of the Prophetic traditions, best known for his work al-I'jaz al-'Ilmi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya .
Scholarly Activities and Methodology
Rida published his comprehensive two-volume study, al-I'jaz al-'Ilmi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya (Scientific Inimitability in the Prophetic Sunna), in Riyadh in 1422 AH (2001 CE) . Following its release, he met Muhammad Salim bin Shadid al-Awfi at a Quranic symposium held at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies in Sharjah, who encouraged him to contribute to a symposium in Medina . In response, he authored the paper Tajribati ma'a al-I'jaz al-'Ilmi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya (My Experience with Scientific Inimitability in the Prophetic Sunna), which set out methodological principles and guidelines for analyzing scientific and medical claims in hadith literature .
In his methodological approach to hadith and modern science, Rida emphasizes gathering all textual variants and transmissions of a narration to determine its precise meaning before evaluating it alongside established scientific facts . Where scientific data is not yet conclusive, he maintains reliance on the authenticated Prophetic text while encouraging specialists to investigate the tradition in light of modern scientific findings .
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List of Works
Tajribaty ma al-Ijaz al-Ilmi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiya (My Experience with Scientific Inimitability in the Prophetic Sunna) is a scholarly treatise examining the methodological rules and criteria for evaluating scientific inimitability (al-i'jaz al-ilmi) in Prophetic traditions. Originating as a research paper presented at a symposium in Medina, it reflects on practical experiences compiling hadith collections on scientific inimitability and establishes methodological guidelines for asserting and interpreting such claims.