al-Hadith al-Mawdui - Jamiat al-Madina
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- Al-Madinah International University
al-Hadith al-Mawdui is an academic curriculum textbook prepared and published by Al-Madinah International University (Jamiat al-Madina al-Alamiya) for its postgraduate Master of Arts program in Hadith studies under the course code GHDT5133.
Scope and Methodology
The work provides a pedagogical treatment of thematic Hadith study (al-ḥadīth al-mawḍūʿī), which focuses on gathering and analyzing prophetic traditions around specific subjects or examining multi-faceted narrations that encompass distinct doctrinal and ethical themes. The text outlines two primary branches of thematic study: collecting and categorizing multiple hadiths related to a single subject from diverse primary sources, and examining a comprehensive individual narration containing several distinct issues—such as the narration of Gabriel's questions regarding Islam, Iman, Ihsan, and the signs of the Hour—by investigating each topic alongside relevant Quranic verses and supplementary narrations.
The textbook surveys historical methodologies and classical source literature instrumental for thematic Hadith research, including:
- Alphabetical collections such as al-Jami al-Saghir and Jam al-Jawami (al-Jami al-Kabir) by al-Suyuti, Kunuz al-Haqa'iq and al-Jami al-Azhar by Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi, al-Maqasid al-Hasanah by al-Sakhawi, Tamyiz al-Tayyib min al-Khabith by Ibn al-Dayba al-Shaybani, and Kashf al-Khafa by al-Ajluni.
- Comprehensive thematic compilations such as Ibn al-Athir's Jami al-Usul fi Ahadith al-Rasul, which organized hadiths from five major collections along with the Muwatta of Imam Malik ibn Anas.
- Extra-tradition (zawa'id) compilations arranged by subject, notably Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's al-Matalib al-Aliyah bi-Zawa'id al-Masanid al-Thamaniyah, Nur al-Din al-Haythami's Majma al-Zawa'id, and Shihab al-Din al-Busiri's Ithaf al-Sadah al-Maharah bi-Zawa'id al-Masanid al-Asharah along with its abridgment Mukhtasar Ithaf al-Maharah.
Course Topics
The instructional units provide thematic analyses of specific concepts through selected prophetic traditions. The curriculum opens with the theme of sincerity of intention for God in all deeds (Ikhlas al-niyyah lillah ta'ala fi sa'ir al-a'mal). In this unit, the text analyzes the fundamental hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari: «إنما الأعمال بالنيات وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى...» ("Actions are judged only by intentions, and every person will get only what he intended..."). It elaborates upon this theme through other traditions, including the narration of the three individuals trapped in a cave by a boulder who sought deliverance through their sincere deeds, and the hadith highlighting the multiplied reward and angelic supplications for attending congregational prayer in mosques.
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