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Abd al-Salam Alloush

al-Intiha li-Marifat al-Ahadith allati lam yufti biha al-Fuqaha

Author died
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Editions
Dār Ibn Ḥazm lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ

al-Intiha li-Marifat al-Ahadith allati lam yufti biha al-Fuqaha (Reaching the Limit in Knowing the Hadiths According to Which Jurists Did Not Issue Rulings) is a legal-hadith study by Abu Abd Allah Abd al-Salam Muhammad Umar Alloush, dedicated to examining authentic legal traditions that the jurists reportedly did not rule upon .

Composition and Publication

Alloush completed the manuscript on 9 Rabiʿ al-Akhir 1414 AH (1993 CE) . The book was published in Beirut by Dar Ibn Hazm in 1416 AH / 1996 CE in a single volume .

Purpose and Structure

The author wrote the book to investigate prophetic traditions concerning legal rulings (ahkam) where the narrations appear sound and free of hidden defects, yet jurists across various schools did not issue legal rulings (fatwas) in accordance with them . The work is organized into two parts containing seven chapters:

  • Part One consists of five theoretical chapters covering legal theory (usul):

    1. The definition of solitary reports (khabar al-wahid) .
    2. Scholarly consensus on the obligation of acting upon solitary reports, except for anomalous disagreement .
    3. The proofs advanced by scholars who uphold their probative authority .
    4. An examination and critique of additional conditions set by certain jurists for acting on such reports .
    5. The author's specific criteria for selecting abandoned traditions .

  • Part Two contains two applied chapters:

    1. The hadiths that meet the author's stated criteria .
    2. Hadiths outside the author's primary criteria, such as those set aside purely due to established abrogation (naskh) .

Method and Reception

In the theoretical section, Alloush argues that once a hadith is verified as authentic, acting upon it is mandatory—aligning with the position of hadith scholars and the majority of Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali authorities—and that extra-textual conditions should not restrict sound reports beyond standard interpretive principles . In the practical section, he analyzes specific narrations, evaluating their chains and discussing the reasons jurists differed or diverged from their apparent textual meanings .

The book has been referenced and engaged with by contemporary scholars: Adnan al-Ar'ur cited Alloush's critical analysis in his work Diwan al-Sunnah , while Muqbil ibn Hadi al-Wadi'i critiqued Alloush's authentication in Nashr al-Sahifah, specifically disputing his defense of the chain of transmission regarding the tradition on wiping over sandals (al-mash ala al-nalayn) .

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