Goren, Feyza

Online Research @ Cardiff

52 II. International Turkic World Young Academicians Congress 2025© The Authors and Akademisyen YayineviThis article is published online with Open Access by Akademisyen Yayinevi and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).doi:10.37609/akya.3803.c20Al-Sarakhsī’s (D. 483/1090) Ḥadīth MethodologyFeyza GOREN1AbstractRecently, the assertion that the Ḥanafī school has its distinct ḥadīth methodology has gained prominence in the literature, leading to substantial academic research. Al-Sarakhsī and his al-Mabsūṭ, the pivotal figures in the development of the Ḥanafī methodology, have been the focus of numerous studies; however, certain aspects of them remain open to further investigation. In my ongoing PhD research, I am analysing al-Sarakhsī’s ḥadīth methodology in al-Mabsūṭ from those aspects.This study conducts a comparative analysis, focusing on two initial chapters, one from the worship (ʿibādāt) and one from the transaction (muʿāmalāt) sections of al-Mabsūṭ, while comparing them with the theoretical framework outlined in his al-ʿUṣūl. The current research is strengthened by incorporating Ḥākim (d. 334/945)’s al-Kāfī and al-Shaybānī (d. 189/805)’s Zāhir al-Riwāya, which underpin al-Mab-sūṭ, to explore al-Sarakhsī’s original contributions to Ḥanafī ḥadīth methodology, alongside several key ḥadīth sources that provide further context. In analysing his al-ʾUṣūl, this study likewise engages with earlier Ḥanafī works, most notably those of al-Jaṣṣāṣ, al-Dabūsī, and al-Pazdawī, both to trace lines of transmission and to better identify the distinctive aspects of Sarakhsī’s methodological contributions. Additionally, this research is structured thematically, categorising al-Sarakhsī’s ḥadīth approach in al-Mabsūṭ from different perspectives, examining both textual and narratorial elements.In this presentation, the scope and methodology of my research will first be out-lined. Then, some of the key findings to date will be presented, with a particu-lar emphasis on the originality of al-Sarakhsī’s approach to ḥadīth in terms of inter-school and interdisciplinary consistency and harmony, especially within the context of the current conference theme of “building a shared future.” Understand-ing this originality with clarity is essential to address divisive misconceptions and continue in the same direction for advancing contemporary academic works by following al-Sarakhsī’s unifying and coherent approach.Keywords: al-Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, ḥadīth methodologyIntroductionThe idea that the Ḥanafī school possesses a distinctive methodology for engaging with ḥadīth has increasingly attracted scholarly attention. While it has been portrayed that the school is primarily reliant on rational methods (i.e. raʾy) and less attentive to ḥadīth, more recent research has challenged this assumption by uncovering a rich, albeit dis-1 PhD student, Cardiff University, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, sungur.fyz@gmail.com, ORCID iD: 0009-0007-5233-078062 Al-Sarakhsī’s (D. 483/1090) Ḥadīth Methodologythere. Consistent with the broader methodological framework he outlines, marked by coherence between intellectual disposition, legal reasoning, and juristic practice, Sara-khsī also shows that the concept of sunnah takes precedence over that of ḥadīth. For sunnah, as a lived and practised tradition transmitted by successive generations and an-chored in a shared epistemological foundation, carries more legal and normative weight than ḥadīth in its narrower sense as isolated textual reports. A further question explored in my doctoral research, one that supports and deepens the broader analytical trajectory, is how the terms sunnah and ḥadīth are themselves conceptualised in Sarakhsī’s method-ology, particularly within this layered and integrated epistemological framework.ReferencesAbdel Haleem, M. A. S. (2004). The Qurʾān: A new translation. Oxford University Press.al-Dabūsī. (2001). Taqwīm al-Adilla fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh (K. M. al-Dīn al-Mays, Ed.). Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah.al-Jassās. (1994). al-Fuṣūl fī al-ʾUṣūl (2nd ed., Vols. 1-4). Ministry of Awqaf. al-Pazdawī. (1999). Kanz al-Wuṣūl ilā Maʿrifat al-Uṣūl (S. Baktāsh, Ed.). Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī.al-Dhahabī. (n.d.). Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (B. A. Maʿrūf, Ed.). Muʾassasat.al-Shīrāzī. (1970). Ṭabaqāt al-fuqahāʾ (Ibn Manẓūr, Ed. & I. ʿAbbās, Ed. & Annot.). Dār al-Rāʾid al-ʿArabī.al-Sarakhsī, Abūbakr Shams al-Aimma. (n.d.). al-Mabsūṭ (Vols. 1-31). Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿāda; al-Sarakhsī. (n.d.). al-Mabsūṭ (Vols. 1-31). Dār al-Maʿrifa.al-Sarakhsī. (n.d.). Uṣūl al-Sarakhsī (A. al-W. al-Afghānī, Ed., Vols. 1-2). Lajnat Iḥyāʾ al-Maʿārīf al-Naʿmānīyah. al-Sarakhsī. (2022). al-Mabsūṭ (M. C. Akşit, Ed. & Trans., 5th ed., Vols. 1-31). Gümüşev Pub-lishing.Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī. (1416 AH). Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (p. 270, No. 1521). Riyadh: Dār al-Rushd.Bekir. (2008). Hz. Uthman in terms of his adherence to the Sunna and his remarkable status in some critical events. Çukurova Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8(2), 21-57.Bedir, M. (2000). İmam Ebû Ḥanîfe’nin hadis anlayışı. İÜ İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2000, 44-48.Bedir, M. (2002). An early response to al-Shāfiʿī: ʿĪsā b. Abān on the prophetic report (khabar). Islamic Law and Society, 9(3), 285-311. https://doi.org/10.1163/156851902760198765Boynukalın, M. (2017). The development of Hanafi usul mukhtasars: (I) Usul al-Bazdawi and its place in Hanafi usul. Journal of Islamic Law Studies, 30, 487-526.Hallaq, W. B. (2005). The origins and evolution of Islamic law (pp. 53-57). Cambridge University Press.Motzki, H. (2002). The origins of Islamic jurisprudence. Brill.Schacht, J. (1950). The origins of Muhammadan jurisprudence. Oxford University Press.Tashtanova, A. (2023). Serahsî’de hadis, sünnet ve metin tenkidi [Doctoral dissertation, Ankara University, Institute of Social Sciences]. Ankara University.Tatlı, B. (2008). Hz. Uthman in terms of his adherence to the Sunna and his remarkable status in some critical events. Çukurova Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8(2), 21-57.Ünal, İ. H. (2010). İmam Ebû Hanîfe’nin hadis anlayışı ve Hanefî mezhebinin hadis metodu. Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Yayınları.

Al-Sarakhsī’s (D. 483/1090) Ḥadīth methodology

https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183099/1/6.pdf

Al-Sarakhsī’s (D. 483/1090) Ḥadīth methodology

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Online Research @ Cardiff