Imam Shawkani and His Methodology in the Science of Criticism and Evaluation

Abstract

#This research focuses on the critical analysis of one of the hadith scholars, Imam Shawkani, introducing him briefly and delving into his scientific aspects, particularly regarding his methodology in criticizing narrators, chains of transmission, and hadith texts. His methodology is considered one of the most important approaches in scientific research, and this study highlights his significant role in this field. The majority of the research highlights the key indicators that demonstrate Shawkani's methodology in criticizing narrators as one of the prominent figures in the science of criticism and evaluation. It examines the level he reached among other hadith scholars, considering his strictness or leniency in passing judgments on narrators, the extent to which other scholars relied on his statements in this field, the nature of his descriptions and assessments of narrators, and his contributions to the field of criticism and evaluation. The research also addresses Shawkani's stance on justice, his methodology in accepting an additional witness to a narration, his acceptance of a single just narrator's report, his approach to multiple narrators and their discrepancies, his definition of elevated hadiths, the number of frequently transmitted narrators, ambiguous criticism or evaluation, conflicting criticism and evaluation, the ignorance of a companion, narration from an unknown source, pre-Shawkani hadith critics, and his sources in criticizing narrators. The study aims to reach a set of conclusions that illuminate Imam Shawkani's methodology in the field of criticism and evaluation.