Deobandi hadith studies
[4] The establishment of a network of madrasas (Islamic seminaries) was closely linked to the development of Deobandi hadith studies, which spread throughout the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
[5][6] The Deobandi approach to Islamic education and scholarship places great emphasis on the study of hadith and the transmission of knowledge through an unbroken chain of teachers and students.
Scholars developed a range of methodologies for analyzing Hadith texts and assessing their authenticity, drawing on centuries of Islamic scholarship in the field.
They also began to write extensively on the subject, producing numerous works defending the authenticity and reliability of Hadith and its role in Islamic jurisprudence.
To achieve this, Deobandi scholars have focused on the linguistic aspects of hadith to impart its hidden meanings and nuances to the Islamic community.
One notable commentary is Fath al-Mulhim bi-Sharh Sahih al-Imam Muslim by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, which provides an extensive analysis of the text in both Arabic and Urdu.
Among the Deobandi commentaries on this collection is Faid-al-Samai by Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, which provides a detailed explanation of each hadith and explores its legal and ethical implications.
Another important commentary is Al-Muktafa bi Sharh al-Mujtaba by Ahmad Hasan al-Fattani, which not only explains each hadith but also includes a discussion of the different schools of thought within Islamic jurisprudence.
Khaza’in al-Sunan by Sarfaraz Khan Safdar is also an important commentary, which provides a detailed analysis of the hadith and their relevance to Islamic jurisprudence.
Among them, Qalaid al-Azhar, written by Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri, is a commentary on Kitab al-Athar, which is a collection of hadiths compiled by Muhammad al-Shaybani.
[21] Ashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri authored Al-Fawa’id al-Saniyyah fi Sharh al-Arbain al-Nawawiyyah, which is a commentary on the Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadith.
Sharh Shu‘ab al-Imān by Abdullah Qutb Shah Murdani is a commentary on Shu'ab al-Iman by Al-Bayhaqi, which is a collection of hadiths related to Islamic belief and ethics.
For Sahih al-Bukhari, some of the most significant dictations are Al-Nur al-Sari by Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, Fayd al-Bari ala Sahih al-Bukhari by Anwar Shah Kashmiri compiled by Badre Alam Merathi, and the dictations of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi compiled by Majid Ali Jaunpuri, Husain Ali Punjabi, and Muhammad Yahya Kandhlawi.
Muhammad Yahya's collection of lecture notes, entitled Lami al-Darari ala Jami al-Bukhari, is the most prominent and beneficial among them, as it was edited, annotated, and then printed in Arabic by his son Zakariyya Kandhlawi.
Other noteworthy dictations include Anwar Shah Kashmiri's Al-Arf al-Shadhi sharh Sunan al-Tirmidhi compiled by Muhammad Chiragh, and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi's Al-Naf‘ al-Shadhī.
This work was edited and annotated by Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, who printed it separately, covering a range of topics related to Usul al-Hadith.
Mabādī’ Ilm al-Hadīth wa Usūluh by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani is the introduction to his commentary on Sahīh Muslim, Fath al-Mulhim.
Some of the notable ones written on popular hadith works include Sahih al-Bukhari by Ahmad Ali Saharanpuri, Abd al-‘Aziz Punjabi (titled Miqbās al-Wārī), Muhammad Tāhir Murdani, and ‘Abd al-Jabbar A‘żami; Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī by Ahmad ‘Alī Sahāranpūrī, Majid Ali Jaunpuri, Ashraf Ali Thanwi (titled al-Thawāb al-Hulī); Sunan Abī Dāwūd by Fakhr al-Hasan Gangohi, Muhammad Hayat Sanbhali, Majid ‘Ali Manawi; Sunan al-Nasa’ī by Ashfaq al-Rahman Kandhlawi; Suan Ibn Mājah by Ashfaq al-Rahman Kandhlawi, Fakhr al-Hasan Gangohi, and Anwar Shah Kashmiri; and Muwatta Malik by Ashfaq al-Rahman Kandhlawi.
Moreover, Arshad Madani and Muhammad Tāhir al-Fattani revised and annotated Badr al-Din al-Ayni's commentary on Sharh Mā’ānī al-Āthār, titled Nukhab al-Afkār fī Tanqīh Mabānī al-Akhbār.
[26] Habib al-Rahman al-'Azmi is among the Deobandi scholars who played a role in reviving numerous classical hadith manuscripts in the 20th century.
[28] They published I'la al-Sunan by Zafar Ahmad Usmani, an encyclopedia of Hadiths related to fiqhi rulings, and edited and published many old books written by earlier Hanafi scholars, such as Bughyat al-Alma'i fi Takhrij al-Zaila'i, Al-Hujjah 'ala Ahl al-Madīnah, Sharh Kitab al-Athar, Fath al-Rahman fi Ithbat Madhhab al-Nu'man, and Rasool-e-Akram Ka Tariqa-e-Namaz.
One of the important works on Fiqh al-Hadith is Fath al-Rahman Fi Isbat-e-Mazhab al-Noman, authored by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Dehlawi and edited by Nizam-uddin.
[30] Among these scholars, Muhammad Yunus Jaunpuri stands out for his four-volume collection, Al-Yawāqīt al-Ghāliyah, which is a unique compendium of articles, questions and answers, and treatises on various Hadith matters.
[31] Deobandi scholars have produced an collection of Arabic and Urdu books on hadith to address contemporary challenges and meet the demands of their time.
Notable Arabic works include Jāmi al-Āthār by Ashraf Ali Thanwi, which remained unfinished due to his academic workload.
Another work, Ashraf Ali Thanwi's Al-Tasharruf bi Ma‘rifat Ahādīth al-Tasawwuf concentrates on hadiths pertaining to Sufism.
[33] Other works include Al-Tasrīh bi Mā Tawātar fī Nuzūl al-Masīh by Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Hajjat al-Wada wa Umrat al-Nabi by Zakariyya Kandhlawi, Zād al-Tālibīn by Ashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri, and Al-Sayf al-Mujallā 'alā al-Muhallā by Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri, which is a four-volume refutation of the isolated views of Ibn Hazm in his book al-Muhallā.
Intikhāb Mishkāt al-Masābīh and Al-Ahādīth al-Muntakhabah fī al-Sifāt al-Sitt were also written by Ilyas Kandhlawi, while ‘Abd al-Rashīd Nu‘mānī authored Mā Tamassu ilayh al-Hājah, which was edited and annotated by Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda and retitled Al-Imām Ibn Mājah wa Kitābuhu al-Sunan.
Other noteworthy works include Tajrīd al-Bukhārī by Muhammad Hayāt al-Sanbhalī, Intikhāb al-Sihāh al-Sittah by Zayn al-Abidin Sajjad Meerthi, Intikhāb al-Targhīb by ‘Abd Allāh Tāriq, Ma‘ārif al-Hadīth by Manzoor Nomani, and Ibn Mājah Aur ‘Ilm-e Hadīth by Abd al-Rashīd Nu‘mānī.
[33] Muhaddith (plural=muḥaddithūn) is an Arabic term that refers to a scholar of hadith, which is the body of literature comprising the narrations of the sayings, actions, and tacit approvals of Muhammad, as well as those of his companions.
