المستخلص: |
The purpose of learning hadiths is to ensure a correct understanding of them. Hadith scholars of the past had emphasized the importance of understanding ḥadīths correctly to avoid misconceptions and unresolved contradictions between the texts. Comparative analysis is helpful in this pursuit because a particular hadith must be understood holistically in light of other relevant hadiths on the same subject matter. Apart from critical assessments on disagreements among hadith scholars on specific issues, this article relies on inductive and deductive methodologies to establish the comparative method's discipline and its benefits. This article concludes that there are seven benefits of applying the comparative method, including understanding the objectives of Islamic laws prescription and differentiating varying stories on a particular incident of the Sīrah. It also outlines a priori three main guiding principles to apply this method: knowledge of the status of a ḥadīth, the need to harmonise the texts before criticism, and prioritizing authentic hadiths of higher-ranking if the harmonisation process cannot be done.
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