The Influence of Modernity on Matn Criticism: A Comparative Study of Traditionist and Reformist Approaches in Ibn Hajar’s Fath al-Bari and Rashid Rida’s Majallat al-Manar on Hadīths of Natural Phenomena

Ahmad Abdur Rahman Al-Imam

doi:10.32350/jitc.161.01

Authors

Ahmad Abdur Rahman Al-Imam Hamad bin Khalifa University https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9942-1034

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.161.01

Keywords:

Fath al-Bari, Ibn Hajar, Matn criticism, modernity, reform, Rashid Rida, al-Manar, tradition

Abstract

This study examines the influence of modernity on matn (Hadīth text) criticism through a comparative analysis of traditionist and reformist approaches to selected Hadīths concerning natural phenomena. It focuses on the reformist engagement of Rashid Rida (d. 1935) in Majallat al-Manar (The Lighthouse Journal), and contrasts it with the traditionist methodology exemplified by Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani’s (d. 1449) Fath al-Bari (Victory of the Creator). The article analyzes how Rida revisits established principles of matn criticism when engaging with Hadīths that intersect with modern scientific sensibilities, while Ibn Hajar’s commentary illustrates the classical traditionist framework for evaluating matn coherence. The study selects two widely discussed reports—the Hadīth of the fly and its immersion in drink, and the Hadīth of the sun prostrating beneath God’s Throne—as case studies. These reports are chosen on the basis that their isnad (chain of transmission) is generally deemed sound within the traditionist framework, thereby allowing the analysis to concentrate primarily on matn evaluation rather than transmission criticism. Through close textual analysis, the article demonstrates that reformist matn criticism tends to prioritize rational coherence and empirical plausibility, whereas traditionist scholarship emphasizes reconciliation (jamʿ), contextualization, and interpretive restraint, often favoring face-value readings and limited taʾwīl. The article argues that modernity introduced an epistemological reconfiguration within Hadīth criticism, prompting divergent evaluative criteria rather than a rejection of the tradition itself. By foregrounding matn-centered analysis, this study contributes to contemporary scholarship by clarifying how shifting epistemic assumptions shape distinct paradigms of Hadīth interpretation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

0

References

Albayrak, Ismail. “Modernity, Its Impact on the Muslim World and the General Characteristics of Nineteenth–Twentieth-Century Revivalist–Reformists’ Re-Reading of the Qurʾān.” Religions 13, no. 5 (2022): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050424.

Ali, Jan A. “Modernity, its Crisis and Islamic Revivalism.” Religions 14, no. 1 (2022): 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010015.

Al-Bazzar, Ahmad. Musnad al-Bazzar, published as al-Bahr al-Zakhkhar [The Overflowing Sea]. Edited by Mahfuz al-Rahman (vols. 1–9), ʿAdil ibn Saʿd (vols. 10–17), and Sabri ʿAbd al-Khaliq (vol. 18). 1st ed. Medina: Maktabat al-ʿUlum wa-l-Hikam, 1988–2009.

Brown, Jonathan A. C. “Debates over Prophetic Traditions in the Modern Muslim World.” In Hadīth: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, 240-268. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009.

Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil. Sahih al-Bukhari [The Authentic Collection of al-Bukhari]. Edited by Mustafa Dib al-Bugha. 5th ed. Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir and Dar al-Yamamah, 1993.

Burge, Stephen R. “The Demystification of Magic in the Tafsir al-Manar: An Analysis of the Exegetical and Homiletic Devices Used in the Discussion ‘Mabhath al-Sihr wa-Harut wa-Marut.’” Religions 12, no. 9 (2021): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090734.

Busool, A. N. “Rashid Rida’s Struggle to Establish a Modern Islamic State.” American Journal of Islam and Society 1, no. 1 (1984): 83–99. https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v1i1.2822.

Hamim, Khairul., and M. Masykur Abdillah. “Renaissance of Islam: A Content Analysis of Muhammad Rashid Rida’s Exegesis.” Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization 13, no. 2 (2023): 104–119. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.132.07.

Hartati, Khoirul Anam., Indal Abror, and Ahmad ʿUbaydi Hasbillah. “Beyond al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil: A Critical Study of the Narrators Accused of Lying in Sunan Ibn Majah.” Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qurʾān dan Hadis 26, no. 1 (2025): 241–278. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i1.5736.

Hourani, Albert. “Rashid Rida.” In Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1798–1939, 222–244. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani, Ahmad. Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh al-Bukhari [Victory of the Creator: A Commentary on al-Bukhari]. Edited by Muhammad Fuʾad ʿAbd al-Baqi and Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib. 1st Salafi ed. Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1960.

Ibn Hanbal, Ahmad. Musnad al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal [The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal]. Edited by Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾut, ʿAdil Murshid, et al. Supervised by ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Muhsin al-Turki. 1st ed. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risala, 2001.

Ibn al-Jawzi, ʿAbd al-Rahman. Kashf al-Mushkil min Hadīth al-Sahihayn [Uncovering the Problematic Aspects of the Two Sound Collections]. Edited by ʿAli Husayn al-Bawwab. Riyadh: Dar al-Watan, n.d.

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, ʿAbd al-Rahman. Fadl ʿIlm al-Salaf ʿala ʿIlm al-Khalaf [The Superiority of the Knowledge of the Early Generations over That of the Later Generations]. Edited by Abu Musʿab Talʿat ibn Fuʾad al-Hilwani. 1st ed. Cairo: al-Faruq al-Hadītha li-l-Tibaʿa wa-l-Nashr, 2004.

Ibn al-Salah, ʿUthman. Maʿrifat Anwaʿ ʿIlm al-Hadīth [Knowledge of the Categories of Hadīth Science]. Edited by ʿAbd al-Latif al-Humaym and Mahir Yasin al-Fahl. 1st ed. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2002.

Jaques, R. Kevin. Ibn Hajar. Makers of Islamic Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press / I.B. Tauris, 2009.

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Sahih Muslim [The Authentic Collection of Muslim]. Edited by Muhammad Fuʾad ʿAbd al-Baqi. Cairo: Matbaʿat ʿIsa al-Babi al-Halabi wa-Sharikahu, 1955. Reprinted Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-Turath al-ʿArabi.

Al-Nasaʾi, Ahmad. al-Sunan al-Kubra [The Major Sunan]. Edited and Hadīth verified by Hasan ʿAbd al-Munʿim Shalabi, 1st ed. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risala, 2001.

Orofino, Elisa. “Extremism (s) and their Fight against Modernity: The Case of Islamists and Eco-Radicals.” Religions 13, no. 8 (2022): 683. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080683.

Al-Qarafi, Ahmad. Anwar al-Buruq fi Anwaʾ al-Furuq [The Radiant Lights on Subtle Legal Distinctions]. Beirut: ʿAlam al-Kutub, n.d.

Ramadani, Muhammad ibn Ramadan. Araʾ Muhammad Rashid Rida fi Qadaya al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya min Khilal Majallat al-Manar: Dirasa Tahliliyya Naqdiyya [Muhammad Rashid Rida’s Views on Issues of the Prophetic Sunnah through Majallat al-Manar: An Analytical and Critical Study]. 1st ed. Cairo: Majallat al-Bayan, 2013.

Rida, Muhammad Rashid. “AHadīth al-Dajjal wa-Intiqad Baʿd al-Najdiyyin” [Hadīths of the Antichrist and a Critique of Some Najdis]. Majallat al-Manar 28, no. 2 (1927): 474–476.

—. “Al-Intiqad ʿala al-Manar” [A Critique of al-Manar]. Majallat al-Manar 14, no. 8 (1911): 620–625.

—. “Al-Manar wa-Majallat Mashyakhat al-Azhar: al-Maqal al-Tasiʿ—Istishkal al-ʿUlamaʾ li-Hadīth al-Shams wa-Ajwibatuhum ʿAnhu” [Al-Manar and the Journal of the Shaykhdom of al-Azhar: Article Nine—Scholars’ Objections to the Hadīth of the Sun and Their Responses]. Majallat al-Manar 32, no. 9 (1932): 785–792.

Rida, Muhammad Rashid. “Al-Naskh wa-Akhbar al-Ahad” [Abrogation and Solitary Reports]. Majallat al-Manar 12, no. 9 (1909): 693–698.

—. “Al-Sunna wa-Sihhatuha wa-l-Shariʿa wa-Matanatuha: Radd ʿala Duʿat al-Nasraniyya bi-Misr” [The Sunnah, Its Authenticity, and the Strength of the Shariʿa: A Response to Christian Missionaries in Egypt]. Majallat al-Manar 19, no. 8 (1916): 97–109.

—. “Butlan al-Difaʿ ʿan Jarh Kaʿb al-Ahbar wa-Wahb ibn Munabbih: al-Intiqad al-Rabiʿ—al-Ihtijaj bima La Yuhtajju Bihi” [The Invalidity of Defending the Discrediting of Kaʿb al-Ahbar and Wahb ibn Munabbih: The Fourth Critique—Appealing to That Which Is Not Admissible as Proof]. Majallat al-Manar 27 no. 6 (1926): 610–618.

—. “Fatawa al-Manar” [Legal Opinions of al-Manar]. Majallat al-Manar 29, no. 9 (1927): 37–51.

—. Tafsir al-Manar [The Commentary of al-Manar]. Cairo: al-Hayʾa al-Misriyya al-ʿAmma li-l-Kitab, 1990.

Ryad, Umar., and Emad Mohamed. “A Topic Modelling of Muslim Religious Reform in the Colonial Age: A Computational and Digital Study of al-Manar (1898–1935).” Journal of Cultural Analytics 9, no. 3 (2024): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.22148/001c.116225.

Salman, Abdul Matin bin, Yusuf Baihaqi, and Kusnadi. “Redefining Khabar al-Ahad Based on Rashid Rida’s Rational Approach in al-Manar.” Journal of Qurʾanic and Hadīth Studies 23, no. 2 (2022): 219–236. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v23i2.2812.

Al-Tahawi, Ahmad. Sharh Mushkil al-Athar [Commentary on Problematic Reports]. Edited by Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾut. 1st ed. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risala, 1994.

Wasman, Mesraini, and Suwendi. “A Critical Approach to Prophetic Traditions: Contextual Criticism in Understanding Hadīth.” Al-Jamiʿah: Journal of Islamic Studies 61, no. 1 (2023): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2023.611.1-17.