This work is devoted to the demonstration of the methodology of learning and evaluating Hadīth in the first century of Islam. The primary intention of the present study is to chronicle the emergence of the methodology of learning and evaluating Hadīth, and to demonstrate its features in the first century of Islam. It is conducted in the light of the Qur’ān, Hadīth and other relevant statements of early scholars.
The study consists of an introduction, two chapters and a conclusion. The introduction indicates the motive that lies behind choosing the issue of methodology of learning and evaluating Hadīth in the first century of Islam as a subject for research, and demonstrates the method according to which the thesis is undertaken.
The first chapter is assigned to the demonstration of the principles of transmission and standards regarding the criticism of transmission during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. It attempts to identify some principles and standards from the two main sources of Islam, i.e. the Holy Qur’ān and the Noble Hadīth.
The second chapter pursues similar features in the statements and practices of the prominent scholars in the first century of Islam. It also deals with some other issues related to the Principles of Hadīth; such as methods of receiving hadīths, forms used to report them, transmitting the verbatim words or the gist of hadīths and the question of the writing down of hadīths.
Finally, the conclusion presents the findings that the present study has reached. It shows that the main aspects of the ‘Principles of Hadīth’, that represent the methodology of learning and evaluating hadīths, are enshrined in the teachings of the Qur’ān and the Hadīth. They were well established even before the emergence of fabricated hadīths and the early scholars benefited from them in learning and examining hadīths