المنهج الحديثي في معالجة التعارض الظاهري بين الروايات دراسة مقارنة بين ابن قتيبة في تأويل مختلف الحديث والطحاوي في مشكل الآثار

Abstract

The science of interpreting seemingly contradictory hadiths and resolving apparent conflicts between religious texts is among the most precise and profound sciences of the Prophetic Sunnah. It plays a crucial role in preserving Islamic law from perceived contradictions and safeguarding texts from misunderstanding or perceived conflict with the objectives of Islamic law or with other texts. Scholars have devoted considerable attention to this discipline since the earliest centuries, recognizing that apparent differences in hadiths do not undermine the authority of the Sunnah. Rather, they represent a scholarly field for testing comprehension skills, the precision of deduction, and the ability to reconcile, prioritize, and harmonize conflicting evidence. Several foundational works emerged in this field, most notably "Ta'wil Mukhtalif al-Hadith" by Imam Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari (d. 276 AH) and "Sharh Mushkil al-Athar" by Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah al-Tahawi (d. 321 AH). These are among the earliest systematic works that addressed issues related to hadith, refuted claims of contradiction, and defended the Prophetic Sunnah against innovators and proponents of extreme rationalist ideologies.

This research aims to conduct a comparative analytical study of these two works by introducing the authors, clarifying their scholarly standing, reviewing their teachers and students, and examining their respective works. It then explores each author's methodology in writing their book, their approach to presenting issues, and their mechanisms for resolving apparent contradictions between hadiths. This research also seeks to highlight the scientific and methodological characteristics of each book, demonstrating its strengths and distinctive features, while discussing the most prominent criticisms leveled against them in light of the principles of hadith scholars and the foundations of legal reasoning within the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah (Sunni Muslims).

The importance of this research stems from its shedding light on the methodological development in addressing the problem of hadith between the third and fourth centuries AH, and revealing the differences in aims and methods between the two schools: the school of Ibn Qutaybah, which focused on a general refutation of those who criticized the Sunnah, and the school of al-Tahawi, which was characterized by thoroughness, detail, the synthesis of narrations, and the connection of hadith to jurisprudence and legal reasoning. Furthermore, the research contributes to raising awareness of the importance of this field in contemporary hadith studies and responding to the problems raised about the Prophetic Sunnah in modernist and Orientalist discourse.

The research adopts the descriptive analytical approach, with the benefit of the comparative approach, through the analysis of the original texts of the two books, and referring to the explanations of scholars and relevant modern studies, in order to reach scientific results that highlight the cognitive value of these two works and their status in serving the Prophetic Sunnah and its sciences.