Mastering the Core Islamic Sciences: Hadith

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About this Event

Hadith science sits at the very heart of the Islamic intellectual tradition — yet its place within the broader map of Islamic disciplines has always been contested. In this seminar, Shaykh Issam Eido — a traditionally trained muḥaddith and academic scholar — guides participants through the architecture of the discipline: what it is, how it relates to kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh, and what its study actually demands.

Drawing on decades of traditional training under masters such as Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn ʿItr and on his doctoral research into the criteria of early hadith critics, Shaykh Issam offers a rare synthesis of transmitted and analytical learning.

Whether you are a student mapping your path through the Islamic sciences or a practitioner seeking to ground your knowledge more securely, this seminar provides an indispensable orientation.

Program Learning Outcomes:

1. Define hadith science and accurately identify its core discipline alongside its major sub-genres.
2. Situate hadith science within the map of Islamic sciences, explaining its relationship to kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh.
3. Articulate the key debates around methodology in classical hadith criticism — whether scholars employed a single criterion or multiple, competing criteria.
4. Identify the foundational and supplementary texts of the hadith curriculum and understand the rationale behind their sequencing.
5. Engage with emerging epistemological questions in contemporary hadith studies.

Agenda

🕑: 07:00 PM
Opening and Quran
Host: Talal Al-Azem
🕑: 07:10 PM
What Is Hadith Science? Mapping the Discipline
Host: Issam Eido

Info: An introduction to the scope of hadith science — its core, its sub-genres, and its place within the broader map of Islamic sciences.

🕑: 07:30 PM
Hadith and the Other Sciences: Kalām, Uṣūl, and Beyond
Host: Issam Eido

Info: An exploration of how hadith criticism intersects with — and differs from — disciplines such as kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh, and why these relationships matter for the student.

🕑: 07:50 PM
Break
🕑: 08:00 PM
Methods of Criticism: One or Many?
Host: Issam Eido

Info: A precise look at whether classical hadith scholars operated with a single unified methodology or a plurality of criteria — drawing on the speaker's own doctoral research.

🕑: 08:20 PM
Curriculum and Epistemology: What Should Students Study?
Host: Issam Eido

Info: A practical guide to core and supplementary texts, a suggested curriculum for hadith studies, and new epistemological vistas opening up in the field.

🕑: 08:50 PM
Q&A
Host: Issam Eido & Talal Al-Azem
🕑: 09:00 PM
End