A Critical Study of G. H. A Juynboll's Methodology in the Study of Hadith

Abstract

This article analyzes methodology of an Orientalist, G. H. A Juynboll in Hadīth. He is one of those western scholars who has focused on the second primary source of Islamic Law and has developed skeptical theories related to its authenticity and provenance. He relied on early scholars' theories in this discipline and supported their thesis with a bulk of arguments from the early Classical Islamic Sources. A follow-up of his methodology reveals some scientific methodological errors in his studies on Hadīth that led him to a false conclusion. This study discusses the loopholes in his methodology and supports every point with illustrative examples from his works, revealing that Juynboll followed a selective method in his studies and reached his desired/concocted conclusion.

Keywords

• hadīth
• orientalism
• methodology
• theories
• conclusion