Muqaddimah of ibn Salah

Course Overview

Kitab Ma’rifat anwa’ Ilm al-Hadith, better known as the Muqaddimah of Ibn al-Salah, is a well-known intermediate-level text on the science of Usul al-hadith. For students familiar with the Arabic language and who have covered beginner’s texts in hadith methodology, this course provides an excellent opportunity to further one’s understanding of the science.

Uthman b. ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Salah al-Shahrazuri was a Kurdish-Iraqi scholar who specialised in hadith studies. He is known to have held notable teaching positions in various centres of learning in the Muslim world, including in Damascus, Syria and Jerusalem, Palestine. The Muqadimmah is said to have begun as a series of lectures which then became ordered into a book. The final manuscript draws on, and develops, the arguments in various prior works, including al-Hakim al-Nisaburi’s similarly titled work Kitab Ma’rifat Ulum al-Hadith.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• To become aware of the main concepts and arguments expounded on in the text
• To develop an intermediate-level understanding of Usul al-Hadith
• To gain an insight into key features of the text and the author’s approach to the science