An Appraisal of Imām ’Al-cAynī’s Contributions to the Explanation of Ḥadīth through the Use of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt: CUmdatu’l-Qārī in Focus

Abstract

Understanding Ḥadīth is important because it enhances the understanding of Islamic teachings. It is a phenomenon that indirectly prevents misunderstanding of the message of Ḥadīth which as a result was the source of religious misapplication. It is a common tradition of scholars of Ḥadīth commentary to facilitate Ḥadīth understanding and justify the viability of their position on the meanings of the message of Ḥadīth with cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt (science of variant readings). One of the commentators who found satisfaction in the practice of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt as substantial evidence to buttress their positions in facilitating the message of Ḥadīth is Imām Badru-d-Dīn ’Al-cAynī (d. 855 A.H) Therefore, this paper aims at examining the contributions of Imām Badru-d-Dīn ’Al-cAynī in the practice of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt to Ḥadīth understanding as encapsulated in his work, cUmdatu’l-Qārī. The methodologies adopted are descriptive and analytical. Descriptive method is employed to enhance the presentation of origin and development of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt and analytical method is engaged to facilitate the study in analysing Al-cAynī’s practice of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt to Ḥadīth understanding. The study revealed that cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt remains one of the essential tools for interpreting Ḥadīth, which took into consideration the diverse dialect and intonation of the audience and provides a pathway towards understanding the contextual detail. The paper concludes by advocating for the application of cIlmu’l-Qirā’āt in order to attain a high level of comprehension of the message of Ḥadīth.