Irregular Hadith According to Imam Shafi'i: An Applied Study

Irregular hadith is one of the most complex aspects of Principles of Hadith. Hence, it can only be effectively addressed by the leading lights in the field of Principles of Hadith as well as Jurisprudence. However, Imam Shafi’i has been known to be among eminent scholars of Islamic Jurisprudence but is not known among the masses as one of the outstanding scholars of Hadith. The researchers therefore have made efforts in this paper to delineate the methods of detecting Irregular Hadith through an applied study according to Imam Shafi'i. To attain this, written materials of Imam Shafi'i on Hadith and Jurisprudence have been briefly scrutinized due to the nature of this article. The findings depict that methods of detecting Irregular Hadith according to Imam Shafi'i incorporate the contradiction between the hadith of a trustworthy narrator and that of another narrator(s) who is more reliable than him or more than him in number or closer to their teacher than him. It is further discovered that Irregular Hadith is an integral part of defect in Hadith ('Illah). The indication of defect in Irregular Hadith is divided into two namely: weak indication and strong indication. Imam al-Shafi'i may interpret an Irregular Hadith of which its indication of defect is weak to be in line with the correct narration, such as the narration of Abu al-Zubayr in saying: "He did not conceive it anything", or it is likely that the two narrations are true, for example the hadith of Ibn Shihab regarding the virtue of early attending Friday prayers. Conversely, if the indication of its defect is strong, Imam al-Shafi'i rejects it outright and its defect cannot be corroborated. The significance of this research is evident in the applied study of theory of Irregular Hadith. This research work has greatly contributed to Science of Hadith by discovering two types of indication of defect in Irregular Hadith.