A critical investigation of Madelung’s Method in understanding the accounts about the successor of the holy prophet (pbhm) based on

Khani Moghaddam, Mahyar

doi:10.22034/jep.2016.63027

A critical investigation of Madelung’s Method in understanding the accounts about the successor of the holy prophet (pbhm) based on "succession of Mohammad: a study on the first Caliphate"

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mahyar Khani Moghaddam

University of Quranic sciences and Hadith

10.22034/jep.2016.63027

Abstract

The researcher adopts a descriptive-analytical approach towards Madelung’s method in understanding accounts related to the successor of holy prophet of Islam. The results obtained by the researcher show that although there are some strengths and multiple flaws found in Madelung’s approach. The strength are paying attention to religious affiliation of the narrator, dispelling the myth of some orientalists regarding the falsehood of narrations, rejecting the false premises and establishing the root of related hadiths based on evidence. However, there are some flaws present in Madelung’s method such as: failing to have exact reference to sources in some hadiths, incomprehensiveness of sources, failing to pay attention to singularities and combinations of Ghadir Hadith, misinterpreting the cause of Ghadir Hadith and false line of reasoning resulting from lack of proper attention to the causes of an account. These flaws all result in expressing unjustified, wrong and confusing deductions about the successor of holy prophet.

Keywords

orientalists

Madelung

succession of prophet

Imamate