Takhaṣṣuṣ fī al-Ḥadīth

Core courses provide a foundational grounding in the essential disciplines of hadith studies. These include:

• History of Hadith – Tracing the evolution of hadith compilation and transmission across various historical periods.
• Hadith Sciences (ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth) – Covering classical methodologies for authentication, categorization, and critical assessment of hadith.
• Hadith Methodology – Examining traditional principles of hadith verification, transmission, and narrator evaluation (jarḥ wa taʿdīl).
• Hadith Criticism – Studying advanced critical techniques applied in hadith analysis, including textual scrutiny and chain evaluation (dirāsat al-asānīd, ʿilal al-ḥadīth).

Elective courses provide students with the flexibility to specialize in specific subfields of hadith studies, allowing them to develop expertise tailored to their research interests. Offerings may include:

• Hadith Commentary (Sharḥ al-Ḥadīth) – Analysis of classical and contemporary interpretations of hadith.
• Manuscript Editing (Taḥqīq al-Makhṭūṭāt) – Training in critical editorial techniques for hadith-related manuscripts.
• Comparative Hadith Critical Methodology – Exploring the distinct approaches of various Islamic scholarly traditions in hadith authentication.
• Prosopography (Rijāl & Ṭabaqāt) – Examining biographical dictionaries and narrators’ reliability across different hadith schools.
• Islamic History (Tārīkh al-Islām) – Studying historical contexts that shaped hadith transmission and compilation.

Research-based courses allow students to engage in original scholarship by conducting in-depth investigations into their chosen area of specialization. These courses train students in:

• Hadith Research Methodology – Equipping students with the tools to conduct rigorous primary-source research.
• Advanced Thematic Hadith Studies – Investigating the legal, theological, and ethical dimensions of hadith texts.

• Specialized Research Seminars – Facilitating peer-reviewed scholarly discussions and academic writing workshops.

Required Readings: 

• al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil by al-Rāmahurmuzī (selections)
• Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī (selections)
• al-Madkhal īlā ʿIlm al-Sunan by al-Bayhaqī (selections)
• al-Ilmāʿ by al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (selections)
• Muqaddimat al-Tamhīd by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (selections)
• al-Risālah al-Mustaṭrafah by Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Kattānī
• Lamaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Sunnah wa ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah
• Nashʾat ʿIlm al-Muṣṭalaḥ wa-l-Ḥadd al-Fāṣil bayna al-Mutaqaddimīn wa-l-Mutaʾakhkhirīn by Muḥammad ʿIṣām ʿĪdū
• Min al-Nabī ilā al-Bukhārī by Aḥmad Snobar
• ʿIlm-i Ḥadīth par ʿAṣr Ḥāḍir kī Jadīd Mashaqqatēn by Khālid Maḥmūd
• On Schacht’s Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence by Muḥammad Muṣṭafā al-Aʿẓam

Required Readings: 

• al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil by al-Rāmahurmuzī (selections)
• Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī (selections)
• al-Madkhal īlā ʿIlm al-Sunan by al-Bayhaqī (selections)
• al-Ilmāʿ by al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (selections)
• Muqaddimat al-Tamhīd by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (selections)
• al-Risālah al-Mustaṭrafah by Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Kattānī
• Lamaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Sunnah wa ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah
• Nashʾat ʿIlm al-Muṣṭalaḥ wa-l-Ḥadd al-Fāṣil bayna al-Mutaqaddimīn wa-l-Mutaʾakhkhirīn by Muḥammad ʿIṣām ʿĪdū
• Min al-Nabī ilā al-Bukhārī by Aḥmad Snobar
• ʿIlm-i Ḥadīth par ʿAṣr Ḥāḍir kī Jadīd Mashaqqatēn by Khālid Maḥmūd
• On Schacht’s Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence by Muḥammad Muṣṭafā al-Aʿẓam

Required Readings: 

• Sharh Mushkil al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī, or al-Muʿtaṣar by al-Malaṭī
• Ikhtilāf al-Ḥadīth by al-Shāfiʿī
• al-ʿIbar fi Akhbār man Ghabar by al-Dhahabī
• Shadharāt al-Dhahab by Ibn ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī
• al-Ajwibah al-Fāḍilah by ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Laknawī
• Manhaj Qabūl al-Akhbār by Muḥammad ʿIṣām ʿĪdū
• al-Usus al-ʿAqliyyah li Manhaj Naqd al-Muḥaddithīn by al-Sharīf Ḥātim al-ʿAwnī
• Constructive Critics, Hadith Literature, and the Articulation of Sunni Islam by Scott C. Lucas
•  Analyzing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal, Exegetical and Maghazi Hadith by Harald Motzki 

Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia is the founder and director of Darul Qasim College, and a distinguished Islamic scholar, theologian, and mentor, recognized for his expertise in Hadith studies, Islamic legal theory, and philosophy. 

Born in Gujarat, India, Shaykh Amin pursued traditional Islamic studies in India and Pakistan, memorizing the Qur’an and receiving ijāzah in Hadith sciences from leading scholars, including Qārī Muḥammad Ṭayyib al-Qāsimī. In 1984, he moved to Chicago, where he later established Darul Qasim in 1998, addressing the need for rigorous scholarly training in the Islamic sciences.

Shaykh Amin has contributed extensively to Islamic finance, Qur’anic exegesis, and bioethics, advising institutions such as the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan. He has authored and translated works on Islamic finance, legal theory, and hadith methodology.

Dr. Issam Eido is a lecturer at Darul Qasim College and an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. He previously served as a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Before the Syrian uprising, he was a lecturer in the Department of Quran and Hadith Studies at the University of Damascus. Dr. Eido’s research focuses on the Qur’an in late antiquity, Hadith studies, and Sufism. He earned his Ph.D. from Damascus University, with his dissertation examining the criteria of Hadith authentication among early Islamic scholars. 

He has also been involved in initiatives like the Dalalah Institute in Damascus, which provided education in classical Arabic and Islamic sciences to international students. He has published works such as “Early Hadīth Scholars and their Criteria of Hadīth Criticism,” which examines the methodologies used by early Hadith scholars in authenticating prophetic traditions. 

Dr. Eido has also authored several significant works in Arabic, contributing to the study of Hadith sciences and Islamic epistemology. His notable Arabic publications include:

• “The Emergence of Hadith Terminology and the Defining Line Between Early and Later Scholars” (نشأة علم المصطلح والحد الفاصل بين المتقدمين والمتأخرين).
• “The Methodology of Hadith Scholars in Accepting Reports” (منهج قبول الأخبار عند المحدثين) 

Mawlana Bilal Ali is a scholar of Hadith Studies, Islamic Law, and Theology, currently serving as Chair of the Department of Hadith and Chair of the Academic Advisory Committee at Darul Qasim College. His academic journey spans both Islamic and Western disciplines, providing him with a unique interdisciplinary perspective on Islamic scholarship.

He holds an undergraduate degree in Applied Behavioral Sciences from National-Louis University and completed his Dars-i Niẓāmī studies at Jāmiʿat Dār al-ʿUlūm Karachi, where he received certification (ijāzah) in Hadith from Mufti Muḥammad Taqī al-ʿUthmānī, Mufti Muḥammad Rafīʿ al-ʿUthmānī, and other leading scholars. His specialization-level research in Hadith studies was supervised by ʿAllāmah Dr. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmānī (al-Chishtī).

Mawlana Bilal’s research interests include early Hadith methodology and nomenclature, Hadith critical methodology, Ḥanafī legal theory, curriculum development and pedagogy, mental health, and Islamic ethics. He has contributed extensively to academic publications, including papers and encyclopedia entries on Hadith, Islamic law, and bioethics.

Mawlana Abdurrehman Haji is a specialist in Hadith and ʿUlūm al-Ḥadith and currently serves as a lecturer in the Department of Hadith at Darul Qasim College. His academic journey spans North America and the Indian subcontinent, where he pursued rigorous training in Islamic scholarship with a specialization in critical Hadith studies.

He began his religious education at Ṣuffah Educational Guidance, completing the memorization of the Holy Qurʾān in 2005. He then undertook formal ʿĀlimiyyah studies at Dar al-ʿUlūm al-Madania (Buffalo, NY) and Dār al-ʿUlūm Canada (Chatham, Ontario) before advancing to Jāmiʿat Maẓāhir al-ʿUlūm (Saharanpur, India) for postgraduate specialization (takhaṣṣuṣ) in Hadith studies.

At Jāmiʿat Maẓāhir al-ʿUlūm, he spent four years studying Hadith and its sciences under the eminent hadith scholar Shaykh Muḥammad Yūnus al-Jawnpūrī (may Allah have mercy on him) and other esteemed teachers. He also received general ijāzah (authorization) to transmit hadith from notable scholars, including Shaykh Iftikhār al-Ḥasan al-Kāndhlawī and Mufti Aḥmad Ḥasan Khān Tonkī (may Allah have mercy on them).

With expertise in hadith transmission, methodology, and critical analysis, Mawlana Abdurrehman plays a key role in training students in hadith sciences at Darul Qasim College. His teaching focuses on the principles of hadith authentication, chain analysis, and classical methodologies.

Mawlana Muhiuddin Khan is a lecturer in Hadith Studies and Islamic Theology at Darul Qasim College, specializing in advanced hadith methodology, Islamic legal theory, and critical engagement with classical texts.

He memorized the Qur’an in 2007 and graduated from the ʿĀlimiyyah program from the Institute of Islamic Education (IIE) in 2013. In 2014, he pursued postgraduate studies in Hadith methodology and criticism at the Dār al-ʿUlūm in Deoband, where he trained under Mawlana Niʿmat Allāh al-Aʿẓamī, Mufti Saʿīd Aḥmad Pālanpūrī, and Mawlana ʿAbdullāh Maʿrūfī. Upon completion, he received authorization (ijāzah) to teach hadith sciences.

He completed the Advanced Diploma in Western Tradition and Islamic Philosophy and Theology from Blogging Theology Academy (BTA) and is continuing further studies in the same field. Since joining Darul Qasim College in 2022, he has been teaching introductory Islamic theology and advanced Hadith critical methodology, with a particular focus on Islamic legal theory. His teaching philosophy centers on cultivating critical thinking and fostering a deep appreciation for the classical Islamic scholarly tradition.

Students enrolled in the program will have full access to both libraries at Darul Qasim College, located at the Regency and Trillium campuses. These libraries house a vast collection of classical and contemporary hadith literature, including the preferred editions of the primary Hadith compilations, their most critical commentaries, biographical and prosopographical works, and any other technical manuals in specialized Hadith studies.

In addition to physical collections, students will have access to digital libraries, catalogs, and academic article storage sites, enabling them to engage in contemporary research and comparative textual studies.

To facilitate their research and writing, students will be provided with:

• Dedicated Workstations – Quiet, designated workspaces for advanced study and thesis research.
• Computer Labs – Equipped with essential software and access to online research databases.
• Digital Research Tools – Resources for manuscript editing, citation management, and textual analysis.

Beyond library and research facilities, Darul Qasim College will provide funding and opportunities for:

• Guest Lectures – Invitations to renowned scholars and researchers in the field of Hadith studies.
• Conferences and Seminars – Exposure to academic discourse and contemporary research in Islamic scholarship.
• Hadith-Related Field Trips – Visits to Islamic libraries, research institutions, and manuscript collections.