Muhammad Mustafa al-A'zamî's criticism about orientalists

Orientalism is one of the most popular topics in Islamic sciences, especially in the field of ḥadīth. The views of Orientalists have long influenced studies in Islamic sciences, either directly or indirectly. One of the main reasons for the increase in the current influence of Orientalism in the field of hadith is the mutual dialectic of heavy criticism of hadiths by the Orientalists such as Goldziher, Juynboll and Schacht. Muhammed Mustafa al-A'zamî was one of the first to follow the work of orientalism in the field of hadith from the Islamic world. He analyzed the works of both Goldziher and Schacht, especially in the field of hadith, and tried to interpret them and refute their theories such as e silentio and the backward development of isnāds. A'zamî's views, especially his criticisms of Schacht, are important that they are cited in many books by Turkish scholars. Although the number of studies on orientalism in the field of hadith in Turkish academia seems to be few, in fact, very high-quality articles and books have emerged. However, we can say that not enough studies have been conducted in the field due to various reasons such as language problems. In this study, first of all, a brief presentation was made about orientalism. After this section, A'zamî's criticisms of the orientalists' views were discussed. His views on orientalists, especially Schacht, his criticisms and the methods he followed in his works were shown. Then, a general idea about the studies on hadith and Orientalism in Turkish academia and A'zamî's influence on the field was presented.