Muhammad Ābid al-Sindī (d. 1257/1841) and His Understanding of Hadith

This work addresses the life of Muhammad Ābid al-Sindī who is one of the most important scholars of the Islamic World in the 13/19th century and his place in the of hadith. He is one of the acclaimed muhaddiths who surged from the Sind region in the last half-century of Islamic domination in the Indian subcontinent. Muhammad Ābid al-Sindī was born in Sind and he got his first education in that city, which was one of the centers of knowledge in the period. On the other hand he has been in Hijaz, Yemen, and Egypt on several occasions. He spent much of his life in Yemen and the Hijaz. Later, Sindī has settled in Madinah and was appointed to the office of the head of ulama class and he devoted himself to teaching and compilation activities. His studies, especially about the science of hadith in Madinah, have been instrumental to construct scientific contacts among many regions, specifically between the Hijaz and Indian regions by means of his students. As a matter of fact, many hadiths in the Indian subcontinent reaches Sindī in terms of isnad. In the thesis, firstly, the general situation of the region where Sindī was born is studied. And then the political, social and cultural situation of the 12th and 13th Hijri centuries in which Muhammad Ābid al-Sindī lived was examined. Later, his life, his scientific activities, teachers, students and works were mentioned. Sindī had benefited from the scholars in the regions he visited, on the occasion of the various scientific journey (rıhla). In addition, he also taught almost seventy students. In this study, some of the bioghraphies of his family members, his teachers, and students who got an ijaza from him were mentioned briefly to emphasize the scientific environment in which he was educated. Besides hadith discipline, his works in various fields have been dealt with so that it will contribute to the recognition of his scientific personality. In the last part of the study, hadith works attained were introduced and their characteristics were examined. Starting from this point, the contribution of Sindī within the scope of the science of hadith and his traditionist way of thinking was examined. As a hadith scholar who attached importance to the isnad system, he was the owner of ali isnad (exalted isnad). In the thesis, this aspect of Sindī has also been tried to be determined by the references of the scholars. Although he belonged to the Hanafi school which is transferred from Sind to Hijaz, he was separated from the Sind originated group of ulama. He has preferred the practice with the hadith as a Hanafi jurist and traditionist, and applied the jurisprudence to the hadith by directing his intention to figh al-hadith. In order to examine his mentioned aspect, his method in his commentary al-Mavāhibu'l-latīfe annotation written on Musnad-ı Ebu Hanīfe was studied.