Department of Hadith studies the sayings, ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad, and reports about him and the historical development of their transmission chains (sanad) and texts (matn). Its main research areas are the source value and authenticity of hadith and sunnah, their transmission, recording, collection, and classification, and the religious, political, and socio-cultural variables affecting these processes. This program focuses particularly on the nature, efficiency, and problems of the sources of hadith and traditional hadith methodology. M. Tayyib Okiç, the founder of the Department, and M. Fuat Sezgin produced the first examples of modern studies in this field. Talat Koçyiğit and other members of the Department later made significant contributions to the field through their pioneering studies concerning the history and methodology of Hadith. M. Said Hatiboğlu led the formation of a critical approach to hadith sources with his research starting in the 1960s, an approach that has since defined the essential character of hadith studies at the Faculty. Until recently program mainly focused on the identification and discussion of classical hadith issues. More recent studies, however, have centered particularly on the problematic issues of the field and on searching for new methodologies in understanding and interpreting the hadith. The main characteristic of these studies is their emphasis on how to evaluate the hadith and their history and literature in a scientific manner and on what kind of conceptual and theoretical system can be employed in this evaluation. In this context, this program attaches great importance to interdisciplinary approaches and methods.
