Orientalists’ perspectives on hadith

This article aims to explain the views of the Orientalists about the Prophet hadiths, especially in terms of their origins and authenticities. This study begins with the history of hadith studies among the Orientalists. Continued with the discussion of the Orientalist attitude toward Islam and hadith, their views on the definition of hadith and sunnah, their views on isnad and matn of hadith, their views on the codification of hadith, and their views on the hadith as a source of Islamic law. In studying the hadith of the Prophet, the Orientalists began with a skeptic attitude that doubted the truth of hadith coming from the Prophet. They concluded that all hadiths were not derived from the Prophet but were fabrications of the Muslims in the first and second centuries of Higra which were then relied on the Prophet to obtain justification. The term of hadith and sunnah also did not come from the Prophet and the isnad and matn of hadiths are all false. Similarly, the codification of the hadith had never occurred in the time of the Prophet but in the second century Higra. Therefore, the hadith can not be used as a source of Islamic law and Islamic teachings.