Dirāyat Al-Hadith

A great amount of effort has been made to make the best benefit out of tradition. On one hand, the collections of hadith have been compiled through gathering as many hadith as possible and organizing them in the best way possible. It has been carried out in a variety of topics with different methods and in different words. On the other hand, in order to reach a more comprehensive understanding of this invaluable heritage, hadith researchers have tried to develop other knowledge areas around hadith.
Derayat al-hadith (the science related to understanding hadith) is a branch of studies generated during the initial centuries after the advent of Islam in order to organize the recognition of Hadith. The first independent written document in this regard dates back to the fourth century after Islam. This collection is an attempt to offer the discussions in this domain in an organized way, and based on the scientific viewpoints of both Shia and Sunni scholars.
To discuss each one of the hadith categories, the literal meaning is firstly provided and afterwards, the idiomatic meaning, the definition explanation, examples, the religious judgment and bibliography of the examples, and in some specific cases some charts are made available. The contents of the book are arranged in four chapters with such discussions as defining derayah (understanding), the position, history and its sources; the basic concepts of this field of study through explaining 15 related terms; units of khabar (a type of hadith) and 48 types of these hadith units, credibility of tradition; characteristics and conditions of the narrators; different types of common and similar names and finally the different hadith-related books. A summary, some exercises and suggestions for further research are provided at the end of each chapter.