The Concept of Uniqueness in Imam Al-Bayhaqi’s Book Shu'ab Al-Iman: A Theoretical Study with Practical Examples

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the concept of uniqueness in hadith literature in general, and specifically its interpretation by Imam Al-Bayhaqi through a study of practical examples from his book Shu'ab Al-Iman (The Branches of Faith). For the study purposes, the inductive and analytical methodologies were employed. The study consists of an introduction and two sections. The first section explores the concept of uniqueness in both its lexical and contextual meaning, its applications among scholars of hadith in general, and specifically Al-Bayhaqi's persepctive. The second section presents practical examples of hadiths judged uniquely by Imam Al-Bayhaqi in his book Shu'ab Al-Iman. The key findings revealed that Imam Al-Bayhaqi's concept of uniqueness did not significantly differ from other scholars in this field. The Imam's judgments were typically based on the absence of supporting narrators for the unique hadith, or the presence of unreliable narrators. Although early scholars did not formalize the term uniqueness in dedicated works, they showed interest in hadiths judged uniquely.