The science of Hadith studies the sayings ascribed to and reports about the Prophet Muhammad, uniformly called hadith, 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. The Department, at the undergraduate and graduate
level, focuses particularly on the nature, efficiency, and problems of the sources of hadith and traditional hadith methodology. Until recently graduate level studies mainly focused on the identification and discussion of classical hadith issues. More recent studies, however, have centred 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, the department of Hadith attaches great importance to interdisciplinary approaches and methods.