The online seminar series conducted by IRCICA and Imam Bukhari International Scientific Research Center, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, hosted Assoc. Prof. Hikmet Gültekin from Uşak University (Türkiye), Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Hadith Studies Program, on 29 August 2024. The lecture, titled “Explanation of the Hadith in the example of the work of Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Is’haq Gulabadi”, focused on the key issue of correct interpretation of the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammadsaw in the contemporary world. The lecturer spoke of the main guiding principles and ever-lasting criteria recommended by scholars for properly understanding the Hadith, which must be done in the light of Qur’anic verses by taking into consideration the persons, places, events and circumstances that surrounded the sayings and statements at the moment they were pronounced, i.e. with a knowledge of the story of each Hadith. Dr. Gültekin gave numerous examples of Hadith and their varying interpretations, underlining that the understanding or explanation must be based on the present-time equivalents of the concepts of the Prophet’s time. The lecturer frequently referred to the famous Sufi Hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Is’haq Gulabadi (Kalabadi), who is known to have compiled 223 Hadith, and his system of interpretation of the Hadith based on logical reasoning. Gültekin also spoke of the translation he is currently conducting on one of Gulabadi’s works.
