The Semantic Implications of the Term Ayah or “One of the Signs of Allah in the Works of Imām al-Daequan: An Inductive, Analytical, and Comparative Study

Abstract

Abstract

This study examines the term “Ayah” or “One of the Signs of Allah” as used by Imām Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Dāraquṭnī, considering it one of the critical terms that requires clarification of its semantic significance and intended meaning.

The study adopts an inductive approach to identify all instances in which this term occurs in the works of Imām al-Dāraquṭnī. It then employs an analytical approach to examine its meaning and linguistic and critical context, followed by a comparative approach to compare al-Dāraquṭnī’s use of the term with the methodologies of the early scholars of hadith criticism.

This study contributes to clarifying an aspect of the terminology used by hadith critics whose statements are relied upon in the sciences of al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl.