Makkah: Journal Of Islamic Studies
Vol. 1 No. 4 (2025): Desember

THE IDEOLOGIZATION OF CALIPHATE HADITHS: TEXTUAL CRITICISM AND POLITICAL AUTHORITY IN CONTEMPORARY ISLAM

irpan saputra (UIN IB Padang)
Rasyid Alhafizh (UIN Imam Bonjol)



Article Info

Publish Date
21 Dec 2025

Abstract

This study examines the ideologization of caliphate-related hadiths in contemporary Islamic political discourse and its implications for the construction of political legitimacy. It argues that the central challenge does not lie in the authenticity of the hadith corpus, but in the interpretive frameworks through which these narrations are selectively appropriated and mobilized. Employing a qualitative library-based research design, the study integrates classical hadith methodology with contemporary political analysis. Primary data consist of hadiths on leadership, obedience, and political authority drawn from major Sunni canonical collections, while secondary sources include classical commentaries and modern scholarship on political Islam. Through sanad evaluation, matan criticism, and critical discourse analysis, the research demonstrates that many caliphate-related hadiths, although textually authentic, were articulated within specific historical contexts and primarily convey ethical guidance rather than prescriptive political models. The findings reveal that contemporary ideological readings tend to absolutize selected narrations, marginalize ethical constraints, and conflate textual authenticity with political obligation. This interpretive reduction transforms hadith into instruments of political domination. The study concludes by proposing a methodological repositioning of hadith between ethics and power, reaffirming the Prophetic tradition as a moral framework that guides and constrains political authority rather than legitimizing immutable political forms.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

makkah

Publisher

Subject

Religion Arts Humanities Education Social Sciences Other

Description

Journal of Islamic Studies is a journal for the study and development of Islamic studies. As a medium to: 1) develop science based on literature and empirical results, 2) encourage the birth of new research ideas and actions within the scope of Islamic studies concepts and practices. This journal is ...