Handling Theology in Footnotes: Salafī Editors on Ḥadīth Commentaries from the Middle Period

Abstract

A prominent genre of contemporary Salafī literature consists of critical editions of texts from the Middle Period with editorial introductions and footnotes. These editions allow Salafī editors to reinforce their views on various subjects, sometimes by criticizing the text’s author. This article analyzes Salafī editors’ critical engagement with medieval ḥadīth commentators by focusing on the problem of divine attributes in the ḥadīth commentary literature. It argues that Salafīs seek to rebut their opponents—particularly Ashʿarī ḥadīth scholars—utilizing different discursive strategies. These include rejecting mutashābih, majāz, and taʾwīl as hermeneutical categories, re-defining the concepts of bi-lā kayf and tafwīḍ, and emphasizing the inconsistencies in the Ashʿarī doctrine of divine attributes. Their footnotes also function to reinforce group identity and tradition, presenting Salafī Islam as the core of ahl al-sunna, and appealing to the Muslim public with a concrete image of God.