Ta'wil Mukhtalif al-Hadith by Ibn Qutaybah: Characteristics, Style and Methodology

Abstract

Long before the formal crystallisation of the ʿulūm al‑ḥadīth, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim Ibn Qutaybah al‑Dīnawarī (d. 276/889) produced Taʾwīl Mukhtalif  al‑Ḥadīth; a concise yet penetrating treatise that defends the ḥadīth corpus against accusations of contradiction. Situating the work at a pivotal moment in ninth‑century Baghdad, this article analyses its defining features, literary style, and hermeneutical method. After outlining the intellectual milieu in which Ibn Qutaybah wrote, we map the book’s structure—an introduction followed by eighty‑six discrete rebuttals of problematic narrations—showing how the author’s stylistic economy serves apologetic ends. We then examine rhetorical elements: Qurʾānic intertextuality, polemical asides, and strategic code‑switching between terse argument and extended digression. The methodological core is dissected under four headings: (1) semantic and lexical harmonisation, (2) isnād‑based prioritisation, (3) contextual and maqāṣid‑driven reconciliation, and (4) appeal to qiyās and rational probability. A comparative reading with al‑Shāfiʿī’s Ikhtilāf al‑Ḥadīth and Ibn Ḥibbān’s Mashārib al‑Anwār highlights continuities and innovations in dealing with apparent contradiction. The article demonstrates that Ibn Qutaybah’s blend of philology, kalām, and fiqh anticipates classical ʿilm mukhtalif al‑ḥadīth yet retains distinct Abbasid‑era polemical colours. Finally, it argues that his model remains instructive for contemporary debates on hadith integrity, urging a multidisciplinary reading that synthesises textual, rational and historical lenses.