An area of study that piques the curiosity of anyone interested in this school and its key figures is the actual works written by Imām Abū Ḥanīfah himself. The challenge posed here is that the Imām wrote centuries before the wide dissemination of written works. It was commonplace for anything written to soon become extinct, only known to later readers via references made to them in later works. This begs the question: how many of the works of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah do we know of, and how many can accurately be attributed to him?

This year’s edition comprises nine contributions, including biographies, book reviews, interviews, and more. Several of this issue’s contributions discuss intellectual history, exploring the context behind the fiqh tradition we study at the Seminary.

This study utilizes Ibn Ḥajar's work to analyze the biographical accounts and grading of female narrators. It aims to highlight their contributions and reliability, and offer a comparative assessment with a sample of male narrators, thereby shedding light on their important but often overlooked role within the hadith tradition.

A Summarized Translation of Al-Sharīf Ḥātim al-ʿAwnī’s Al-Usus al-ʿAqliyyah li-ʿIlm Naqd al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (The Rational Foundations Underlying the Science of Hadith Criticism)

A meaningful connection with the book of Allah ﷻ is the goal of every Muslim, let alone students of the sacred sciences. The seeker's journey begins with a deeper understanding of the Quran, which can only be gained after some level of familiarity with the books of tafsīr. However important this may be, many lack a structured approach toward studying tafsīr.

At the Qalam Seminary, one of our core visions is to instill in students a passion for research and publishing. With great joy and gratitude, we present the second issue of By the Pen, focusing on the sciences of hadith.

After several months of planning, writing, editing, and designing, we are excited to showcase —with the grace of Allah—the hard work of our students.