The Use of NAQD Hadith Method to Establish Data Validity: A Conceptual Analysis

Methods that establish data validity that are in tandem with Islamic tasawwur and epistemology are much needed in research, notably Islamic-related research. The data validity method must be able to determine data validity and differentiate between valid and non-valid data from the Islamic perspectives. The Naqd Hadith method is one of the methods employed by Hadith scholars to distinguish between accepted Hadith and rejected Hadith. This method is perceived as robust enough to distinguish between data that is valid or otherwise. The question is what are the Naqd Hadith methods that could be used as a method to establish data validity for Islamic-related studies and Islamic affairs? In what way could these methods be used in Islamic-related studies? There are two objectives in this research. Firstly, to identify the Naqd Hadith method discussed by Hadith scholars. Secondly, to identify emerging techniques extracted from the Naqd Hadith method to establish data validity for Islamic-related research. This research employed archive research to obtain secondary data that are related to Naqd Hadith methods. Data were analysed using content analysis method to obtain Naqd Hadith explicit data. These data were then analysed implicitly, that is, in the context of data validity through textual analysis. This research found that the scholars discussed and utilized eight Naqd Hadith methods. The research further identified 23 techniques from the Naqd Hadith methods that were used to establish validity for Islamic-related research. These findings could guide researchers in obtaining valid data or verifying the data validity in Islamic-related research.


Introduction
Methods that establish data validity that are in tandem with Islamic tasawwur (worldview) and epistemology are much needed in research, notably Islamic-related research. This is to ensure that the measurements made are in tandem with Islamic tasawwur. Anything that is related to Islam needs to be measured from the Islamic sources. Data validation that is made based on al-Qur'an and Sunnah not only allows the researcher to establish data validity but also enables the researcher to distinguish between valid and non-valid data from an Islamic perspective.
In Islamic knowledge, there is a method employed by the Islamic scholars to examine and discern between truth and falsehood. This method is known as the al-Naqd method. Al-Naqd is a process which is used by the scholars to distinguish, examine thoroughly and consider the pros and cons of a particular issue (Abdullah 'Ali Ahmad Hafiz, 1971). Al-Naqd is also a field of knowledge that is related to human lives that aims to improve and make human lives better (Ahmad al-Shayb, 1994). In Malay language, the word al-Naqd means to criticize (Kamaruddin, 2009;Marzuki, 2006;Muhammad Mustafa. Azami., 1989).
Among fields that benefit from the process of al-Naqd include sociology (al-Ijtima'), literature (al-Adab) and Hadith (Abdullah 'Ali Ahmad Hafiz, 1971) with the field of Hadith being greatly affected by naqd. This is demonstrated through the productions of books that compile all the ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) Hadith beginning from the third Hijri century (Faisal et al., 2010). Nevertheless, it cannot be dismissed that the process of Naqd Hadith has begun during the Prophet Muhammad PBUH's time, specifically after his demise (Muhammad L. a.-S., 1420 H;Musfir, 1974).
Most of the scholars, among them include Muhammad Mustafa. 'Azamiy. (1990), Nur (1997), Musfir (1974), Muhammad A. Q. a.-U. (2000) have discussed Naqd Hadith in great lengthin order to differentiate between the authentic Hadith and unauthentic Hadith. Their discussion also covers how best to explain the hidden flaws ('illat) of some Hadith and the trustworthiness of its chain of narration as well as whether a particular Hadith is accepted as authentic or otherwise. Muhammad Mustafa. 'Azamiy. (1990) and Abdullah 'Ali Ahmad Hafiz (1971) also explored the methods used by the Prophet's companions in order to identify authentic Hadith from those that are of dubious authenticity. The method used by the companions was to enquire from the Prophet PBUH himself about a particular Hadith. The companions, in fact, had never lied about the Prophet's Hadith and had never lied among themselves. They employed this method to add certainty and confidence to a specific Hadith. Muhammad Mustafa. 'Azamiy. (1990) concluded that the process of ensuring whether a statement is truly Hadith has begun since the Prophet PBUH's lifetime.
Although there were efforts in ensuring that a statement truly originates from the Prophet PBUH, the need for such endeavours was not critical when the Prophet PBUH was still alive. It was not until the death of the Prophet PBUH, the assassination of Saidina Othman and the civil war between Ali and Muawiyah that the fabrication and falsification of Hadith became rampant. Hence, the process of Naqd Hadith became obligatory to ensure the authenticity of a Hadith (Muhammad Mustafa. Azami., 1977). Muhammad Mustafa. Azami. (1977 further observed that Imam Muslim, one of the Hadith scholars in the 3 rd Hijri century had produced a book that deals with Hadith criticism methods. The 3 rd Hijri century was the golden era for the Sunnis. During this century, numerous books that set forth debates on the field of Hadith were produced (Muhammad M. a.-Z., 1996). Among the authentic Hadith books that were produced during this century and continue to benefit the Islamic world today include Al-Jami'al-Sahih al-Musnad min Hadith Rasulillah SallAllahu 'Alayhi wa Salam wa Sunanih wa Ayyamih, widely known as Sahih al-Bukhariy which was authored byAbu ' Abdullah Muhammad Isma'il al-Bukhariy (2002) and al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar bi Naql 'Adl 'an 'Adl ila Rasulillah, also known as Sahih Muslim and authored by Muslim (n.d).
Books such as al-Mawdu'at (written by 'Abdul Rahman al-Jawziy (1966) and al-Manar al-Munif fi al-Sahih wa al-Daif (written by Ibn (1996) were produced in the 5 th Hijri century. These two books compiled mawdu' (fabricated) Hadith and discussed methods that could be used to identify mawdu ' Hadith Faisal et al. (2010).
The creation of these books serves as an evidence that there were specific methods used by the Hadith scholars to examine and differentiate acceptable Hadith and rejected Hadith. These methods are known as Naqd Hadith method. Therefore, Naqd Hadith method can be seen as a method that is usable to establish data validity for Islamicrelated studies.

Methodology
Data for this research were collected through secondary sources, mainly through archive research. Apart from archive research, personal communication with expert groups was also conducted to ensure that the researcher understand the data accurately. Communication with the expert groups also provided the research with additional information . (1990) and Manhaj al-Naqd fi 'Ulum al-Hadith authored by Nur (1997). These books were selected mainly because they were often referred to and used by previous researchers who conducted studies, specifically on the Naqd Hadith.These books were consulted as they provided further elaboration and detailed explanation on the Naqd Hadith method. The researcher also employed three approaches to ensure that the data obtained were valid and accurate. The first was to obtain the data from the original book either in the digital or printed form. Digital books, particularly in the PDF format, were considered and accepted as authoritative reference and are guaranteed in terms of its authenticity which is similar to the original copies. The authenticity of the digital books is recognized by the al-Qur'an and al-Hadith Department committee (AQSA) from the Islamic Studies Academy. This committee also published books on Hadith in the form of DVD and PDF.
The second approach used by the researcher was to extract data from various sources. These data were similar to each other. Similarities from various sources could confirm validity and accuracy of the collected data.
The third approach employed by the researcher was to conduct personal communication with those who were viewed as authoritative figures in the field of Hadith to obtain accurate understanding of some of the data that were difficult to comprehend. The personal communication came in the forms of e-mail communication, personal interviews, and telephone conversations (American Psychological Associatio, 2010). The expert group members were selected based on their expertise, experience, and involvement in the field of Hadith.
The researcher employed both content and textual analysis in this research. Materials that are related to Naqd Hadith were examined through content analysis to fulfil the first objective of this research. Textual analysis was carried out to see whether Naqd Hadith method could be applied as a method to establish data validity. The research context was the method to determine data validity with the interpretation made based on this context. To obtain validity in the data analysis, the researcher carried out personal communication with the experts or authors that the researcher referred to in her analysis. Personal communication with the experts was vital, specifically to confirm uncertainties that the research faced while examining some vague data. This communication also allowed the researcher to obtain insights from these experts on the present research.

Findings and Discussion
The literature pertaining to Naqd Hadith indicated that Naqd Hadith method has been considered and debated by the scholars. Eight naqd Hadith methods were identified based on the literature. The elaboration on these methods is given in the following section.
The first method identified is the criticism on the piety or sound character of the Hadith reporter. Among the literature that dealt with this form of Naqd Hadith were the works of Hamzat (n.d), Hisyam (n.d), Muhammad L. a.-S. (1420 H), Muhammad Mustafa. 'Azamiy. (1990) and Nur (1997).
In these books, the authors elaborated on the characteristics of pious and non-pious reporters. If a Hadith reporter possessed the characteristics of a pious person, then he would be viewed as reliable and trustworthy (thiqat). His narration of Hadith would only be accepted if he was considered as thiqat.
Muhammad L. a.-S. (1420 H) and Muhammad Mustafa. 'Azamiy. (1990) argued that the piety or sound characters of the Hadith reporter was only measured on the surface. Both authors deduced this based on the opinions of scholars such as Ibn al-Athir al-Jazariy, al-Imam al-Ghazaliy, and al-Syafi'iy who accepted this form of method. Based on their discussion, one can conclude that the criticism on the reporter's piety refers to the examinations and evaluation as to whether a Hadith reporter has the characteristics of piety and is free from characteristics that might raise questions on the reliability of his narration.
The second method is the criticism on the reporter's possession of strong memory (dabit). The works of Syuhudi (1995), Ilham (2010), Atho (2011), Mauzat (1994 and 'Abdullah Sya'ban (2005) were among those that deal with this form of criticism method.
The third method concerns with the criticism on the sanad (chain of narrators of the Hadith). The works that discuss this method, among others, are the works of Syuhudi (1989) Nur (1997).
These scholarly literatures suggest that the criticism on the sanad refers to the careful evaluation and examination process on the chains of the sanad, that is whether it is continuous or broken. There are two major discussions on this type of criticism. The first discussion explored the types of continuous sanad, while the second discussion looked into broken sanad. The scholars also agreed that the criticism on the sanad was conducted to ensure that chain of the sanad is placed on any one of the continuous sanad. This process was carried out before a sanad is considered as an authentic sanad. In addition to that, debates on the types of broken sanad aimed to identify characteristics that the broken sanad have that have led to it being considered as a broken sanad. Chains of sanad that are broken are rejected. The criticism on the sanad method is perceived to have fulfilled the validity criteria for the third Hadith, which is the continuous sanad.
The fourth method is to examine al-Mutaba'at and al-Syawahid. The works that discussed this method as a Naqd Hadith method that were consulted in this research were authored by Muhammad A. Q. a.-U. (2000), (Nur, 1997), Hamzat (2001), Atho (2011),Zainul (2012. Scholarly works on 'Ulum al-Hadith, for instance, those produced by Ahmad (2001) Hamzat (2001) and Nur (1997) also maintain that the method to examine al-Mutaba'at and al-Syawahid aimed at advancing or elevating the status of a particular Hadith, for instance, daif (weak) Hadith due to the problem with its sanad. When al-Mutaba'at or al-Syawahid for the daif Hadith is found, the Hadith changes from daif to hasan li ghayrih.
The fifth method is the checking method, specifically on the Hadith's syadh and 'illat. Substantial literatures have discussed this method; however, different expressions were used by the scholars. While Atho (2011), for example, indicated the examination of syadh and 'illat, Musfir (1974), on the other hand, stated the disparate polarity in terms of reporting for the same Hadith. Another scholar, Salahuddin (1983) identified the elements that could create disagreements between various matn Hadith. Muhammad A. Q. a.-U. (2000) mentioned various contradictory reporting for a Hadith. Although these works used different expressions, the basis of their discussions remain the same.
Further scrutiny of these literatures demonstrate that all the writers highlighted the diversifications of the reporting (referring to matn diversities) of one Hadith. The various reporting is also found to be inconsistent with each other. All the scholarly works consulted pointed out the elements that brought about the inconsistencies of the reporting. The elements outlined were al-Idraj, al-Idtirabal-Qalb, al-Tashif, al-Tahrif, and ziyadat al-Thiqat. The definitions for these elements were provided in the discussion on the fifth Hadith validity criteria. If any of the elements were found on the examined matn Hadith the matn Hadith will automatically be dismissed.
The sixth method is Hadith checking which is done on specific criteria (Israr, n.d). The criteria are referring to al-Qur'an, thabit sunnah, authentic al-Tarikh information, usul matters, sound reason, empirical experiment results, meanings that are not strange, and something that is possible. All scholarly literature on naqd pertaining to the matn The seventh method is comparing written Hadith with memorized Hadith. To date, only (Muhammad Mustafa. Azami., 1977), pointed out this method. He produced related examples that were applied by the al-tabi'in and tabi 'al-tabi'in. Takhrij al-Hadith method is the eight method. This method, which is used to evaluate the status of Hadith, is found in the works of Jawiah (2009) andZainul (2012). Both Faisal and Jawiah (2009) viewed the takhrij al-Hadith method as an evaluation and examination process of a Hadith. This process aims to determine the rank and status of a Hadith. These writers included the takhrij al-Hadith practices carried out by Hadith scholars as examples to support their arguments.
The next discussion which aims to fulfil the research second objective is to summarize the Naqd Hadith method used in the context of establishing data validity for Islamic-related research. The criticism method which is used to verify the reporter's piety and sound character can be employed in the context of verifying data validity. Three methods can be drawn from the reporter's sound character criticism method in establishing data validity. The first is the examination of the respondent's sound character. In this context, the examination refers to the process of evaluating, examining, and identify respondent's sound character 1 . This method can be used during the respondent selection process (specifically, for knowledge-based data collection). The respondents are selected namely to verify the constructed conceptual or theoretical framework, validate questionnaires and to answer research questions.
The second method is to scrutinize the author's sound characteristics. This can be done during document selection. The element of fair and sound characteristics that the writer possessed is visible through his writing which is accurate and true based on the Islamic perspective. The third method is to scrutinize the researcher's sound characteristics. In this context, the researcher's sound characteristics refer to how he protects his relationship with Allah SWT as well as his accountability to other human beings. The researcher must always pray and perform tazkiyat al-Nafs in order to obtain the truth. Through tazkiyat al-Nafs, the researcher is able to practice tafakkur, ta'aqqul, tadabbur and tadhakkur well and provide true findings in his research. He must always conduct his research with good intention, which is to seek Allah SWT's blessings and honour Islam in his research. The element of sound characteristics that the respondent, writer, and researcher have will produce accurate, truthful and genuine viewpoints and thoughts.
The reporter dabt criticism methods can be used in the context of determining data validity through three ways. The first way is to observe the respondent's dabt which can be done during the respondent selection process. Selected respondents are usually experts who are fair and represent specific fields. Respondents in this context, refer specifically to, in-depth interview respondents who are often actively engaged in the knowledge sharing activity. Dabt respondents are selected to verify conceptual or theoretical frameworks, constructed questionnaire items as well as answer the research questions.
The second is scrutiny of the author's dabt. Such scrutiny is conducted when the researcher selects documents, specifically documents that are produced by expert and fair authors who represent particular fields. The third is to scrutinize the researcher's dabt. Scrutiny of the researcher's dabt in the context refers to the researcher's preparedness, attention to detail, and accountability for data accuracy. The researcher's use of tape recorder during interviews with the respondents, is an example that indicates researcher's awareness of obtaining accurate data. The element of dabt that respondents, authors, and researchers have will lead to accuracy and truth in research.
The sanad criticism method could be applied in the context of establishing data validity through five of the following methods. The first is to examine the respondent's or author's teacher's sound character and expertise. Respondents in this context refer to in-dept interview respondents, notably pertaining to knowledge. The second is to examine the continuity of knowledge or thoughts between the respondent or the author with his teacher. Thirdly is to examine the data support or security. Fourthly, to hold talaqqi meetings between the respondent or the author. Lastly, to create personal communication with author (empirical evidence) 2 .
These five data validity methods could be used during the respondent or document selection process. All these methods could be used when the researcher is constructing conceptual or theoretical framework and devising items for the questionnaires. In addition, these methods could also be used to lend support when deliberating newly, proposed ideas.
Three methods could be employed if the al-Mutaba'at and al-Syawahid examination methods were viewed from the context of establishing data validity. The first is to examine data from various perspectives. The second is to examine data from various sources and the third is to compare or look at the similarities and differences of the acquired data with the other data. Researchers could employ these three methods when developing conceptual or theoretical frameworks. Examining data from various perspectives will give holistic understanding to the researcher. Examining data from various sources will reinforce the researcher's argument of new ideas. These methods are used to obtain valid data.
Eight methods could be utilized if one is to check the elements of syadh and 'illat. The first method is to examine data similarities with al-Qur'an or Sunnah (specifically, knowledge-based data). The second method is to examine and verify that the sources of the data are from al-Qur'an and Sunnah. The third is to examine data similarities with Ijmak (specifically, knowledge-based data). The fourth is to examine and verify that the data are Ijmak-oriented. The fifth is to examine and verify that the data are based on eminent scholars' opinions (specifically, knowledge-based data). The sixth is to examine and ensure that the data do not contradict valid al-Tarikh information. The seventh is to examine and ensure that the data do not contradict Usul matters and Fiqah methods. The eight is to examine that the data do not contradict logic and empirical experiments. All data must be verified through in-depth examination that uses all the methods as well as empirical experiments 3 .
All the methods discussed above could be employed by the future researchers during the construction of conceptual and theoretical frameworks. The methods also used to support newly proposed arguments as well as to ensure that the researcher has obtained valid data or to confirm that the data are valid or otherwise.
Takhrij al-Hadith refers to the process of examining the status of the Hadith original sources. In the context of establishing data validity, Takhrij al-Hadith could be utilized by referring to the original data sources. This method could be used to support newly proposed argument and ensure that the data is valid or otherwise. This method is used throughout the research. Table 1 contains a summary of Naqd Hadith method that is use to determine data validity in Islamic-based research.

5.
Check elements of syadh and 'illat in Hadith i. Examining data similarities with al-Qur'an or Sunnah (specifically knowledge-based data) or ii.
Examining and verifying that the sources of the data are from al-Qur'an and Sunnah iii.
Examining data similarities with Ijmak (specifically knowledge-based data) or iv.
Examining and verifying that the data are Ijmakoriented v.
Examining and verifying that the data are based on eminent scholars' opinions (specifically, knowledgebased data).

vi.
Examining and ensuring that the data do not contradict valid al-Tarikh information. vii.
Examining and ensuring that the data do not contradict Usul matters and Fiqah methods viii.
Examining and ensuring that the data do not contradict logic and empirical experiments or data are proven through in-depth examination and empirical experiments .
Referring to original data sources

Conclusion
Three conclusions could be drawn from this research. Firstly, Islamic knowledge must be fully utilized by researchers who conduct Islamic-based research. The use of Islamic knowledge is pertinent to ensure that the findings are consistent with Islamic tasawwur, epistemology, and principles. In addition, the use of Islamic knowledge in research could ensure that the mechanisms and operations carried out are in tandem with Islamic teachings.
Secondly, Islamic-related research must use the methods, elements, and principles that were employed by Islamic scholars of the past in their research. The research carried out by them are still useful until present day. This indicates that their research methods are effective and able to produce accurate and authentic findings. These methods need to be re-explored by current researchers who are keen to investigate and construct specific methods or techniques for Islamic-related studies.
Thirdly, the research methods used by the past Muslim scholars could be examined and scrutinized by any researcher from different perspectives. This shows that the research method is not limited to specific research areas and could be used in various other research fields.