This research aims to address problematic hadiths related to the Children of Israel within the contexts of creed (ʿaqidah) and worship (ʿibadat), with particular focus on their practical implications for interactions with non-Muslims. It also seeks to clarify the ambiguity surrounding the term "Children of Israel" and to explore its conceptual relationship with the legacy of Prophetic traditions. The study adopts an inductive approach to collect and classify relevant hadiths that may be deemed problematic. It further applies the methodology of hadith scholars (muḥaddithūn) to authenticate these narrations, tracing them back to their original sources and evaluating their levels of authenticity. In addition, historical and analytical methods are employed to formulate key questions and categorise responses, to develop a comprehensive and reasoned interpretation of the hadiths under study. The findings are systematically organised to promote sound understanding and offer well-supported solutions based on textual evidence. The study underscores the significance of problematic hadiths as a field of inquiry that can be approached across various disciplines, provided that each field applies appropriate methodological frameworks. It also highlights the contributions of both early and contemporary scholars—hadith specialists and others—whose discussions on such narrations, though valuable, often remain scattered and uncollected in a unified, systematic body of work. The research identifies nearly one hundred problematic hadiths related to the Children of Israel, encompassing areas of creed, worship, and social transactions. Notable examples include the hadith: “Every child is born in a state of fiṭrah (natural disposition), until his parents make him a Jew or a Christian,” contrasted with another hadith stating: “The wretched one is he who was decreed to be wretched while in his mother’s womb, and the happy one is he who was decreed to be happy while in his mother’s womb.” In addition to over twenty other hadiths, these examples serve to support the study’s reasoning and interpretation. The research concludes with a compilation of interpretative approaches and solutions presented across approximately twenty-five thematic discussions, covering over thirty specific issues. These discussions aim to link the meanings of these hadiths to their contemporary applications, thereby offering a deeper and more precise understanding of this vital dimension of the Prophetic tradition; and strengthening its applicability to the realities of peaceful co-existence in today’s world.

The study of the Prophetic sunnah has attracted significant attention from scholars throughout the ages. However, the exploration of its higher objectives (maqaṣid) has not received sufficient consideration. Existing studies have not comprehensively addressed the overarching objectives of the sunnah across all the domains it covers. Although some research and articles discussed the objectives of the sunnah, these studies were limited in scope and precision in defining the relevant objectives, underscoring the need for a more comprehensive study in this area. In contrast to the increasing body of research on the objectives of the Quran, the investigation of the objectives of the sunnah remains underdeveloped. This highlights the importance of this present study, which aims to uncover the higher objectives of the sunnah through an analysis of Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhari and Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim. This study adopts an inductive approach, gathering hadith texts that share a common meaning to identify the overarching objectives, alongside an analytical method focusing on examining issues and details and linking them to these higher objectives. Additionally, this study employs the traditional method, relying on the interpretations of hadith scholars to clarify the relationship between the extracted hadiths and the derived objectives. This study concludes that the higher objectives of the Prophetic sunnah revolve around three main objectives: first, recognition of Allah al-Raḥman, which includes the recognition of al- Maʿbud (the worshipped), risalat al-Maʿbud (His message), and ṭuruq al-ʿibadah (the methods of worship); second, knowledge of insan (the human being), which encompasses understanding the physiological (jusmani), intellectual (nafsani), and spiritual (ruḥani) aspects of human nature; and third, the management (riʿayah) of alakwan (the beings), which involves social development, the management of al-mulk (possession) and al-taskhir (stewardship), and the development of civilisation (al- ʿumran).