International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 2017, Vol. 7, No. 12 ISSN: 2222-6990 576 www.hrmars.com Applying the Thematic Hadith Method in Research Related to Islam Mohd Shukri Hanapi 1 & Wan Mohd Khairul Firdaus Wan Khairuldin 2 1 Centre for Islamic Development Management Sudies (ISDEV), University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. 2 Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i12/3639 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i12/3639 Abstract Various researches have been carried out by Islamic academicians, especially Islamic academicians from the past, related to fields they had explored such as beliefs (aqidah), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), mystical dimensions of Islam (tasawuf), interpretation (tafsir), hadith, astronomy (falak), philosophy etc. These academicians had used various research methods when exploring their fields of study. Hence, most of these research methods have yet to be studied before they could be applied as methods in Islamic research. It is for this reason that this study aims to study one the research methods used by past Islamic religious scholars, which is the thematic (al-ŵawduiy) hadith method. The two questions that arise in this study are, what is the thematic hadith method? and how can the method be applied in research related to Islam?. In order to answer these questions, the discussions in this study were divided into two main parts. The first is to identify the thematic hadith method used by the muhaddithin (scholars of the hadith) ǁheŶ elaďoƌatiŶg oŶ the Pƌophets SAW hadith. The seĐoŶd is to analyse the suitability of applying the thematic hadith method in a study related to Islam. The quantitative study found that the thematic hadith method was suitable for application in studies related to Islam. The suitability was based on two aspects, namely rating the sources of the data and analysing the data. Keywords: Applying, Thematic, Hadith, Method, Research, Islam 1.0 Introduction Islamic scholars had used numerous research methods in their research on fields such as beliefs (aqeedah), jurisprudence (fiqh), mystical dimensions of Islam (tasawuf), interpretation (tafsir), hadith, astronomy (falak), philosophy etc. The methods used were part of their traditional thinking. However, most of the research methods have not been studied by researchers as to their applicability as a method for research related to Islam. Until now, only the various types of knowledge procured from their research has been accepted and focused upon but there have been scarce efforts to study these research methods used by Islamic scholars for application in a research. For example, Zahri and Zul-kifli ;ϮϬϬϴͿ studied the ƌespoŶdeŶts ƋualitLJ ďased oŶ the hadith narration method; Zuhdi (2009) studied the suitability of applying the Usul Fiqh method in research related to Islam; Hassan (2010) studied the application of the hadith compilation