Hadith Literacy Training for Young People to Enhance Critical Religious Understanding

Abstract

Hadith literacy is an essential competency for young people in understanding Islamic teachings critically and contextually. The development of digital technology and social media has facilitated access to various sources of religious information while simultaneously increasing the risk of disseminating unauthentic hadiths, developing textual understandings, and promoting inaccurate religious interpretations. This Community Service (PkM) activity aimed to enhance young people's ability to understand, trace, verify, and interpret hadiths critically and contextually. The activity employed a Participatory Action Learning approach consisting of needs assessment, material delivery, practical hadith tracing, critical discussions, mentoring, and evaluation. The training materials covered the introduction to hadith sources, classification of hadith authenticity, takhrij al-hadith methods, verification of digital sources, contextual understanding of hadith, and ethical practices in disseminating religious information through social media. The results indicated an improvement in participants' understanding of how to identify hadith sources and assess their authenticity, as well as their ability to distinguish between reliable religious information and information requiring further verification. The training also encouraged participants to become more critical, reflective, and responsible in consuming and disseminating hadith-related information in digital spaces. Therefore, hadith literacy training can serve as an educational strategy for strengthening critical, moderate, and credible religious understanding among young people.