Turks and Islam: a hadith analysis of narratives relating to the Turks

Abstract

The conversion of Turks to Islam is one of the topics that have led historians to conduct fundamental research. The time when the Turkic people first got acquainted with Islam, the reason for their conversion to Islam, and as a result, their diligent efforts to spread the religion have not left indifferent researchers from the medieval historians to the present day. The purpose of this article is to show the place of Turks in Islamic history by conducting a comprehensive analysis of hadiths. Scientific research is aimed at collecting hadiths about the Turks, which are often found in history books, considering their sources in detail, and providing extensive explanations of hadiths. In accordance with these tasks, the comparative and historical method was widely used during the work with the data. Thus, the ultimate meaning of the hadiths and the similarities and differences between them were determined. During the research, along with the works of medieval historians Jahiz, Mahmud Kashgari, Hamawi, Juaini, recently published articles and books were consideedit. It was determined that the source of the hadiths found there are "Qutub al-Sitta", Tabarani's mujjams, Abu Yagla's musnad collections. 

Key words: Turks, Islam, history, hadith collections, Kutub al-Sitta.