The greatest scholar of 18th century India better known as Shah Wali Allah al-Dihlawi who wrote a number of works, especially on the science of prophetic tradition (hadith). He was a scholar who contributed many ideas to express the unification of Muslims in terms of comprehension and appreciation. Undeniably, he has strived to establish Islam to the society by recognizing the Qur’an and Sunna as the basis of reformation. Therefore, this study attempts to analyse the intellectuality of al- Dihlawi as a famous hadith scholar and his contribution towards the appreciation of Sunna of the prophet. By applying content analysis method as the study design by focusing on his great work, Hujjat al-Baligha, the study found that the transformation carried out by al-Dihlawi then he was considered a moderate figure who tried to balance between demands worldly and hereafter goals to the community. His efforts toward the unity of umma were considered positively when succeed to quell internal dissent and ideology differences between the fiqhism and Sufism, and also between the rationalists (ahl al-Ra’y) and the traditionalists (ahl al-Hadith).

Shihab is an Islamic scholar who has prolifically produced a comprehensive 30 chapters of Qur’anic exegesis entitled Tafsir Al- Mishbah. This book is perceived as the latest Qur’anic exegesis produced by Muslim scholar of the Archipelago. He stresses on the importance of understanding the Qur’an contextually, supported by a strong understanding of the language and not focusing only on the textual meaning. In relation to this, his work has used a lot of linguistics approaches as to obtain the actual verses exegeses. Therefore, this study seeks to analyse critically his linguistics exegesis, and the focus rests on the debate on Qur’anic words. To obtain an explicitness perspective, this study has adopted the library research and document analysis method by making language and reliable popular Qur’anic exegesis books as primary sources of reference. The outcome of this study finds that Shihab had applied five rules in relation to Qur’anic words, all of which have been approved by scholars and exegetes. In addition, this study also found that Shihab absolutely consistent in applying these rules, except in the first rule. By doing so, it was slightly crippled his exegetical work. Finally, this study suggests that it is not possible that a grammatical error occurs in the Qur’an. Indeed, the essence of the Arabic language rules is unparalleled with the structure of the Qur’an, but the arrangement rule was implemented after the Qur’an was revealed. If both cannot be made consistent with one another, then this is due to the limitation of method which is known as shādh.

Shihab is a scholar who has produced a comprehensive 30-chapter exegesis entitled Tafsir Al-Mishbah. In interpreting the Qur’an, he had applied several rules that had driven him towards commenting the verses. This kind of rule is also adopted by the other exegetes to ensure their exegeses are in line with the Islamic law. Therefore, this study seeks to analyse the rules of interpretation applied by him which focuses on the discussions of al-‘ām (general) and al-khāş (specific). To get a proper conclusion, this study has adopted the document analysis method by making language scriptures and venerated exegeses as the main sources of reference. This is to ensure that the rules that he had employed can be analysed perfectly and also consistent with the conclusion made by the scholars. The study found that Shihab had applied seven rules related to general and specific in his methodology, and the rules have been affirmed by both scholars and exegetes.