Hadith studies
Hadith studies ( "ʻilm al-ḥadīth" "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in the study and evaluation of the Islamic hadith—i.e. the record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Determining authenticity of hadith is enormously important in Islam because along with the Quran, the "Sunnah" of the Islamic prophet—his words, actions, and the silent approval—are considered the explanation of the divine revelation ("wahy"), and the record of them (i.e. hadith ) provides the basis of Islamic law (Sharia). In addition, while the number of verses pertaining to law in the Quran is relatively few, hadith give direction on everything from details of religious obligations (such as "Ghusl" or "Wudu", ablutions for "salat" prayer), to the correct forms of salutations, and the importance of benevolence to slaves. Thus the "great bulk" of the rules of Islamic law are derived from hadith, rather than the Quran. Because hadith were passed down orally and not compiled in written works until around the third century of Islam, there is no ancient written documentation to examine . Thus, according to the classical science of hadith, there are three primary ways to determine the authenticity ("sihha") of a hadith: by attempting to determine whether there are "other identical reports from other transmitters"; determining the reliability of the transmitters of the report; and "the continuity of the chain of transmission" of the hadith. Traditional hadith studies has been praised by some as "unrivaled, the ultimate in historical criticism", and heavily criticized for failing to filter out a massive amount of hadith "which cannot possibly be authentic". Definition. It has been described by one hadith specialist, Jalal al-Din  al-Suyuti, as the science of the principles by which the conditions of both the "sanad", the chain of narration, and the "matn", the text of the hadith, are known. This science is concerned with the "sanad" and the "matn" with its objective being distinguishing the "sahih", authentic, from other than it. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani said the preferred definition is: knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined. Types. Some of the disciplines in the science of hadith, according to scholar İsmail Lütfi Çakan, include: History. After the death of Muhammad , his sayings were transmitted orally. According to Islamic tradition, Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, started the process of collecting all the hadiths together into one unified volume, but gave up the endeavor "for fear the Quran would be neglected by the Muslims" (according to Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi). The Umayyad caliph, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (aka Umar II, who reigned from 717-720 CE) also started an effort to collect all the hadiths. Teaching and collecting hadiths was part of a plan of his to renew the moral fiber of the Muslim community. He supported teachers of fiqh , sent educators to ignorant Bedouin tribes, ordered weekly hadith lectures in the Hejaz, and sent out scholars of hadith to Egypt and North Africa, (according to Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi). Umar also ordered the great scholar of Madinah, Abu Bakr ibn Hazm to write down all the hadiths of Muhammad and Umar ibn al-Khattab, particularly those narrated by Aisha. He had these hadiths collected in books which were circulated around the Umayyad Empire. Although these books are lost today, commentaries on them by Ibn al-Nadim reveals that they are organized like books of fiqh, such as the Muwatta of  Imam Malik, the first large compilation of hadiths. Imam Malik himself probably followed the general plan of the early books of hadith ordered by Umar. Hadith studies developed in part because forgery "took place on a massive scale", with perhaps the most famous collector of hadith and practitioner of "ʻilm al-ḥadīth"—Muhammad al-Bukhari—sifting through nearly 600,000, over 16 years before eliminating all but approximately 7400 hadith. Traditional accounts describe "the systematic study of hadith" as being motivated by the altruism of "pious scholars" seeking to correct this problem. Some scholars (Daniel W. Brown, A. Kevin Reinhart) shed doubt  on this. Brown believes the theory "fails" to adequately account "for the atmosphere of conflict" of at least early hadith criticism. The "method of choice" of partisans seeking to discredit opposing schools of Islamic law was to discredit the authorities (transmitters) of their opponent's hadith—to "tear apart" their isnads". (To do this required developing biographical evaluations of hadith transmitters—"ʿilm al-rijāl" and "ilm jarh wa ta’dil"). Reinhart finds descriptions of famous companions of Muhammad in Ibn Sa'd's "Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr" "recording hadith and transmitting it, asking each other about precedents, and reproaching those who disregarded  this authentic religious knowledge" in suspicious conformity to the "mythology of the pristine early community". As the criteria for judging authenticity grew into the six major collections of "ṣaḥīḥ" (sound) hadith ("Kutub al-Sittah") in the third century, the science of hadith was described as having become a "mature system", or to have entered its "final stage". The classification of Hadith into was utilized early in hadith scholarship by Ali ibn al-Madini (161–234 AH). Later, al-Madini's student Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) authored a collection, now known as "Sahih Bukhari", commonly accepted by Sunni scholars to be the  most authentic collection of hadith, followed by that of his student Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Al-Bukhari's methods of testing hadiths and "isnads" are seen as exemplary of the developing methodology of hadith scholarship. Evaluating authenticity. An elaborate system was developed by scholars of hadith to determine the authenticity of traditions based on "two premises": A basic element of hadith studies consist of a careful examination of the chain of transmission ("sanad" , also "isnād" , or silsila ), relaying each "hadith" from the Prophet to the person who compiles the hadith. The "isnād" and the commentary are distinct from the "matn  (), which is the main body, or text, of the hadith, These two terms are the primary components of every hadith. According to the person most responsible for elevation of the importance of hadith in Islamic law, Imam Al-Shafi‘i, In most cases the truthfulness or lack of truthfulness of a tradition can only be known through the truthfulness or lack of truthfulness of the transmitter, except in a few special cases when he relates what cannot possibly be the case, or what is contradicted by better-authenticated information." The first people who received hadith were Muhammad's "Companions" ("Sahaba ), who are believed to have understood and preserved it. They conveyed it to those after them as they were commanded; then the generation following them, the Followers" ("Tabi‘un"), received it and then conveyed it to those after them, and so on. Thus, the Companion would say, “I heard the Prophet say such and such.” The Follower would say, “I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the Prophet say’” The one after the Follower would say, “I heard a Follower say, ‘I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the Prophet say’” and so on. Criteria to be a "ṣaḥīḥ" hadith. To  be "'ṣaḥīḥ" ("sound") hadith, an isolated hadith ("Mutawatir" hadith were exempt from these tests) "must pass five tests": Biographical evaluation. An important discipline within hadith studies is biographical evaluation, the study of transmitters of hadith, "ʿilm al-rijāl", (literally "science of men") mentioned above. These are the narrators who make up the "sanad". "Ilm ar-rijal" is based on certain verses of the Quran. Transmitters are studied and rated for their "general capacity" ("ḍābit"; "itqān") and their moral character ("ʿadāla"). Not all transmitters were evaluated for these characteristics and rated. Companions of the prophet ("ṣaḥāba") were traditionally considered to possess  collective moral turpitude or "taʿdīl", by virtue of their exposure to the Prophet, so that they all possessed "ʿadāla" without needing to be evaluated. (This quality was similar to that of Prophetic infallibility ("ʿiṣma") but of course lower in level.) Shaykh Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandahlawi has mentioned that Imam Bukhari (the famous compiler of "sound" hadith) listed the following as criterion for a muhaddith: Traditional importance of the "sanad". The second criteria after judging the general ability and moral probity of the transmitters, is the "continuity" of the chain of transmission of the hadith. The transmitters must be shown to  have received the accounts of the prophet ""in an acceptable manner" from the preceding authority in the chain". Transmitters must have lived during the same period, they must have had the opportunity to meet, and they must have reached sufficient age at the time of transmission to guarantee their capacity to transmit. Early religious scholars stressed the importance of the "sanad". For example, according to an early Quranic exegete, "Matr al-Warraq", the verse from the Quran, “Or a remnant of knowledge,” refers to the "isnad" of a hadith. In addition, Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak said, “The "isnad" is  from the religion; were it not for the "isnad" anyone could say anything they wanted.” According to Ibn al-Salah, the "sanad" originated within the Muslim scholastic community and remains unique to it. Ibn Hazm said that the connected, continuous "sanad" is particular to the religion of Islam: the "sanad" was also used by the Jewish community, but they had a break of more than 30 generations between them and Moses, and the Christians limited their use of the "sanad" to the prohibition of divorce.Ibn Taymiyyah also said that the knowledge of " Isnaad " is particular to the followers of  Prophet Muhammad The practice of paying particular attention to the "sanad" can be traced to the generation following that of the Companions, based upon the statement of Muhammad Ibn Sirin: “They did not previously inquire about the "sanad". However, after the turmoil occurred they would say, ‘Name for us your narrators.’ So the people of the Sunnah would have their hadith accepted and the people of innovation would not.” Those who were not given to require a "sanad" were, in the stronger of two opinions, the Companions of the Prophet, while others, such as al-Qurtubi, include the older of  the Followers as well. This is due to the Companions all being considered upright, trustworthy transmitters of hadith, such that a "mursal" hadith narrated by a Companion is acceptable. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, stating likewise, cited various evidences for this, from them, the Quranic verse, “And you were the best nation brought about to mankind.” The "fitnah" referred to is the conflicting ideologies of the Kharijites and the Ghulat that had emerged at the time of the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, his assassination and the social unrest of the Kharijites in opposition to the succeeding rulers, Ali and Muawiyah . The death of Uthman was in the year 35 after the migration. The "matn". According to scholar Daniel Brown, in traditional hadith studies, "the possibility" of criticizing the "matn" as well as the isnad "was recognized in theory, but the option was seldom systematically exercised". Syrian hadith scholar Dr. Salah al-Din al-Idlibi is expert in the relatively new field of "matn" criticism. Whereas traditional criticism has focused on verifying the trustworthiness of the people transmitting the hadith, "matn" criticism studies the contents of the hadith and compares this with the contents of other hadiths and any other available  historical evidence with the aim of arriving at an objective historical reality of the event described by the hadith. Section::::"Muhaddith": scholar of "hadith". The term "muḥaddith" (plural "muḥaddithūn" often translated as "traditionist") refers to a specialist who profoundly knows and narrates hadith, the chains of their narration "isnad", and the original and famous narrators. According to the 8th century Imam, Sheikh Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i, a "muhaddith" is someone who has memorised at least 400,000 narrations along with the chain of narrators for each narration. The female equivalent is a "muhadditha". In describing the "muhaddith", Al-Dhahabi raised the  question, "Where is the knowledge of hadith, and where are its people?" Answering his own question, he said, "I am on the verge of not seeing them except engrossed in a book or under the soil." Both men and women can serve as "muhaddithin" (traditionists). The requirements for a muhaddith are the same requirements that apply to the reception and transmission of reports (riwayah) in the Islamic tradition more generally: truthfulness, integrity, a competent and accurate memory, being free of prejudice or compulsion that might be presumed to distort the reporting. There are numerous women who have served as muhaddithat  in the history of Islam. Nadwi counts more than 8000 based on the biographical dictionaries of the classical and medieval period. Many of these women belonged to the most outstanding scholars and traditionists of their time and men were proud to receive narration from them. One must also note that muhaddithat transmitted the same body of knowledge as their male counterparts – there were and are no restrictions on what could be transmitted by women. The pursuit of knowledge was held above all else and was given even more importance if one travelled to seek that knowledge. Many muhaddithats were born  into a prominent family that had connection with the upper class or had a male relative who had a vested interest and/or connections that enhanced the career of these muhaddithats. In many cases, muhaddithats were the last living link between older scholars and the younger generations as they tended to live longer. Their isnads were held with greater value due to this. Below are some of the most prominent muhaddithats of their times. Shuhda al-Katiba (482-574CE) Shuhda al-Katiba was born in Baghdad during a time of turmoil. There were refugees fleeing and the city was being attacked . Despite this, Shuhda was able to find success. Her father played a big role in her education and she has credited him to her success in the field. She began her education at the age of eight when her father began introducing her to some of the most prominent and sought after muhaddiths and scholars of their time. Her husband also gave her access to the upper class of Baghdad. She gained fame later in her career and was known to be the last living link between prominent scholars and the younger generations. This made her isnad a particularly sought  after one. Fatimah Bint Sa’d al-Khayr (525-600CE) Fatimah Bint Sa’d al-Khayr was born in China but later dwelled in Isfahan and Baghdad. Her father was a scholar who felt it was very important for his children to be immersed in religious studies, particularly Hadith studies. He had traveled to many places in pursuit of this knowledge and even taught some of his children himself. Fatimah was brought up fully immersed in Hadith studies. Her sister also became a prominent muhaddithat. Her husband was very wealthy, held a high position in society, and a scholar himself, though not  at the same level as Fatimah. She lived in Damascus with him for some time then moved to Cairo. Fatimah’s career prospered in these two cities towards the end of her life. She had many students who traveled far and wide to recite to her and learn from her. She died when she was 78 years old. There is some mystery surrounding her life. When her husband died, he had not a penny to his name despite being very wealthy in his life. No one is aware of how this occurred. Zaynab Bint al-Kamal (646-740CE) Zaynab Bint  al-Kamal started her career at the age of one in Damascus. It is thought that the credit for that goes to her uncle rather than her father, as seen with other muhaddithats, who took her to prominent scholars at a very young age. Damascus was prospering during her life which gave her career extra stability. She never married, which could have contributed to her extensive education as she had more time to devote to it. Her students went on to become very prominent scholars with their impressive isnads thanks to her. As mentioned with the above muhaddithats, since Zaynab  started so young, she had hadiths from scholars who had died when she was teaching which made her highly sought after. People were willing to travel great distances to meet her. She died in her late 90s which is an impressive age for her time period. A’isha Bint Muhammad (723-816CE) A’isha Bint Muhammad came from a very prominent religious family. She started her career at four years old while Damascus was still prospering. Similar to the scholars mentioned above, she was the last link to many muhaddithats who had died which made her the last living link. Her students  became prominent scholars as well. She died at the age of 93. By the time of her death, she had the reputation of a very highly regarded muhadditha. Reporting or narrating (riwayah) must be differentiated from giving testimony (shahadah). While women are entirely equal in riwayah, many Islamic jurists place restrictions on women in shahadah – thus in several schools of law the testimony of two women is equal to that of a man. A "muḥaddith" or "traditionist" is not the same as one of the "Ahl al-Hadith" or a "traditionalist", a member of a movement of hadith scholars who  considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority in matters of law and creed. Sunni literature for hadith studies. As in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points of hadith studies. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani provides a summation of this development with the following: “Works authored in the terminology of the people of hadith have become plentiful from the Imaams both old and contemporary: Discussion of validity. The science of hadith has not been without critics. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, "despite the great care and precision of  the Hadith scholars, much of what they regarded as true was later proved to be spurious." He goes on to quote Al-Nawawi (1233–1277), who stated that "a number of scholars discovered many hadiths" in the two most authentic hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim "which do not fulfill the conditions of verification assumed by these men" (i.e. by the hadith collectors Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj). Among the criticisms made (of non-sahih as well as sahih hadith) of is that there was a suspiciously large growth in their number with each generation in  the early years of Islam; that large numbers of hadith contradicted each other; and that the genre's status as a primary source of Islamic law motivated the creation of fraudulent hadith. Modern Western scholars in particular have "seriously questioned the historicity and authenticity of the "hadith"", according to John Esposito, maintaining that "the bulk of traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad were actually written much later." According to Esposito, Schacht "found no evidence of legal traditions before 722," from which Schacht concluded that "the Sunna of the Prophet is not the words and deeds of the Prophet, but apocryphal  material" dating from later. Henry Preserved Smith and Ignác Goldziher also challenged the reliability of the "hadith", Smith stating that "forgery or invention of traditions began very early" and "many traditions, even if well authenticated to external appearance, bear internal evidence of forgery." Goldziher writes that "European critics hold that only a very small part of the ḥadith can be regarded as an actual record of Islam during the time of Mohammed and his immediate followers." In his "Mohammedan Studies", Goldziher states: "it is not surprising that, among the hotly debated controversial issues of Islam, whether political or doctrinal, there  is not one in which the champions of the various views are unable to cite a number of traditions, all equipped with imposing "isnads"". Patricia Crone noted that early traditionalists were still developing conventions of examining the chain of narration ("isnads") that by later standards were sketchy/deficient, even though they were closer to the historical material. Later though they possessed impeccable chains, but were more likely to be fabricated. Reza Aslan quotes Schacht's maxim: `the more perfect the isnad, the later the tradition`, which he (Aslan) calls "whimsical but accurate". Bernard Lewis writes that "the creation  of new hadiths designed to serve some political purpose has continued even to our own time." In the buildup to the first Gulf War a "tradition" was published in the Palestinian daily newspaper "Al-Nahar" on December 15, 1990, "and described as `currently in wide circulation`" It "quotes the Prophet as predicting that "the Greeks and Franks will join with Egypt in the desert against a man named Sadim, and not one of them will return". Others have praised the tradition for its ingenuity: Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute  of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, clarifies what he feels supports the validity of hadith studies: