MENA 160A1 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I. Early lifea. Early Meccan Periodb. Period of Meccan Revelationc. Medinan RevelationII. Beginning of Islamic calendar and the root of the Islamic “umma/community of believersOutline of Current Lecture III. Define Hadith IV. Define Tradition (Sunna)V. Hadith’s Collections (Sunni & Shi’ite)VI. Study of Hadith Current LectureHadith Terminology Sunna: example, practice, custom Hadith: report of prophetic Sunna  Isnad: chain of transmitters Matn: text Sahih: sound, authentic Da‘if: weak, inauthenticWhat is the Hadith- A general collection of sayings and deeds that Muhammad did is called “hadith”a. The term hadith signifies “the record of actions or sayings of the prophet Muhammadb. In Arabic, the term means a report, narrative, tradition, or a communication (plural ahadith). c. The hadith takes the form of a short narrative preceded by a list of authoritative transmitters.d. The language is direct, conversational, active and often repetitive with a characteristic use of formulaic expression- The Hadith is composed of two parts:-the first part is the chain of transmitters, which is called isnad (sometimes referred as ‘an’ana); which means …from….from…. From the Prophet.-the second part is the matn or subject matter- Both the isnad and matn make up the hadith report and collection hadith reports are thefoundation of historical writing- The sum of Hadith makes up what is called the Sunna (Tradition) of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunna refers to the path of life followed by the Prophet Muhammad and his early companions.The Science of Hadith- The importance of the hadith in the development of Islam cannot be over-emphasizeda. Hadiths were the basic unit of Islamic literature and scholarship, as well as the primary means of preserving information from the pastb. Weren’t necessarily connected to Muhammad, but provided a means of transmitting and documenting historical anecdotesc. Hadith was traced back to the prophet and scholars decided to give the historical reports a separate name calling them “athar” so that the term “hadith” could be reserved for prophetic traditions- Reports were sorted in a variety of ways:-compiling a sira-collected to provide a basis for legal decisions-provide background to the Quran-etc- Significant category of the Hadith is the Qudsi-the Qudsi was a direct message from God to Muhammad revealed through Gabriel, but did not find its way into the Quran:-"I was a hidden treasure and I longed to be known so I created the world that I might be known.” What is the content of the Hadith- Major Topics:a. Acts of Worship (‘ibadat)b. Transactions (mu‘amalat)c. Eschatologyd. Etiquette, pietye. Qur’anic commentaryf. Life of the Prophet (sira)g. Virtues of the Companions - Hadith are authoritative statements about ritual, legal, moral and religious concerns. - There is almost nothing important for the life of a Muslim for which there is not a saying of the Prophet, from questions of faith, moral life (family issues, business relationships), to those relating to the just ordering of the state (traits of the ruler, justice system). Everyday questions for example about food and clothing are also discussed.- In Hadiths, Muslims could find specific examples and rules for everything on which the Qur’an had made or did not make statements. - They could take their guidance from them.- Hadith represent the voice of the Prophet.Reliability/ Authenticity of the Hadith- The majority of Hadiths cannot be considered reliable accounts of the Prophet life and his Companions.- A hadith’s account can only be believable if its chain of transmission (isnad) offers an unbroken series of reliable authorities. - Muslim scholars of Hadith argue that the authenticity of a tradition is based on its reporter. The reporter should be of a trustworthy character, and part of a long chain of transmission which must be unbroken.- Gaps in the chain of transmission mean the Hadith is either unreliable or forged.Sunni vs. Shi‘ite hadith- Both groups value the Sunna of the Prophet- The primary difference between the two was the isnad:-Sunni isnad: must be unbroken chain of reliable transmitters all the way to the Prophet via a Companion of the Prophet-Shi’ite isnad: must be unbroken chain of reliable transmitters to one of the twelve Imams - It took almost two centuries of collection of Hadith by scholars who manage to codify the bulk of hadith material.- The 9th century CE, six massive collections became the authoritative Hadiths among the Sunni community. They are commonly known by the names of their compilers.- A list of collections from the Sunni’sa. Al-Bukhari (died 870).b. Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (died 875)c. Abu Da’ud al-Sijistani (died 888)d. Ibn Majah al-Qazwini (died 887)e. Abu ‘Isa al-Tirmidi (died 892)f. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa’i (died 915)g. Two other collection well received among the Sunni’s are those of Malik ibn Anas (died 795) and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (died 855)- The Shi’ites use the above collections of Hadiths but they are selective in terms of Companions.- consider Hadith from Imams fully authoritative.- From the perspective of Shi‘a, they have four collections of Hadith as authoritative:1. Muhammad Ibn ya‘qub al-Kulayni (died 940)2. Muhammad Ibn Babuyah al-Qummi (died 991)3. Muhammad al-Tusi (compiled two collections died 1068)Hadith Criticism - Skepticism among scholars (especially Westerns) about the reliability of the sources for the life of Muhammad.- Among Western skeptics of the authenticity of hadith: -Alois Sprenger and William Muir both claim that much of what we know today as Hadith is forged. But still believe that the core of authentic traditions could be sifted out of the forged ones. - Hungarian Islamist Ignaz Goldziher argues that the collection of Hadith grew up in the years after Arab conquest. Hadiths did not reflect the life of the Prophet and his companions.- Claims that Hadith reflect the reality of the Umayyad and Abbasids empires not seventh century. But still, Goldziher remained optimistic about the authenticity of the traditions.- After Goldziher, Joseph Schacht developed the same critical methodology to the development of Islamic law.-He argued that Islamic law began with the administrative practice of the Umayyad, who were pragmatic and adopted legal rulings when it was