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Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunnī Islam
ISBN: 9789047413677
Platform/Publisher: BRILL / BRILL
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Criticism.; Literary form.; Literature.;

Demonstrating the central role of third/ninth century ḥadīth scholars in the articulation of Sunnī Islam, this book bases its findings largely upon the analysis of multiple biographical dictionaries, such as al-Dhahabī's Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ , Ibn Saʿd's Kitāb al-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr , and collections of the critical comments of Ibn Maʿīn and Ibn Ḥanbal.

Part I establishes conceptual and historical frameworks for the study of Sunnī ḥadīth scholarship.

Part II examines in detail the three foundational principles of Sunnī Islam: 1) the collective probity of the ṣaḥāba , 2) the discipline of ḥadīth -transmitter criticism, and 3) a historical vision of the authoritative channels by which ḥadīth traversed the two centuries between the life of the Prophet Muḥammad and the first major ḥadīth books.