The Wiley Blackwell Concise Companion to The Hadith

The most comprehensive and up-to-date English-language guide on hadith scholarship

The source of much of our knowledge of the first two centuries of Islamic history, the hadith literature is made up of thousands of traditions collected during the formative years of Islam. Alongside the Qur'an, the hadith forms a second major body of Islamic scripture, and much of Islamic belief and practice rests on the hadith including Islamic law, Islamic theology, Qur'anic interpretation, political thought, and personal behavior. Yet despite its importance to Muslims worldwide and its indispensable role as a source for early Islamic history, the hadith remains unexplored territory for many non-specialist readers.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Hadith is a concise yet comprehensive overview of both Islamic and Western traditions of hadith study, offering up-to-date scholarship and providing readers with an essential guide to this distinctive aspect of Islam.

Written by a multidisciplinary team of distinguished scholars, the Companion discusses questions of authenticity, epistemology and authority in the hadith and explores the relationship of the hadith literature to other ways of transmitting knowledge and establishing authority.

• Covers the origins of hadith, the application of hadith within the Islamic intellectual tradition, and contemporary revaluations of hadith literature
• Addresses developments in modern scholarship about the origins of Islam and Islamic law which are rooted in a revaluation of hadith
• Presents new and groundbreaking research from international scholars from divergent perspectives to present an accurate and lively overview of the field
• Explores the emergence of skepticism about hadith among western scholars
• Surveys the evolution of a wide range of approaches to hadith among modern Muslims

Filling a significant gap in current literature in the field, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Hadith is a valuable resource for students, scholars, and researchers in Islamic studies, Islamic law, history, and theology.

List of Figures vii

Notes on Contributors ix

Introduction 1
Daniel W. Brown

I. Overview 13

1 The Classical Tradition 15
Ghassan Abdul‐Jabbar

2 Western Hadith Studies 39
Daniel W. Brown

II. Beginnings 57

3 Revelation 59
William A. Graham

4 Muhammad 75
Andreas Görke

5 Recording 91
Gregor Schoeler

6 Dating 113
Pavel Pavlovitch

III. Growth 135

7 Collections 137
Ghassan Abdul‐Jabbar

8 Commentaries 159
Mustafa Macit Karagözogğlu

9 Genres 187
Roberto Tottoli

IV. Impact 203

10 Law 205
Christopher Melchert

11 Exegesis 223
Herbert Berg

12 Theology 241
Huseyin Hansu

13 Sufism 265
Aiyub Palmer

14 Shiʿism 281
Ahmad Pakatchi

V. Modernity 295

15 Reform 297
Jawad Anwar Qureshi

16 Reappraisal 315
Daniel W. Brown

17 Gender 335
Adis Duderija

Bibliography 353

Index 383

“In conclusion, the book brings together the works of scholars from the West and East and provides useful information for scholars on different aspects of Hadith.” - Religious Studies Review, Volume 47, Number 2, June 2021

Daniel W. Brown is Director of the Institute for the Study of Religion in the Middle East and author of Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought and A New Introduction to Islam.

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE AND UP-TO-DATE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE GUIDE ON HADITH SCHOLARSHIP

Representing a primary source of knowledge on the first two centuries of Islamic history, the hadith literature is a collection of thousands of traditions recorded during the formative years of Islam. Alongside the Qur'an, the hadith forms a second major body of Islamic scripture and much of Islamic belief and practice rests on the hadith, including Islamic law, Islamic theology, Qur'anic interpretation, political thought, and personal behavior. Yet, despite its importance to Muslims worldwide and its indispensable role as a source for early Islamic history, the hadith remains unexplored territory for many.

The Wiley Blackwell Concise Companion to the Hadith is a succinct yet comprehensive overview of both Islamic and Western traditions of hadith study, offering up-to-date scholarship and providing readers with an essential guide to this distinctive aspect of Islam.

Written by a multidisciplinary team of distinguished scholars, the Companion discusses questions of authenticity, epistemology, and authority in the hadith, and explores the relationship between hadith literature and other ways of transmitting knowledge and establishing authority.

• Covers the origins of hadith, the application of hadith within the Islamic intellectual tradition, and contemporary revaluations of hadith literature
• Addresses developments in modern scholarship about the origins of Islam and Islamic law which are rooted in a revaluation of hadith
• Presents new and groundbreaking research by international scholars from divergent perspectives to present a wide-ranging overview of the field
• Explores the emergence of skepticism about hadith among western scholars
• Surveys the evolution of a wide range of approaches to hadith among modern Muslims

Filling a significant gap in current literature in the field, The Wiley Blackwell Concise Companion to the Hadith is a valuable resource for students, scholars, and researchers in Islamic studies, Islamic law, history, and theology.