As the Chinese art collector Li Shuh-hua wrote “Such matters came from the ancients. The ancients are gone. And we cannot raise them from the Nether World to question them. We how can we arrive at the truth without being vain and false in our wrangling noisily about it?”
A central tenant of Islam is the belief in Ahadith, the collections from the life of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. The majority of the current Islamic practices result from a direct interpretation or extrapolation from a hadith. Yet the collection of Ahadith over the last 14 centuries is a process so convoluted, so complex you could almost be forgiven for giving up on understanding it.
Dr. Brown takes us on a wild, or rather dry and academic depending on your inclination, journey across the collection, collation and comparison of Ahadith, culminating in an in-depth understanding of a rather complex, convoluted charge. The history is intermingled with a turbulent political landscape, with centuries of scholarly works leaving their marks on an ultimately well-intentioned endeavour. The sheer literary effort which has gone into the collection of Ahadith is unmatched in history, with scores of scholars across centuries dedicating their entire life to the preserving and advancing of this knowledge. The book underpins the idea that it is grossly unfair to simply undermine these works, labelling them as false or mis-guided as is the fashion in the current Muslim world. However, Brown also drives home the idea that canonization of works which has been historically challengeable is a dangerous precedent. After all, knowledge did not stop with the Masters of the old, which is the other extreme.
Brown’s extensive use of references lends to the idea that at its core this is an academic book, trying its best to be objective while providing the complete picture and a starting point for anyone who wishes to explore further.
He explains the entire process of the transmission and collection of the Prophet’s tradition, written in a fairly simple way lending to the idea that this is not targeted just at Muslims. Brown divides the collection in two parts, the early collection from 720 AD to 1000 AD and the collections from then on.
I particularly enjoyed reading about the evolution of the collection, of Isnad- the chain of transmissions and a direct link Prophet Muhammad and the reverent fascination of scholars to search and collect the shortest Isnad so as to have the shortest link to Muhammad. Something which Brown compares to collecting rare coins in todays time. To me, Isnad verification seemed like the precursor to the modern academic refencing methods, an early prototype if you will.
Another interesting note was the influence of the Muazatalite and the Ashari group of thoughts in the first 3 centuries, leading to a lack of criticism on the text of Ahadith, something which modern scholars have found difficult to justify. Brown in his endeavour to be objective provides varying opinions, dedicating a chapter to the Shi’te collection and the differences to mainstream Sunni Islam mostly because of the importance placed on the 12 imam and their holy status. Another chapter is dedicated to Sufism, to Ibn Arbai’s theophysical Sufi idea of kashf (unveiling)` and its impact on the collection.
Brown goes on to describe western criticism of the collection, using the Historical Criticism Method (HCM) and questions of authenticity raised by the early orientalists. Here, in classic westerns academia fashion, I felt Brown went a little scholastic. The early western vision (mostly Juynboll, Goldzeihr) of the hadith tradition as inherently manipulative and unreliable leads to unfair criticism based on incomplete study of an ancient tradition. However, they do raise an important point. Hadith collection did not begin until the mid-7th century, the gap of almost 150 years or 3-4 generations leads to easily forgeable, and nigh upon impossible to verify, chains of transmission. Especially with recorded cases of political, social and even well intentioned forgeries designed to guide Muslims to a better path.
Later evaluations by western academics point out that modern methods of establishing common links can be used to corroborate certain Ahadith. Whilst that does not mean all of Sunni tradition is accepted as de facto right, but it does lead some credence to their works. Ultimately, acceptance of Ahadith should not start, end or affected by western denial.
After pages replete with scores of famous names, but centuries old the end of the book is refreshing in its modernity. Brown discusses modern Islamic ideas. Of revolutionary movements in the sub-continent to the Salafi movements in Arabia. The age-old arguments of the Ashari and the Mutazaile, of Taqilid (loyalty to tradition) and Ijtihad (independent reasoning) are revitalised. True to history, its clearly visible how political landscapes and chauvintic dedication to schools of thought underscore religious tradition.
The Collection of Ahadith is the legacy of Muhammad, Prophet of Allah. Debating it is impossible to do neutrally or objectively, in the shadow of unspoken assumptions of God’s true message to Muhammad. If Muslims lose the hadith corpus, where does Islam come from? Or as Imam Shafi said “If we lose Ahaidtih, how will we even know how to pray?” Muslim scholars have long clung to the idea of freeing the criticism of Muhammads words from accusations of forgeries. Modern Islam in the face of economic and cultural inferiority to the west seeks to continue this tradition and to find its place in this world.
Dr. Jonathan Brown has outdone himself following his highly acclaimed book “Misquoting Muhammad”. I highly recommend this to anyone, if for no other reason but to garner a respect to the mounds of knowledge and centuries of effort Muslim scholars have undertaken to ensure we continue upholding the legacy of Muhammad.
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