Analysing Muslim Traditions (Islamic History and Civilization)

521 Pages·2009·3.17 MB·English

by  Harald Motzki

Analysing Muslim Traditions
Islamic History
and Civilization
Studies and Texts
Editorial Board
Sebastian Günther
Wadad Kadi
VOLUME 78
Analysing Muslim
Traditions
Studies in Legal, Exegetical and
Maghāzī Ḥadīth
By
Harald Motzki
with Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort and
Sean W. Anthony
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2010
On the cover: Muhammed teaching. Bibliothèque nationale de France, MSO Arabe
1489 Folio 5v.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Motzki, Harald.
Analysing Muslim traditions : studies in legal, exegetical and Maghazi hadith / by
Harald Motzki with Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort and Sean W. Anthony.
p. cm. — (Islamic history and civilization ; v. 78)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-18049-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Hadith—Criticism, interpreta-
tion, etc. 2. Hadith—Hermeneutics. 3. Islamic law—Interpretation and construction.
I. Boekhoff-van der Voort, Nicolet. II. Anthony, Sean W. III. Title. IV. Series.
BP135.M68 2010
297.1’240601—dc22
2009038913
ISSN 0929-2403
ISBN 978 90 04 18049 9
Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
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CONTENTS
Preface .................................................................................................. xi
Chapter One. The Jurisprudence of Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī.
A Source-Critical Study ................................................................ 1
Harald Motzki
I. The Problem .......................................................................... 1
II. Maʿmar as a Source for Zuhrī’s Teaching ........................ 4
III. Ibn Jurayj as a Source for Zuhrī’s Teaching .................... 11
IV. Mālik as a Source for Zuhrī’s Teaching ........................... 18
V. The Three Sources Compared ............................................ 24
VI. A Prophetic Ḥadīth by Zuhrī ............................................. 36
VII. Conclusions ........................................................................... 46
Chapter Two. Whither Ḥadīth Studies? ........................................ 47
Harald Motzki
I. Introduction: Juynboll on Nāfiʿ, the Mawlā of
Ibn ʿUmar .............................................................................. 47
II. Chain Analysis: Method and Concept .............................. 50
The Common Link and its Single Strand ........................ 50
Partial Common Links and Single Strands ...................... 54
III. On Nāfiʿ’s Alleged Role in the Transmission of
Traditions .............................................................................. 61
Was Nāfiʿ a Historical Figure? ........................................... 61
Juynboll’s Isnād Analysis of a Tradition of Nāfiʿ from
Ibn ʿUmar .............................................................................. 75
IV. Investigating the Mutūn of the Zakāt al-Fitṛ Tradition 90
Mālik ibn Anas ..................................................................... 91
Mūsā ibn ʿUqba .................................................................... 98
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ...................................................... 101
Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī ............................................................. 105
Layth ibn Saʿd ....................................................................... 107
Ayyūb ibn Mūsā ................................................................... 109
Ibn Abī Laylā ......................................................................... 110
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar .......................................................... 111
Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ............................................................................. 113
vi contents
ʿUmar ibn Nāfiʿ ...................................................................... 114
Ibn Abī Rawwād .................................................................... 115
The Results of the Textual Analysis of the Transmission
Process ..................................................................................... 117
V. Summary and Conclusions .................................................. 122
Chapter Three. The Prophet and the Debtors. A Ḥadīth
Analysis under Scrutiny ................................................................ 125
Harald Motzki
I. Sale of Children and Debt-Servitude. Studies on the
Early Period of the Islamic Law .......................................... 125
The Methods of Ḥadīth Analysis ........................................ 129
II. Debt-Slavery in Early Islamic Jurisprudence .................... 139
Schneider’s Analysis of the Surraq Ḥadīth ....................... 139
The Transmission History of the Surraq Ḥadīth ............. 146
Zanjī ..................................................................................... 147
 ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ..................................................................... 149
Interim Results and the Version of Zayd’s Sons ......... 151
Ibn Lahīʿa ............................................................................ 153
The Tradition P11 by Bayhaqī ........................................ 156
Interim Review .................................................................. 160
The Issue of Origin ........................................................... 162
The Issue of Surraq’s Historicity ......................................... 165
A Further Surraq-Ḥadīth ..................................................... 169
The Ḥadīth P23 about the Sale of a Free Person ............. 172
The Pre-Islamic Law of Obligations in the Ḥijāz ............ 176
The Prophet’s Approach to Personal Execution .............. 187
“Surraq Once More” ............................................................. 193
III. Debt-Servitude in Early Islamic Jurisprudence ................ 194
IV. Summary and Results ........................................................... 205
Chapter Four. Al-Radd ʿAlā l-Radd: Concerning the Method of
Ḥadīth Analysis .............................................................................. 209
Harald Motzki
I. Motzki’s Isnād-cum-Matn Analysis .................................... 210
II. Motzki’s Text Analysis ......................................................... 215
Schneider’s Excursus ............................................................. 219
III. The Authenticity of the Lower Part of the Isnād or of
the Whole Story ..................................................................... 220
contents vii
IV. The Common Source ............................................................ 221
V. Was Surraq a Historical Personality? ................................. 223
Schneider’s Interim Results .................................................. 224
VI. Narrativity and Authenticity: The Story of the Wise
Prophet .................................................................................... 225
Chapter Five. The Origins of Muslim Exegesis. A Debate ......... 231
Harald Motzki
I. The Problem ............................................................................ 231
II. Preliminary Notes .................................................................. 234
III. The Exegetical Traditions of Qurʾān 15:90–91 ................. 236
The Traditions of Group One .............................................. 238
The Traditions of Group Two ............................................. 242
The Traditions of Group Three ........................................... 245
The Traditions of Group Four ............................................. 249
The Traditions of Group Five .............................................. 254
The ʿIkrima and Qatāda Traditions ................................ 255
Qatāda ............................................................................. 255
ʿIkrima ............................................................................. 257
Ibn Isḥāq’s Tradition ........................................................ 261
The Traditions of Group Six ................................................ 268
Conclusions ............................................................................. 270
IV. Early Commentaries .............................................................. 273
Muqātil ..................................................................................... 274
Abū ʿUbayda, al-Farrāʾ, al-Akhfash al-Awsat ̣ .................... 277
Muḥammad al-Kalbī ............................................................. 278
Zayd ibn ʿAlī ........................................................................... 281
V. Wansbrough’s View on the Development of Early
Exegesis – An Alternative? ................................................... 285
The Epistemological Issue .................................................... 285
The Asānīd .............................................................................. 288
Dating ...................................................................................... 290
VI. Summary ................................................................................. 296
VII. Appendix ................................................................................ 299
Chapter Six. The Raid of the Hudhayl: Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī ’s
Version of the Event ..................................................................... 305
Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort
I. Introduction ............................................................................ 305
viii contents
II. Isnād Analysis ......................................................................... 308
Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ................................................................ 309
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd ..................................................................... 309
Maʿmar ibn Rāshid ................................................................ 311
Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamza ........................................................ 311
Conclusion Isnād Analysis ................................................... 312
III. Matn Analysis per Student of al-Zuhrī .............................. 313
Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ................................................................ 313
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd ..................................................................... 317
Maʿmar ibn Rāshid ................................................................ 338
Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamza ........................................................ 352
IV. Matn Analysis between Students of al-Zuhrī ................... 358
Resemblance of the Traditions ............................................ 358
Differences between the Traditions .................................... 361
Conclusion .............................................................................. 364
V. Comparison of the Zuhrī-Traditions to Other Versions ... 368
Comparison with Ibn Isḥāq’s Version ............................... 368
Conclusion .............................................................................. 375
Comparison with the Versions of Ibn Saʿd and Mūsā
ibn ʿUqba ................................................................................. 377
VI. Conclusion .............................................................................. 381
Chapter Seven. Crime and Punishment in Early Medina:
The Origins of a Maghāzī-Tradition .......................................... 385
Sean W. Anthony
Introduction ................................................................................... 385
I. Isnād Analysis ......................................................................... 390
The Anas ibn Mālik Tradition ............................................. 391
The Abū Qilāba Cluster .................................................... 395
The Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl Cluster ......................................... 403
The Qatāda Cluster ............................................................ 406
Remaining Traditions ....................................................... 407
The ʿUrwa/ʿĀʾisha and Ibn ʿUmar Traditions ................... 411
II. Matn Analysis ......................................................................... 417
The Anas ibn Mālik Tradition ............................................. 417
The Abū Qilāba Traditions .............................................. 418
The Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl Traditions ................................... 432
contents ix
The Qatāda Traditions ...................................................... 437
Unique Traditions from Anas ......................................... 440
ʿUrwa/ʿĀʾisha and Ibn ʿUmar Traditions ........................... 446
III. The Formation of the Sīra- and Maghāzī-Tradition ....... 449
IV. Summary and Conclusions .................................................. 463
Bibliography ......................................................................................... 467
Index ..................................................................................................... 479