A CRITICAL STUDY OF WESTERN VIEWS ON HADITH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE VIEWS OF JAMES ROBSON AND JOHN BURTON By MOHAMMED S H ALSHAHRI A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham March 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The present thesis is a critical examination of the two well-known post-Schachtian scholars of ®ad»th; James Robson and John Burton. Both scholars are major contributors to modern ®ad»th studies in the West. It assesses their main arguments and their methodological approaches to ®ad»th literature. It also provides a historical survey of the key arguments and works of their predecessors since the rise of the modern Western debates over the reliability of ®ad»th materials. This critical study points to the conclusion that Robson and Burton were heavily influenced by the sceptical attitude of Ignaz Goldziher and Joseph Schacht towards the historicity of ®ad»th. However, Robson is inclined to accept some aspects of the Muslim traditional view regarding the genesis of ®ad»th and its isn«d system (chain of transmitters). Burton, on the other hand, expresses a sceptical stance towards the historicity of ®ad»th and argues that the development of ®ad»th originated from the exegesis of the Qur’an, having no historical basis in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. Ca. 70,000 words. II DEDICATION To my late father S«lim, who saved from the necessities of life to fund my religious education. To my late mother Nab»lah, who taught me the meanings of love and sacrifice. To my brothers, Fay·al and Kh«lid, who tirelessly supported their brother during so many times of distress. To my late Shaykh A¯mad b. °ayfillah, and my noble teacher Mu¯ammad Mu·³afá (Sudan) who both endeared religious studies to my soul. To you all, I dedicate this work, asking Allah to put all efforts exerted in the record of our good deeds on the Day of Judgement, allahumma «m»n. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All thanks and praise are due to Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the guidance of Allah. I am really indebted to Him for His guidance and support and I always ask Him earnestly to continue showering me with His blessings until I meet Him while pleased with me, allahumma «m»n. I am very grateful to my esteemed supervisor Dr. Jabal M. Buaben, former senior lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Birmingham, for his patience, support, guidance, insightful comments, and meticulous reading of my research. My equally imperishable gratitude is undoubtedly due to Dr. ‘Al» b. ®usayn, former head of the Department of Islamic Creed and Contemporary Doctrines at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, whose profound knowledge of Islam inspired me as a young undergraduate. His commitment to what he believes in and his dedication to Islam inspired a generation of people and seekers of knowledge. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to all those who aided me with reading parts of my thesis, provided me with references and contributed in various scholarly discussions. It would take many pages and much space to thank them all. They include Dr. Louay Fatoohi (author of the renowned book The Mystery of the Historical Jesus), Dr. El-Sayed Amin, Dr. Ahmad Al-Dawoody, Dr. Muhsin Adekunle Balogun, and Mirza Hadzirusevic. Much appreciation is due to Selma Cook for editing this thesis in its final stage and Munawwar Ateeq for editing the first part of an earlier version of Chapter Five. Many other names deserve a word of thanks: Dr Ian Draper, Dr. Muhammad Zafir Alshehri (head of the Department of Hadith Studies at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia), Dr Martin O’kane, Dr. Abdulrahman Alzaagy (Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the School of Theology, Religion and Islamic Studies, University of Wales), Dr. Muray Habbash, Dr. Ahmad Awad, Dr. Ahmad Atif, Fahad Sultan, Dr. Abdullah Dumfo, Dr. Awad Ahmad, Muhammad Abu Sharer, Bilqasim Abduallah, Mutib Alamri, Ibrahim Rajih, Hasan Abu Alaamah, Muhammad Shayban, Naif Shayban, Dr. Muhammad Abu shaybah, Umar Ahmad, Mustafa Albana, Abdulrahman Khusaif, Abdulaziz Algashami, Dr. Yunus Burhan, Majid al-Harithy, Muhammad Dabaj, Nasir Dabaj, Mohammed Aqeel, Uthman Hakami, Majid Busafi, Saeed Alshamy, Adil Askar, Linda Sarhan, Alison Dingle, Muhammad Alkhataiybah, Amir Mir’y, Hamzah Khadar, Ali Zahir, Dr. Islam Shiha, Dr Alludeen Adawi, and Wu T. Jung. I am indebted to King Khalid University for funding this research. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the members of my family and to my relatives for their encouragement and support. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT II DEDICATION III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V TRANSLITERATION TABLE IX LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES X CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 2 1.2 Objectives 4 1.3 Research Questions 6 1.4 Scope and Limitations 7 1.5 Literature Review 8 1.5.1 Selected Materials of the Works of James Robson and John Burton 8 1.5.2 Works on Robson and Burton 13 1.6 Methodology 15 1.7 Structure of the Study 19 CHAPTER TWO MUSLIM PERSPECTIVE OF ®ADºTH 22 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2 ®ad»th and Sunnah, Definitions and Differences 23 2.3 ®ad»th and its Authority in Legal and Theological Opinion 28 V V 2.3.1 ®ad»th and Islamic Law 29 2.3.2 ®ad»th and the Qur’«n 31 2.3.3 Categories of the Legal ®ad»th 33 2.4 Important Aspects of the History of ®ad»th and Its Development 35 2.4.1 The Phenomenon of Wa±‘ (Fabrication) in ®ad»th 35 2.4.1.1 Types of Fabrication 36 2.4.1.2 Methodology of Mu¯addith•n in Identifying Fabricated A¯«d»th 38 2.4.1.2.1 The First Stage 38 2.4.1.2.2 The Second Stage 40 2.4.1.2.3The Third Stage 45 2.4.2 ®ad»th Collection (Jam‘) and Documentation (Tadw»n) 49 2.6 Conclusion 52 CHAPTER THREE MAJOR WESTERN WORKS AND VIEWS ON ®ADºTH FROM 1890 To 1950 54 3.1 Introduction 45 3.2 Modern Academic Writings of Western scholars on ®ad»th: Beginnings and Nature: 55 3.2.1 Beginning 56 3.2.2 Nature 59 3.3 Major Works and Views of Early Orientalists on ®ad»th from 1890 to 1950 62 3.4 Outline of the Views of Goldziher and Schacht 64 3.4.1 Ignaz Goldziher’s Views 64 VI 3.4.1.1 Goldziher and the Religious Evolution Theory 71 3.4.2 Joseph Schacht’s Work and Views 77 3.5 The Scholarly Impact of the Studies of Goldziher and Schacht 88 3.6 Conclusion 98 CHAPTER FOUR JAMES ROBSOB’S VIEWS ON ®ADºTH 100 4.1 Introduction 100 4.2 Brief Intellectual Biography of James Robson 100 4.3 Discussion of Robson’s Views 103 4.3.1 ®ad»th in Early Islam 103 4.3.1.1 Interest in ®ad»th 103 4.3.1.2 ®ad»th as a Basis of Islam 112 4.3.1.2.1 Rulers and ®ad»th after the Prophet’s Death 113 4.3.1.2.2 Al-Sh«fi‘» and His Role in the Recognition of the Sunnah 124 4.3.2 The Genesis of ®ad»th 131 4.3.3 Isn«d System 134 4.3.4 Evidence of Fabrication of ®ad»th in the late Umayyad Period 145 4.3.5 Number of A¯«d»th in ¶a¯»¯ of al-Bukh«r» 149 4.3.6 The Qur’«n as a Standard in Robson’s ®ad»th Criticism 158 4.4 General Features of Robson’s Writings on ®ad»th 166 4.5 Conclusion 169 V II VII CHAPTER FIVE JOHN BURTON’S VIEWS ON ®ADºTH 173 5.1 Introduction 173 5.2 Brief Intellctuall Biography of John Burton 173 5.3 Critical Discussion of Burton’s Views 177 5.3.1 The Terms of ‘Sunnah’ and ‘®ad»th’ and their Concepts before 150/767 177 5.3.2 Sunnah of the People of Mad»nah in Muwa³³a’ of M«lik b. Anas (179/795) 186 5.3.3 Origin of ®ad»th 194 5.3.4 Abrogation and ®ad»ith 201 5.3.4.1 Discussion of Burton’s Example 220 5.4 General Observations on Burton’s Writings on ®ad»th 225 5.5 The implication of Burton’s arguments 228 5.6 Conclusion 229 CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION AND FINDINGS 248 GLOSSARY 249 APPENDIX 252 BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 VIII VIII TRANSLITERATION OF ARABIC CHARACTERS The following conventions have been used throughout: CONSONANTS ن n ظ µ ذ dh ء ’ ه h ع ‘ ر r ب b و w غ gh ز z ت t ي y ف f س s ث th ة ah ق q ش sh ج j ال al ك k ص · ح ¯ ل l ض ± خ kh م m ط ³ د d VOWELS Short vowels Long vowels Doubled ﱡﻭ uwwa final ū ﺁ fat¯ah a َ ā ﱢﻱ iyya final ī ﻭ ū ۥ ammah u± ﱠﻥ anna ‚ﻱ kasrah i ‚ ī DIPHTHONGS وَ : aw ي : ay Hamzah (’) is omitted at the beginning of a word.