Ḥadīth-Amālī Sessions: Historical Study of a Forgotten Tradition in Classical Islam

Ḥadīth-Amālī Sessions: Historical Study of a Forgotten Tradition in Classical Islam

Ḥadīth-Amālī Sessions: Historical Study of A Forgotten Tradition in Classical Islam Presented by: Marzoug A M Alsehail Supervised by: Dr. Mustapha Sheikh Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies Department of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies September 2014 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. “This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.” ii Acknowledgement In the name of God, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful. First and foremost, I thank God (subhanahu wa tacala) for endowing me the strength, health, patience and knowledge to complete this thesis. Secondly, it would not have been possible to write this doctoral thesis without the help and support of the kind people around me, whose presence was indispensable through various difficulties I am sure most endure on journeys of this kind. I begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to my late mother Hind Al-Sardy who left this world too soon. Her death came at a critical time of my writing up—I only wish she had lived to see her son pass this final hurdle. I would like to express my appreciation to my father, Ahmad Al-Sehail for his support and his encouragement to me totake up the study of Ḥadīth. I acknowledge, with deep gratitude and appreciation, the inspiration,encouragement, valuable time and guidance given to me by my wife, Nabelah. Her encouragement, support and sacrificehas been unwavering.I would also like to thank my daughters, Yasmin, Rasha, Shahad, Linah, and my sons, Hamzah and Abdullah, for they have inspired me in their own ways to finish my thesis; I also thank them for their support and great patience throughout. To all my dearest brothers, Zyad, Mohammed, Abdullah, Abdulmuhsen, and my sister Maha, a big thank you for yoursupport and encouragement and for putting colours in mylife - may God bless you all. iii My sincere thanks also to my friend, Dr. Mohammad Al-Shehry, for his support and willingness to share knowledge on this topic. My especial appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr Mustapha Sheikh, for his supervision and constant support. His invaluable help which came in the form of constructive comments and suggestions throughout the research phase and thesis write-up have contributed to the successful completion of this research. Last, but by no means least, my thanks to the many friends and relatives, to whom I am very grateful, for their emotional support, love, patience, encouragement and prayers. iv Abstract This thesis is motivated by the shortage of research on the historical phenomenon ofḥadīth dictation sessions (al-amālī). It is the first to investigate the subject of ḥadīth dictation sessions, anextraordinary and highly-valued intellectual phenomenon in Islamic cultural history. It focusses on the writings ofal-Khaṭīb and al-Samcānī and compares them to other manuscripts on amālīheld in libraries in various parts of the Muslim world. The study has tried to bring together a large number of manuscripts to explore aspects of this area, imlā’ al-ḥadīth. The main objective of this research is to shed light on this important genre and to uncover itsmajor characteristics, structures and value, and ultimately to address the relative neglect this area of research has suffered. The major finding of this study is that amālī was the most highly-regarded and most trusted method in transmitting, preserving and analysing ḥadīthwithin scholarly cirlces. Alsothe study has demonstrated that al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī and al- Samcānī’s approachesare descriptive and lack the precision in regards to the main principles of imlā’, a method that was a particularlyrobustway of documenting only valid ḥadīth. The study also revealthat the claimsof several scholars to reviving this method are not accurate. Particularly, the study showsthat al-Suyūṭī did not lead a movement to revive the ḥadīth dictation sessions after Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ. This is the first dedicated study on imlā’ in either English or Arabic and should be of paticular interest to students of ḥadīth and scholars interested in pedagogical methods in the Medieval East and West. v Table of Contents Acknowledgement .................................................................................................... iii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ........................................................................................................... xii List of figures .......................................................................................................... xiii Arabic Transliteration System .............................................................................. xiv Declaration .............................................................................................................. xvi 1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Overview of Research ............................................................................... 4 1.3 Rationale of Research ............................................................................... 5 1.4. Research Objectives .................................................................................. 6 1.5. Research Methodology ............................................................................. 7 1.6 Research Contribution ............................................................................... 7 1.7. Research Value ......................................................................................... 8 1.8. Literature Review ...................................................................................... 8 1.9 Structure of the thesis .............................................................................. 17 2. Chapter One: Ḥadīth Dictation Sessions (Amālī al-ḥadīth) ....................... 20 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 20 2.2. Definition of Ḥadīth Dictation ................................................................ 20 2.3. Historical Development of Ḥadīth Dictation .......................................... 21 2.3.1. During the Prophet's Lifetime ............................................... 21 2.3.2. During the Companions’ Lifetime ........................................ 23 2.3.3. During the Successors’ Lifetime ........................................... 23 2.4. Phases of Development of Ḥadīth Dictation ........................................... 24 2.4.1. Formative Phase of Ḥadīth Dictation .................................... 24 2.4.2. Growth Phase of Ḥadīth Dictation ........................................ 26 2.4.3. Stagnation of Ḥadīth Dictation Sessions ............................... 30 2.5. The Significance of Ḥadīth Dictation Sessions ....................................... 33 2.6. Methods of Ḥadīth Dictation (ṭara’iq al-imlā’) ...................................... 35 2.6.1. Dictation from Memory ........................................................ 35 2.6.2. Dictation from a Book ........................................................... 36 vi 2.6.3. Dictation from Both Memory and a Book ............................ 36 2.7. Dictation in Ḥadīth Learning .................................................................. 37 2.7.1. Position of Dictation in Ḥadīth Learning .............................. 37 2.7.2. Conditions of Ḥadīth Learning ............................................. 39 2.7.3. Methods of Ḥadīth Learning ................................................. 40 .3 Chapter Two ................................................................................................... 46 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 46 3.2 Major Threats to Manuscripts ................................................................. 46 3.3. Importance of the Present Discussion ..................................................... 47 3.4 al-Khazānah al-Shawishiyyah (Personal Libraries). ............................... 48 3.5. Ḥadīth Dictation Sessions in Printed Form ............................................. 50 3.5.1. Major Published Ḥadīth Dictation Sessions .......................... 50 3.6. Lone Ḥadīth Dictation Session Manuscripts ........................................... 55 3.6.1. Identification of the Lone Manuscript .................................. 56 3.6.2. Data Collection on Lone Manuscripts .................................. 56 3.6.3. List of Lone Ḥadīth Dictation Session Manuscripts ............. 57 3.7. Ḥadīth Dictation Session Manuscripts of More Than One Copy ........... 80 3.7.1. List of Ḥadīth Dictation Session Manuscripts of More Than One Copy .............................................................................. 80 Chapter Three: The Ḥadīth Scholar (al-mumli) ................................................ 124 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 124 4.2. Who is the Ḥadīth

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