Early Transmission of Ḥadīth: Incentives and Challenges

Abstract

Ḥadīth forms a controversial topic for Muslim as well as non-Muslim scholars. Generally, both groups believe that a great number of ḥadīths, having been mainly written in the 3rd/9th century, were doctored or totally fabricated in later times to serve political or sectarian agendas. This article underlines the recent shift in modern scholarship à propos the reception of Ḥadīth. It also explains the reasons behind such a shift. However, the article’s main theme is giving an insight into how Ḥadīth was transmitted from the earliest years of Islam down to the 3rd/9th century. The main finding of this survey is that none of the dominant radical perspectives, whether dismissive or receptive, fits the case. Ḥadīth was not systematically documented from the very beginning, but there is evidence that the compilations we possess today are the upshot of an early organic phase where oral traditions concurred with, and then evolved into, written ones.