Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Faculty Member, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University, Arak, Iran.
2 PhD Student in Theology, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University, Arak, Iran.
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The issue of the origins of the emergence of narratives and the dating of documents, from the perspective of Orientalists, remains one of the new topics in contemporary hadith studies, even after a century. Understanding their methods of evaluating narratives is essential, as accepting or rejecting their conclusions cannot be achieved without familiarity with the approaches of Western hadith scholars. This study aims to re-examine the narrative sources and, relying on the methods of Orientalists, to address the dating of the discussed narrative.
Research Question(s)
This research, by employing the method of dating, aims to clarify the question of which period is identified as the primary source for the dissemination of the narrative through the identification of a common narrator in determining the temporal limits of its transmission. Furthermore, it explores what meaning is affirmed by evaluating the narrative against the criteria of hadith criticism in the section of semantic analysis.
Literature Review
Regarding the dating of narratives based on a combined analysis of the chain of transmission and the text, numerous works have been written so far. Among these, one can refer to the collection of articles in the book "Dating Hadith: Methods and Examples" edited by Seyyed Ali Aqaee. Additionally, there are collections of articles that have employed this method to analyze certain narratives. Given the sensitivity of the topic of jihad, we observe works such as "Kitab al-Jihad" (1995) by Seyyed Fazlollah and "Fiqh al-Jihad" (2009) by Qaradawi, in which the mentioned narrative is examined solely through the lens of the semantics of the hadith's vocabulary.
- The article "Various Readings on the Topic of Jihad in the Quran" (2016) by Seyyed Mahdi Alizadeh
- "Examining the Salafi Jihadist Perspective..." (2017) by Ali Akbar Lotfi
These are other works that analyze the mentioned narrative under the subjects of (jihad in the view of ISIS) and (the Salafi Takfiri perspective on killing by beheading). In the latter article, the author focuses solely on re-examining the chain of transmission of the narrative in the texts of Sunni scholars and evaluates its text only against the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). It is essential to note that this research, adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, evaluates this narrative in light of belief systems, in addition to the verses and hadiths, and critiques the authenticity and issuance of the narrative, its implications, and the rejection of the theory permitting the beheading of all non-believers, which can be inferred from the apparent meaning of the narrative, based on the hadith and theological texts of both parties. The dating of the narrative and reliance on the method of combined analysis of the chain of transmission and the text can also be viewed as another aspect of the innovation of this research, in stark contrast to the aforementioned writings.
Methodology
The research method in the present writing is descriptive-analytical, and the level of analysis is document-semiotic with an approach based on internal and external dating rules. In this study, using a library-referential method, information outside the text has been collected first. In the second step, by categorizing the propositions and documents of the narrative in the sources of both parties, internal dating will be addressed. Finally, by identifying the common narrator, it will be possible to determine the temporal limits of the emergence and dissemination of the narrative. By discovering the connections and correlations among different categories of documents and the text, the narrator in the layers can be identified, who, after the common link, is the main factor in shaping the changes that occur in the transmission process.
Conclusion
In the discussion of analyzing narratives with the content "O God, destroy the Quraysh", it was determined that the writings in which "Abi Ishaq" is a secondary common link and transmits the chain from "Shu'ba" and "Zuhair" exhibit various wordings. This characteristic cannot be seen in the narratives that often conclude with "Ibn Mas'ud" and "Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As". The semiotic analysis of the narrative also indicates significant growth in the text across various Sunni sources, especially in later texts, which is the result of the expansion of the narrative according to the requests of justifiers. The occurrence of storytelling processes regarding events in the early Islamic period, the emergence of textual distortions, and the leniency of compilers in gathering hadiths can also be considered effective factors in the textual growth of the narrative.
The depiction of the document network and the identification of its common links in various Sunni sources indicate the excessive proliferation of the narrative during the era of the Caliphate conquests. The status of the authentication or weakening of narrators has only been discussed by Sunni scholars of hadith, and no descriptions of them have been included in any Shia biographical sources, which itself is a factor contributing to the weakness of the chains. Additionally, the absence of the narrative in earlier Shia sources compared to the multiplicity of transmissions in Sunni hadith sources, the singular transmission of it in later narrative texts, and the reliance on Sunni sheikhs are all factors that can substantiate the transmission of the narrative by "Qutb al-Din Rawandi" and "Sheikh Tabarsi" to Shia narrative sources. In other words, the contemporaneity of the two authors and the transmission of the narrative in the book "Al-Kharā'ij" provide a basis for trust in Sheikh Tabarsi, who also reflected the discussed proposition in his book.
Keywords
- Hadith dating
- Common link
- Narrative sources
- The hadith "Indeed
- I have come to you with the slaughter"
Main Subjects
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