University of Wisconsin-Whitewater / Assistant Professor of Languages & Literature
ABSTRACT: "Hadith and Early Islamic State Formation."
|
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater / Assistant Professor of Languages & Literature ABSTRACT: "Hadith and Early Islamic State Formation." |
This paper examines the emergence and the function of hadith literature in Islam. Hadith and the Qur'an, comprise the two collections of sacred writings honored by all Muslims. Muslim scholars (ulamma) utilize these works, and especially hadith to interpret and dictate what obedience to God in daily life means.
The rules of conduct are called Shari'ah, which cover nearly every possible human contingency, social and individual, from birth to death (Hodgson The Venture of Islam, v. 1).
Hadith literature was collected and codified by various ulamma probably in the second century AH. Competing traditions of hadith were assessed, and what emerged were six respected collections of hadith. The history of hadith is also the history of political struggles inside early Islam, especially that between Umayyads and Abbasids. However, as Ignaz Godhizer has shown, a process of harmonization was developed and most Muslims honor the practical rules of daily life addressed by the traditions.