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Muhammad
born c. 570 CE at Mecca
Mother dies when M. six years old; grandfather dies
two years later, M. adopted by paternal uncle (a
merchant)
Hired by Khadija, wealthy widow from powerful
Quraysh family, to manage her trade caravans; they
marry
Begins to receive revelations from God via angel Gabriel
Preaches revelations; opposed by Quraysh, who force
his followers to leave for Ethiopia (c. 618 CE)
Death of Khadija, strife with Quraysh; M. and followers
invited to Medina and go there (hijra, 622 CE)
Fighting between M.’s followers and others in 620s; by 630,
M. and followers have defeated Quraysh and other
opponents, smashed “idols” at Mecca and established
control over much of Arabia
Muhammad dies c. 632 CE
Newly-revealed way of following God (Allah) = Islam (submission)
I. The text of God’s revelation: the Qur’an (Recitation)
Muhammad’s revelations from Gabriel, arranged in 114 sura
In decades after M.’s death, proliferation of accounts of these
revelations; with spread of Islam across Near East, N. Africa, Persia,
M’s successors (califs) decide to codify text of Qur’an.
This completed under third caliph, Uthman (644-55)
II. Prophetic tradition
Acknowledged from earliest days of Islam that God’s word not
confined to Qur’an text; instead, words + deeds of Muhammad
(sunnah) deemed to be co-equal source of divine teaching
Accounts of these words and deeds = hadith (“things handed
down”)
Why are hadith necessary?
“Since God … created [humans] imperfect and unfit to provide for their own needs … he
sent his Messengers to them and set up His Prophets among them … But [since] most
men were not eyewitnesses to the proofs of his Messengers … it was needful that those
who were present tell those who were absent, and the latter attend to the teaching of
the former; and He needed to vary the characters and motives of those doing the
transmitting, to show … that a large number of people with differing motives and
contrasting claims could not all have invented a false tradition on the same subject
without collusion and conspiring …” – al-Jahiz, The Proofs of Prophecy (c. 860 CE)
Why are hadith authoritative?
Send to them, O Lord, a Messenger from among them to impart Your messages to
them, and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and correct them in every way; and
indeed, You are mighty and wise (Qur’an 2:129)
“I have heard that those who are learned in the Qur’an, whom I approve, hold that
Wisdom is the tradition of the Prophet of God, which is like what God Himself said …
it is not permissible for Wisdom to be called here anything save the tradition of the
Messenger of God …
“Whatever the Messenger has decreed that is not based on any [textual] command
from God, he has done so by God’s command … For the Messenger had laid down a
tradition [on things] for which there is a text in the Book of God as well as for others
concerning which there is no specific text. But what he has laid down in the Prophetic
tradition God has ordered us to obey, and He regards our obedience to [Muhammed]
as obedience to Himself …”
--al-Shafi’I, Treatise on the Roots of Jurisprudence (c. 800 CE)
Problem: How can we know that a “tradition” is true?
Muhammad: while writing down his sayings is ok, anyone who misreports him or falsifies his words or deeds is doomed to hell
Within a few centuries of M’s death, MANY reports about his teachings
and actions are in circulation: the Central Asian scholar al-Bukhari (d.
870 CE) reported collecting over 600,000
Development of methodology for analyzing and authenticating hadith,
focused upon the links (isnad) in the chain of transmission of a saying
or report:
1. What is the character of the witness? Companions of M. during his
life are best sources
2. What is the nature of the transmission? Was the report heard, read,
recited, etc.?
3. How complete is the chain?
In this context, then:
Can we believe dreams?
How do they work?
What do they teach us?
How can we judge them? In particular, is there a method for
validating dreams, as well as for making sense of them?
Perhaps most importantly: if dreams do (or at least can) reveal
divine truth and teaching, what is the source of their authority?