This encyclopedic work on Islam comprises English translations of all canonical ḥadīths, complete with their respective chains of transmission (isnāds). By conflating the variant versions of the same ḥadīth, the repetitiveness of its literature has been kept wherever possible to a minimum. The latest methods of isnād analysis, described in the general introduction, have been employed in an attempt to identify the person(s) responsible for each ḥadīth. The book is organized in the alphabetical order of those persons. These are the so-called ‘common links’. Each of them is listed with the tradition(s) for the wording of which he can be held accountable, or with which he can at least be associated. Within each article, the traditions are referred to in bold figures in the numerical order as they were distilled from the more than 19,000 isnāds listed in Tuḥfat al-ashrāf bi maʿrifat al-aṭrāf by the Syrian ḥadīth scholar Yusuf b. ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān al-Mizzī (d. 742/1341). Medieval commentaries as well as assorted biographical lexicons were drawn upon to illustrate the text of each tradition in all theological, social, legal and other noteworthy aspects discernible in it. Thus no details of eschatology, superstitions, miraculous phenomena, Jahili practices etc. were left without the clarifying comments of contemporary and later theologians, historians and ḥadīth experts culled from such works as the Fatḥ al-bārī, a major commentary of Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1448) or the commentary by Yaḥya b. Sharaf an-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) of the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj. The encyclopedia concludes with an exhaustive index and glossary of names and concepts, which functions at the same time as a concordance. In short, this work presents an indispensable sourcebook of the development of Islam in all its facets during the first three centuries since its foundation as reflected in canonical ḥadīth.

An encyclopedic work on Islam with English translations. This book presents a sourcebook of the development of Islam in its various facets during the first three centuries since its foundation. It concludes with an index and glossary of names and concepts, which functions at the same time as a concordance.

Presents entries A to L of a two-volume encyclopedia discussing religion around the globe, including biographies, concepts and theories, places, social issues, movements, texts, and traditions.

Contrary to popular opinion, the bulk of Islamic law does not come from the Quran but from hadith, first-hand reports of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds, passed from generation to generation. However, with varying accounts often only committed to paper a century after the death of Muhammad, Islamic scholars, past and present, have been faced with complex questions of historical authenticity. In this wide-ranging introduction, Jonathan A. C. Brown explores the collection and criticism of hadith, and the controversy surrounding its role in modern Islam. This edition, revised and updated with additional case studies and attention to the very latest scholarship, also features a new chapter on how hadiths have been used politically, both historically and in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Informative and accessible, it is perfectly suited to students, scholars and general readers interested in this critical element of Islam.

Islam in Historical Perspective integrates history of Islamic societies with discussion of how Muslim scriptures, laws, moral values and myths have shaped lives and thought of individual Muslims and various Muslim communities from the rise of Islam until today. It provides carefully selected historical and scriptural evidence that enables readers to form a comprehensive balanced vision of Islam's evolution. Author Alexander Knysh shows Muslims have made sense of their life experiences by constantly interpreting and re-interpreting Islam's foundational ideas in accordance with ever-changing social and political conditions. In addition to the combined historical and chronological approach, the author offers in-depth discussions of intellectual dialogues and struggles within Islamic tradition. He shows Islam to be a social and political force, while addressing Muslim devotional practices, artistic creativity and structures of everyday life and provides a wealth of historical anecdotes and quotations from original sources that are designed to illustrate principal points.

The most comprehensive and up-to-date English-language guide on hadith scholarship The source of much of our knowledge of the first two centuries of Islamic history, the hadith literature is made up of thousands of traditions collected during the formative years of Islam. Alongside the Qur'an, the hadith forms a second major body of Islamic scripture, and much of Islamic belief and practice rests on the hadith including Islamic law, Islamic theology, Qur'anic interpretation, political thought, and personal behavior. Yet despite its importance to Muslims worldwide and its indispensable role as a source for early Islamic history, the hadith remains unexplored territory for many non-specialist readers. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Hadith is a concise yet comprehensive overview of both Islamic and Western traditions of hadith study, offering up-to-date scholarship and providing readers with an essential guide to this distinctive aspect of Islam. Written by a multidisciplinary team of distinguished scholars, the Companion discusses questions of authenticity, epistemology and authority in the hadith and explores the relationship of the hadith literature to other ways of transmitting knowledge and establishing authority. Covers the origins of hadith, the application of hadith within the Islamic intellectual tradition, and contemporary revaluations of hadith literature Addresses developments in modern scholarship about the origins of Islam and Islamic law which are rooted in a revaluation of hadith Presents new and groundbreaking research from international scholars from divergent perspectives to present an accurate and lively overview of the field Explores the emergence of skepticism about hadith among western scholars Surveys the evolution of a wide range of approaches to hadith among modern Muslims Filling a significant gap in current literature in the field, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Hadith is a valuable resource for students, scholars, and researchers in Islamic studies, Islamic law, history, and theology.

Muslims believe that the Koran is God’s message in Arabic, revealed through the medium of the Prophet Muhammad for the guidance of the Arabs and subsequently for all humanity. There is both unity and variety in the Islamic world. Muslims are not a homogeneous people who can be explained solely by their normative texts: the Koran and the Sunnah. Muslims differ vastly in their interpretation of Islam: modernists want to reinterpret Islam to adapt to the requirements of modern times while traditionalists tend to look to the classical and medieval periods of Islam as their model of the Islamic state. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Islam contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on major sects, schools of theology, and jurisprudence, as well as aspects of Islamic culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Islam.