Isnād

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The Isnād ( Arabic إسناد 'Support') is the chain of narrators of a hadith , which serves as a support for the authenticity of a statement by the Prophet Muhammad and always introduces it.

Thus one deals in detail with the Isnads in the traditional Islamic literature , i. H. one dedicates oneself to the narrators themselves and researches their living conditions and contacts to their older (teachers) and younger (students) contemporaries.

Depending on the nature of the chains of narrators, exact classifications are undertaken: If the Isnad goes back to the prophet in an uninterrupted continuity, then it is musnad , i.e. H. supported or muttaṣil ' . The tradition itself is then called marfūʿ ("lifted up"). If a link (or several links) is missing in the chain - for whatever reason - one speaks of a munqaṭiʿ ("interrupted"). There are many traditions that the second generation after the prophet passed on as prophetic statements, but did not mention the eyewitness, the companion of the prophet; here the narrator chain is mursal . There is no corresponding translation for this in the specialist literature. However, such traditions are treated almost like "healthy" ( ṣaḥīḥ ) and authentic traditions that have evidential value. Isnade is unattractive when there is only the preposition 'ʿan between the individual narrators , i.e. H. "According to", "with reference to": A to B to C to D etc. ... after the prophet (proverb follows). This type of Isnad is called muʿanʿan . Isnade is viewed as "doubtful" if one of the narrators is not given by name, but only "after a man". This Isnade is called mubham .

The sum of the chains of narrators is also called "ways" ( ṭuruq , sing .: ṭarīq ), which in turn are also subject to a classification:

  • Well-known and generally widespread Isnad with a known content ( matn ) is called mutawātir ("widespread", "known"),
  • others with only a few known traders are called “famous” / “known” ( maschhūr ).
  • “Strange” / “strange” ( ġarīb ) is an Isnad in which at most one trader is known.

The Isnad analyzes have a high priority both in contemporary Islamic scholar circles and in Islamic studies and are the subject of research.

literature

  • Ignaz Goldziher : Muhammadan Studies . Hall 1890 (Vol. II). Reprint: Georg Olms, Hildesheim 2004
  • Ignaz Goldziher: Lectures on Islam . Heidelberg 1910, p. 40ff.
  • Josef Horovitz : Age and origin of the Isnad. In: Islam. Vol. 8/1918, pp. 39-47
  • Johann Fück : The role of traditionalism in Islam. In: Journal of the German Oriental Society (ZDMG). 93/1939, pp. 1-32
  • Gautier HA Juynboll: Muslim Tradition: Studies in Chronology, Provenance and Authorship of Early Hadith. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1983