Isnad-cum-matn analysis

Isnād-cum-matn analysis (ICMA) is a method that seeks to date and trace the developmental trajectory of hadith by studying the correlations in the variation between the content (matn) and chain of transmitters (isnād) of hadith. It enables the construction of a chronology of the textual development and transmission of reports by reconstructing older versions and dating them on the basis of the time at which the transmitters of older versions were active.

History

Common-link theory originated in the works of Joseph Schacht and G.H.A. Juynboll. In many ways, ICMA emerged as an elaboration and systematization of earlier methods of common-link theory developed by G.H.A. Juynboll. Forerunners to the ICMA approach, involving the combined study of the isnad and matn, included Jan Kramers' 1953 article "Une tradition à tendance manichéenne" and Josef van Ess in his 1975 volume Zwischen Ḥadīṯ und Theologie. ICMA was formally developed by Harald Motzki, Gregor Schoeler, and Andreas Görke in the 1990s.

Limitations

The method has several limitations, aside from the time-consuming process of conducting the ICMA itself. First, to produce the most reliable results, a tradition needs to have a large number of versions transmitted across many authorities. This requirement excludes the majority of hadith from being amenable to ICMA. Second, while the presence of variation in wording is important to conducting an ICMA, the "original" wording often cannot be entirely reconstructed in light of the variation. Third, hadith subject to ICMA analysis are still dated no earlier than sixty or more years after the events that they describe. For this reason, ICMA only narrows the time gap between the events in question and when a narration entered into circulation. Fourth, though the transmission up to a certain point can be verified using ICMA, the historicity of the narration in question cannot.

Terminology

The following list of terminology was largely developed by G.H.A. Juynboll and is taken from Little 2022.

strand = a segment of ʾisnād, of any length

ʾisnād bundle = a network of multiple, intersecting ʾisnāds (which emerges or becomes visible when all of the ʾisnāds for a given hadith are overlaid against each other)

single strand (SS) = a segment of an ʾisnād that comprises a succession of individuals, or in other words: an ʾisnād in which one tradent transmitted to only one other, etc.

key figure = any converged-upon tradent in an ʾisnād bundle (i.e., a PCL, SPCL, CL, (S)CL, SCL, or spider)

partial common link (PCL) = a tradent who is converged upon by at least three non-SSs (i.e., direct collectors and/or other PCLs)

(seeming) partial common link ((S)PCL) = a tradent who is converged upon by only two non-SSs (i.e., direct collectors and/or other PCLs)

seeming partial common link (SPCL) = a tradent who is converged upon by a single non-SS (i.e., a direct collector or another PCL) and otherwise only SSs

common link (CL) = the earliest of those who are converged upon by PCLs when said PCLs are three or more in number

(seeming) common link ((S)CL) = the earliest of the tradents who are directly converged upon by PCLs, when said PCLs are only two in number

seeming common link (SCL) = the earliest of the tradents who are directly converged upon by PCLs, when said PCLs are only one in number and corroborated (in their transmission from the SCL) only by SSs

inverted common link (ICL) = a CL who cites a collective ʾisnād or multiple strands as their source(s), such that they appear as a bottleneck in the overall ʾisnād bundle.

dive = a (secondary, false) SS that specifically circumvents (i.e., “dives around”) a PCL or CL.

spider = a tradent who is only converged upon by multiple SSs, i.e., successive dives.190

See also

• Criticism of hadith

References

Sources

• Anthony, Sean (2020). Muhammad and the empires of faith: the making of the prophet of Islam. California University Press.
• Kramers, Jan (2004). "A Tradition of Manichaean Tendency ("The She-Eater of Grass")". In Motzki, Harald (ed.). Hadith: Origins and Developments. Ashgate Variorum.
• Little, Joshua (2022). The Hadith of ʿĀʾišah’s Marital Age: a study in the evolution of early Islamic historical memory (PDF).
• Motzki, Harald (2000). "The Murder of Ibn Abī L-Ḥuqayq: On the Origin and Reliability of some Maghāzī-Reports". In Motzki, Harald (ed.). The Biography of Muhammad. Brill. pp. 170–239.
• Reinhart, A. Kevin (2010). "Review: Juynbolliana, Gradualism, the Big Bang, and Ḥadīth Study in the Twenty-First Century". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 130 (3): 413–444.
• Scheiner, Jens (2019). "Review: Isnād-cum-matn Analysis and Kalāla: Some Critical Reflections". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 139 (2): 479–486.
• Van Ess, Josef (1975). Zwischen Ḥadīṯ und Theologie. De Gruyter.