Matn ( Arabic : متن ) (literally "body", "text") is an Islamic term that is used in relation to Hadith terminology . It means the text of the hadith , excluding the isnad .
48-495: A hadith is made of both an isnad (chain of transmission) and a matn . A hadith would typically adopt the following formula: The matn would most often come in the form of an injunction , proverb , aphorism , brief dialogue or anecdote whose sense might apply to a range of new contexts. The Shi'a science of hadith outright rejects any hadith that contradicts the Qur'an. This is due to what they perceive as instructions from
96-587: A six-member council which elected Uthman as the next caliph. During the final years of Uthman's caliphate, he was accused of nepotism and killed by rebels in 656. After Uthman's assassination, Ali was elected the fourth caliph. Aisha , Talha , and Zubayr revolted against Ali to depose him. The two parties fought the Battle of the Camel in December 656, from which Ali emerged victorious. Afterward, Mu'awiya ,
144-477: A century after Muhammad's death, before which hadith were transmitted haphazardly and anonymously. Once they began to be used, the names of authorities, popular figures, and sometimes even fictitious figures would be supplied. Over time, isnads would be polished to meet stricter standards. Additional concerns are raised by the substantial percentages of hadith that traditional critics are reported to have dismissed and difficulties in parsing out historical hadith from
192-620: A civil war he caused, Zubayr was pursued and killed by the troops of al-Ahnaf bin Qays , a chief of the Banu Sa'd who had remained on the sidelines of the battle. Talha was killed by the Umayyad Marwan ibn al-Hakam . With the deaths of Talha and Zubayr, the fate of the battle was sealed in favor of Ali. However, the fight continued until Ali's troops succeeded in killing Aisha's camel, which her forces had rallied around. From this camel,
240-518: A comparative study of the differences between reports could enable the identification of particular manipulations and other alterations. Put another way, ICMA seeks to date and trace the evolution of hadith by identifying how variation in the text or content ( matn ) of a hadith correlates with the variation in the listed chain of transmitters ( isnād ) across multiple versions of the same report. First Fitna [REDACTED] Abd Allah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi † The First Fitna
288-484: A representative that he would recognize Ali as caliph in exchange for the governorship of Syria and Egypt for life. Ali rejected this proposal. In response, Mu'awiya declared war on Ali on behalf of the Syrians, demanding vengeance for Uthman's death. The governor aimed to depose Ali and establish a Syrian council to appoint the next caliph, who would presumably be Mu'awiya himself. Ali responded by letter that Mu'awiya
336-488: A wholesale invention of an isnad, whereas partial forgery typically involves fabricating a list of early transmitters of a tradition to connect it with a figure of higher prestige, such as Muhammad himself or one of his reputable followers . One of the most skeptical instances of modern views on isnads comes from the influential writings of Joseph Schacht (d. 1969), who, in his Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (1950), argued that isnads were sweepingly fabricated towards
384-523: Is in a statement that has been attributed to the Basran scholar Ibn Sirin (d. 110/728 AD), which states: Lam yakūnū yas’alūna ‘an al-isnād. Fa-lammā waqa‘at al-fitna qālū: "Sammū la-nā rijāla-kum fa-yunẓaru ilā ahl al-sunna fa-yu’khadhu ḥadīthu-hum wa-yunẓaru ilā ahl al-bida‘ fa-lā yu’khadhu ḥadīthu-hum." They were not asking about the isnād . When the fitna (civil war) broke out, they said, "name to us your informants ( rijāl ), so that we can recognize
432-513: The Quraysh , who had enjoyed significant authority during the reign of his two predecessors. He appointed his kinsmen to all of the provincial governorships. Although Uthman continued Muslim expansion in Persia and Egypt, these conquests came to a halt by the later half of his reign. The influx of spoils slowed, magnifying economic issues that had previously been tempered by incoming revenue. This
480-580: The Second Fitna (680–692) (the view of G.H.A. Juynboll ), or the Third Fitna (744–750) (the view of Joseph Schacht , only possible if the tradition has been misattributed to, and therefore post-dates, Ibn Sirin). Since Juynboll, who has observed that the earliest sources most commonly associate the use of this word in isolation with the Second Fitna, it has become increasingly accepted that
528-405: The 1990s, hadith historians developed a method known as isnad-cum-matn analysis (ICMA) as an alternative approach compared with traditional hadith sciences towards identifying the origins and developmental stages of hadith traditions. ICMA was invented twice independently in two publications that came out in 1996, one by Harald Motzki and the other by Schoeler. The primary advocate of ICMA in
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#1732780842414576-563: The Muslim side as the isnād, as in "Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us from Sufyān from Abū ʾl-Zinād from Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān from his father from Abū Hurayra from the Prophet who said..." The only other religious culture in which we find such a style of attribution is Judaism, as in “Rabbi Zeriqa said: Rabbi Ammi said: Rabbi Simeon ben Laqish said:...” What was different was that once adopted in Islam
624-586: The Prophet Muhammad, the Shi'a Imam , and from the Qur'an itself, which says: . This Islam-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Isnad In the Islamic study of hadith , an isnād (chain of transmitters, or literally "supporting" ) refers to a list of people who passed on a tradition, from the original authority to whom the tradition is attributed to, to
672-466: The Syrians to be infidels. They declared the shedding blood of such infidels to be licit . The Kharijites began interrogating civilians about their views on Uthman and Ali, and executing those who did not share their views. In one notable incident, the Kharijites disemboweled a farmer's pregnant wife, cut out and killed her unborn infant, before beheading the farmer. Kharijites have been viewed as
720-547: The aid of Amr ibn al-As . In 661, Ali was assassinated by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam . After Ali's death, his heir Hasan was elected caliph and soon after attacked by Mu'awiya. The embattled Hasan concluded a peace treaty , acknowledging the rule of Mu'awiya, who subsequently founded the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled as its first caliph. Following Muhammad 's death in 632, Abu Bakr became
768-541: The battle received its name. After admonishing Aisha, Ali sent her back to Medina, escorted by her brother. Ali also announced a public pardon and set the prisoners free. This pardon was also extended to high-profile rebels, including Marwan, who soon joined with his Umayyad kinsman Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the governor of Syria , as a senior advisor. Shortly after assuming power, Ali dismissed most governors whom he considered corrupt, including Mu'awiya, Uthman's cousin. Mu'awiya refused to step down and informed Ali through
816-405: The capital, Medina . Uthman succeeded Umar upon the latter's assassination by a slave in 644. The new caliph's policies elicited discontent among the Muslim elite as well as accusations of nepotism. He began centralizing power by relying on his Umayyad relatives, who had long opposed Muhammad before converting to Islam in 630. His favor toward relatives was to the exclusion of other members of
864-522: The crown lands of Iraq as state assets, and demanded that the provincial surplus be forwarded to the caliph. This interference in provincial affairs brought about widespread opposition to his rule, especially from Iraq and Egypt, where the majority of the conquering armies had settled. Encouraged by the Medinese elite including prominent figures like Talha, Zubayr, Amr ibn al-As (a former governor of Egypt who Uthman deposed), and Muhammad's widow Aisha ,
912-564: The emergence of traditions concerning the Prophetic biography, Urwa ibn al-Zubayr , used isnads, but not consistently. Later on, as the hadith sciences emerged and were formalized, they were documented more rigidly. In contemporary hadith studies , isnads have been subjected to a heightened level of scrutiny, and virtually all authorities believe that isnads have been afflicted with higher levels of partial or complete forgery than had been commonly presumed. Complete forgeries would constitute
960-406: The end of the second Islamic century . For Schacht, isnads "grew backwards", meaning that over time, the tradition was attributed to earlier and earlier authorities until they reached back to Muhammad. According to this view, as the hadith sciences developed and increasingly prioritized complete Prophetic isnads (without any missing links and going back to Muhammad) in the post-150 AH period, there
1008-613: The forerunners of Islamic extremists . Ali received the news of the Kharijites' violence and moved to Nahrawan with his army. There, he asked the Kharjites to surrender the murderers and return to their families. The Kharijites, however, responded defiantly that they were collectively responsible for the murders. After multiple failed attempts at deescalation, Ali announced an amnesty (that did not apply to murderers) and barred his army from commencing hostilities. The remaining Kharijites, estimated at 2,800, attacked and were vanquished by
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#17327808424141056-575: The incumbent governor of Syria , declared war on Ali, ostensibly to avenge Uthman's death. The two parties fought the Battle of Siffin in July 657, which ended in a stalemate and arbitration. This arbitration was resented by the Kharijites , who declared Ali, Mu'awiya, and their followers infidels. Following Kharijite violence against civilians, Ali's forces crushed them in the Battle of Nahrawan . Soon after, Mu'awiya also seized control of Egypt with
1104-489: The initial stages of the development and application of the method was Motkzi; Motzki believed that the oral transmission of hadith would result in a progressive divergence of multiple versions of the same original report along different lines of transmitters. By comparing them to pinpoint shared wording, motifs and plots, the original version of a hadith that existed prior to the accrual of variants among different transmitters may be reconstructed. In addition, Motzki believed that
1152-474: The instance of this tradition in rabbinic literature from whence it got adopted into the nascent hadith sciences , before it underwent a much more elaborate native systematization in the Islamic tradition. According to Michael Cook : We can then go on to find elements in the Islamic edifice that look like specific borrowings from Judaism ... the chain of transmitters that accompanies an oral account, known on
1200-548: The intention of strengthening their position. Ali sent his son Hasan to mobilize troops in Kufa . After Ali arrived in Kufa himself, the combined army marched to Basra. The two armies met outside Basra. After three days of failed negotiations, the battle began in the afternoon of 8 December 656 and lasted until the evening. Zubayr left the field without fighting. Likely for the dishonorable act of leaving his fellow Muslims behind in
1248-516: The lands of the Persian crown and aristocracy were now in Muslim hands. These became state-administered communal property. The revenue was distributed among the conquering troops, who settled in Iraq. Umar also left provincial administration to regional governors, who ruled with considerable autonomy. Provincial surplus was spent on the Muslim settlers of the conquered territories rather than forwarded to
1296-760: The leader of the Muslim community. After reasserting Muslim control over the dissident tribes of Arabia , he sent armies to fight against the empires of Byzantium and Sasanian Persia , initiating a wave of conquests which were continued by his successor Umar ( r. 634–644 ). These battles brought about the near-total collapse of the Sasanians, and restricted the Byzantine Empire to Anatolia , North Africa , and its holdings in Europe. The conquests brought Muslims bounteous revenue and lands. In Iraq ,
1344-544: The next caliph. Ali denounced the conduct of the two arbitrators as contrary to the Quran and began to organize a new expedition to Syria. Following the Battle of Siffin, a group separated from Ali when he agreed to settle the dispute with Mu'awiya through arbitration, a move considered by the group as against the Quran. Most of them had pressured Ali to accept the arbitration, but subsequently reversed course and declared that
1392-508: The people of [orthodox] tradition and accept their ḥadīth, and recognize the people of [heretical] innovation and accept not their ḥadīth." According to this tradition, the use of isnads begins with the era of the fitna . However, this term is ambiguous, and so much scholarly debate has concerned the meaning of fitna in this passage, as it could be taken as a reference to the First Fitna (656–616 AD) (the view of Muhammad Mustafa Azmi ),
1440-440: The position of Ali. The second meeting at Udhruh likely broke up in disarray when Amr violated his earlier agreement with Abu Musa. The Kufan delegation reacted furiously to Abu Musa's concessions, and the erstwhile arbitrator fled to Mecca in disgrace. Conversely, Amr was received triumphantly by Mu'awiya on his return to Syria. After the conclusion of the arbitration in 659 CE, Syrians pledged their allegiance to Mu'awiya as
1488-456: The practice was developed much more systematically and applied to a much wider range of material. One Jewish chain of transmission is reiterated in the Quran (5:44). A number of propositions have been made concerning the time that isnads began to be used in conjunction with the passing on of tradition in the Islamic world. One of the most common pieces of evidence considered in these discussions
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1536-424: The present person reciting or compiling that tradition. The tradition an isnad is associated with is called the matn . Isnads are an important feature of the genre of Islamic literature known as hadith and are prioritized in the process that seeks to determine if the tradition in question is authentic or inauthentic. According to the traditional Islamic view, the tradition of the hadith sciences has succeeded in
1584-507: The preservation of tradition (by contrast, written transmission was perceived to be unreliable). These include sources from rabbinic , Christian (including Papias , Ephrem , and the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies ), and Manichaean backgrounds. Joseph Horowitz proposed that the Islamic version of the practice of combining a tradition or saying with a chain of transmitters going back to an original authority stems from
1632-400: The proceedings likely lasted until mid April 658 CE. At Dumat al-Jandal, the arbitrators reached the verdict that Uthman had been killed wrongfully and that Mu'awiya had the right to seek revenge. According to scholar Wilferd Madelung , this verdict was political rather than judicial, and a blunder of the naive Abu Musa. This verdict strengthened the Syrians' support for Mu'awiya and weakened
1680-662: The provincial opposition subsequently broadened into open rebellion. Dissidents from Egypt and Iraq marched on Medina, killing the caliph in June 656. Ali , Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was subsequently recognized caliph. Aisha, Talha, and Zubayr opposed Ali's succession and gathered in Mecca, where they demanded vengeance for Uthman's death and the election of a new caliph, presumably either Talha or Zubayr, through consultation. The rebels raised an army and captured Basra from Ali's governor, inflicting heavy casualties on his men, with
1728-520: The reportedly neutral Abu Musa al-Ashari as their representative. Ali considered Abu Musa politically naive, but appointed him despite these reservations. In an agreement on 2 August, 657 CE, Abu Musa represented Ali's army while Mu'awiya's top general, Amr ibn al-As , represented the other side. The two representatives committed to adhere to the Quran and Sunnah , and to save the Muslim community from war and division. The two arbitrators met together, first at Dumat al-Jandal and then at Udhruh , and
1776-626: The right to judgment belonged to God alone. While Ali largely succeeded in regaining their support, the remaining opponents of arbitration gathered in Nahrawan, on the east bank of the Tigris . Due to their exodus, this group became known as the Kharijites , from the Arabic for "to go out" or "to rise in revolt". The Kharijites elected Abd Allah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi as their caliph. They denounced Ali's leadership, and declared him, his followers, and
1824-515: The tradition in question localizes the beginnings of the use of isnads to the era of the Second Fitna. Furthermore, Juynboll's assessment has alleviated the skepticism towards the question of whether Ibn Sirin made this claim. Therefore, isnads emerged in the Islamic tradition in the late first Islamic century. This occurred during the beginnings of efforts to offer systematic support for collected traditions. In this early stage, however, isnads were still not systematically invoked. The pivotal figure in
1872-414: The use of isnads to distinguish between authentic and inauthentic traditions going back to Muhammad and his companions . The contemporary view in modern hadith studies , however, is that isnads were commonly susceptible to forgery and so had to be scrutinized before being used to guarantee the transmission of a tradition. Chains of transmission are found in many religious texts as an oral guarantor for
1920-443: The vast pool of ahistorical ones. This perspective casts doubt on traditional methods of hadith verification, given their presupposition that the isnad of a report offers a sufficiently accurate history of its transmission to be able to verify or nullify it and the prioritization of isnads over other criteria like the presence of anachronisms in a hadith which might have an isnad that passes traditional standards of verification. In
1968-685: The vastly superior army of Ali. The injured, estimated at 400, were pardoned by Ali. In January 661, while praying at the Mosque of Kufa , Ali was assassinated by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam . After the assassination of Ali in January 661, his eldest son, Hasan , was elected caliph in Kufa. Mu'awiya quickly marched on Kufa with a large army, while Hasan's military response suffered defections in large numbers. These were facilitated by military commanders and tribal chiefs who had been swayed to Mu'awiya's side by promises and offers of money. Hasan
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2016-531: Was a growing incentive to modify or forge isnads to meet these criteria. Isnads recorded in this era but do not meet this criteria are therefore more likely to be real, as they had not been furnished and shaped according to the emerging editorial standards of hadith scholars ( muhaddithin ). This view has materialized in Schacht's oft-quoted maxim: "the more perfect the isnad, the later the tradition". Today, isnads are thought to have entered usage three-quarters of
2064-454: Was again rejected. In turn, Ali challenged Mu'awiya to a one-on-one duel to settle the matters and avoid the bloodshed. This offer was declined by Mu'awiya. The negotiations ceased without success on 18 July 657 and the two sides prepared for the battle. Fighting began on Wednesday, 26 July, and lasted for three or four days. By the final day, the balance had shifted in Ali's favor. When Mu'awiya
2112-752: Was coupled with Arab nomads' antipathy toward central authority, which had hitherto been superseded by the continued war effort. The continued migration of tribes from Arabia to the conquered territories also resulted in reduced payments from the revenue of the lands, which led to resentment among the earlier settlers. Early settlers also saw their status threatened by land grants in the conquered territories to prominent Qurayshites like Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , as well as land acquisitions by late-arriving tribal chiefs, such as Ashath ibn Qays . These chiefs were given this territory in exchange for their lands in Arabia. Furthermore, Uthman took control of
2160-424: Was informed his army could not win, he decided to appeal to the Quran . Before noon, Syrians raised copies of the book on their lances, shouting, "Let the book of God be the judge between us." Although Ali was suspicious of this appeal, his forces ceased fighting. Compelled by strong peace sentiments in his army and threats of mutiny, Ali accepted a proposal for arbitration. The majority in Ali's army pressed for
2208-544: Was the first civil war in the Islamic community. It led to the overthrow of the Rashidun Caliphate and the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate . The civil war involved three main battles between the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali , and the rebel groups. The roots of the first civil war can be traced back to the assassination of the second caliph , Umar . Before he died from his wounds, Umar formed
2256-570: Was welcome to bring his case to Ali's court of justice, asking him to offer any evidence that would incriminate Ali in the murder of Uthman. Ali also challenged Mu'awiya to name any Syrian who would qualify for a council. Ali called a council of Islamic ruling elite which urged him to fight Mu'awiya. The two armies met at Siffin, west of the Euphrates , in 657 CE. There, the two sides negotiated for weeks. Notably, Mu'awiya repeated his proposition to recognize Ali in return for Syria and Egypt, which
2304-505: Was wounded in a failed attempt on his life. By the time Hasan agreed to a peace treaty with Mu'awiya, his authority did not exceed the area around Kufa. Under this treaty, Hasan ceded the caliphate to Mu'awiya. The treaty stipulated a general amnesty for the people and the return of the caliphate to Hasan after Mu'awiya's death. Mu'awiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem in 661. Hasan predeceased Mu'awiya, dying in 670 at
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