TITLE:
Origins of the Isnad System
AUTHOR:
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (PhD)
LANGUAGES :
In English.
ARTICLE:
Every type of literature develops certain features particular to its nature and content and the character of the people who cultivate it and the distinctive social, political, or historical conditions in which it originates and flourishes.
Hadith literature is no exception to this rule. The system of isnad (chain of transmission) was used to transmit pre-Islamic poetry. However, it was in the Hadith literature that it reached its peak at which it was considered an integral part of the religion itself.
`Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak (died AH 181), who was one of the illustrious teachers of Imam Al-Bukhari, said,
The isnad is from the religion. Were it not for the isnad, anyone could say anything they wished.
By the end of the first century of the Islamic calendar, the science of isnad was fully developed. Ibn Sireen (died AH 110), who was a successor, said, “[In the beginning] they [i.e. Muslims] would not ask about the isnad. But when the fitnah [turmoil or civil war] happened, they demanded, ‘Name your men to us.'”
The narrations of Ahl As-Sunnah (adherents to the Sunnah) would be accepted, while those of Ahl Al-Bid`ah (adherents to innovations) would be rejected; that is, prior to the turmoil, the isnad was used only occasionally, but after the turmoil people became cautious.
In an attempt to minimize the significance of this system in Islam, some orientalists tried to identify non-Arab pre-Islamic sources. For example, Joseph Horovitz cited several instances from Jewish literature in which the isnad was used before its use among Arabs. He further tried to trace its use back to the Mosaic period, saying that by Talmudic times its chain assumed enormous length.
Whether the isnad system really goes back to Mosaic times is open to doubt, as Horovitz did not prove that there were no later interpolations. It has also been noted that long before Islam the Indians used the isnad system. Occasional use can be found in ancient Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain literature. For example, in the epic Mahabharata, we read,
Vysda composed it, Ganesa served as a scribe, and the work was handed down by Vaisampayana, who communicated it to King Janamejaya. Sauti, who was present at the time, heard it and narrated it to the assembly of sages.
However, regardless of where the isnad originated, there is no doubt that having adopted the system, Muslims came to consider the isnad an indispensable part of the hadiths; they also developed it. They gave it a firm foundation by introducing the chronological method, assembling the transmitters’ biographies, and establishing a science for determining the value of its contents and the authenticity of its channel of transmission.
As far as is known, the ancient Indians never made any attempt aiming at a rigorous and consistent treatment of the isnad. Also, they did not develop a chronological method. Likewise, the Jewish literature did not use the chronological method, which renders their isnads valueless.
In fact, Horovitz himself admitted, “In the Talmudic literature there is no idea of chronological method, and the oldest extant work attempting such an arrangement was composed after 885 AC – more than a century later than the earliest Islamic work on isnad-critique.”
From this fact, he goes on to say, “And from the fact that the important Jewish works [of this period] had been composed in the Islamic dominions, it may be inferred that this historical interest was due to the Islamic influence.”
The practice of specifying the isnad (not only of the hadiths but also of the books in which the hadiths were collected) was of immense value in preserving the integrity of books in an age in which printing was unknown and the creation of spurious and distorted works was a relatively easy task.
The scholarly practice of certification seems to be unique in the world’s literary history, just as hadith literature is unique in employing a thorough and systematic method of source identification. Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Syriac manuscripts rarely, if ever, supply us with such a wealth of information about a book’s origin and use.
The isnad system, while originating in connection with the Hadith literature, was in due course extended by Arab authors to many other genres, including geography, history, and prose fiction.
NOTES / SOURCES:
Winternitz, Moriz. History of Indian Literature. 2 vols.Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, 1927.
Horovitz, Joseph. “Alter und Ursprung des Isnad.” Der Islam 8 (1917-1918): 39-47.
Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr. Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development and Special Features. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993.
BIBLIOGRAPHY :
Author : Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Copyright : © Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
