Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:18:49.923Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The role of qāḍīs in the spreading of traditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2010

Get access

Summary

Al-quḍātu thalātha: qāḍiyāni fi ′n-nār wa-qāḍin fi ′l-janna: rajulun qaḍā bi-ghayri ′l-ḥaqqi fa-ʿalima dhāka fa-dhāka fi ′n-nār wa-qāḍin lā yaʿlamu fa-ahlaka ḥuqūqa ′n-nās fa-huwa fi ′n-nār wa-qāḍin qaḍā bi ′l-ḥaqq fa-dhālika fi ′l-janna.

A prophetic saying transmitted on the authority of Burayda b. al-Ḥuṣayb, from the Jāmi′ of Tirmidhī, kitāb al-aḥkām 1.

Introduction

In the previous chapter I have indicated on various occasions among the early Islamic transmitters of traditions certain distinct categories, such as the early quṣṣāṣ, the ‘ulamā’, the fuqahāʾ and also those who sometimes combined more than only qiṣaṣ, or only ʿilm, or only fiqh in their transmission.

In the present chapter it is proposed to scrutinize in more detail the ḥadīth output – if any – of another category of people, who seem to constitute excellent study material for drawing conclusions as to how the spreading of ḥadīth in early Islam fared at the hands of a certain group of officials, namely the qāḍīs. But what distinguishes the qāḍīs favourably as a group from the above-mentioned categories is the fact that, whereas the above-mentioned admit – besides the synchronic one – only partially of a diachronic historical approach, since common distinctive characteristics soon became blurred in the course of the first two centuries a.h., the aāḍīsʾ spreading of ḥadīth can be studied diachronically just as well as synchronically because the function was never abolished. This study also admits of drawing overall conclusions as to qāḍīsʾ procedures when the various centres of the early Islamic empire are compared with one another.

Type
Chapter
Information
Muslim Tradition
Studies in Chronology, Provenance and Authorship of Early Hadith
, pp. 77 - 95
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×