Hadith as Oral Literature through Early Islamic Literary Criticism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12045756 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hany Rashwan (0000-0001-6963-6603, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, United Arab Emirates University Al Ain, Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 34-69 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studia Islamica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0585-5292 • E-ISSN: 1958-5705 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/19585705-12341481 |
| OpenAlex | W4395013659 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Although the study of ḥadīth (the Prophet’s speech) has advanced significantly in recent decades, several of its literary aspects remain unexplored within Euro-American scholarship. The epistemological status of ḥadīth within balāghah, the premodern Islamic theory of literary analysis, has received little scholarly attention. Drawing on Inimitability and Conciseness ( Kitāb al-Iʿjāz wa al-Ījāz ), written by the literary critic, Abū Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī (d. 1038 CE ), I show how during the oral stages of its development, ḥadīth was a living tradition that was highly flexible in terms of its wording and content. I empirically explore the interface and interactions between oral and written media in the employment of individual ḥadīths as literary texts, showing how an in-depth exploration of the oral nature of ḥadīth illuminates the approaches of modern literary criticism to appreciate literary texts of oral origin. In conclusion, I suggest that the early Arabic discourse of literary criticism offers an emic (culture-specific) perspective that fosters recognition of the literary reception of ḥadīth and its profound integration into the Islamic literary culture
Arabic · Art · Criticism · Emic and etic · Islam · Linguistics · Literary criticism · Literary science · Literary theory · Literature · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Education and Islamic Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |