Its Origin, Development & Special Features

The hadith, the sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, form a sacred literature that, for the Muslims, ranks second in importance only to the Qur’an. The vast corpus of hadith continues to exercise decisive influence as a source of law, ethics and doctrine. Islamic scholarship has hence devoted immense efforts to gathering and classifying the hadith and ensuring its authenticity. This book is the only introduction in English that presents all the aspects of the subject. It explains the origin of the literature, the evolution of the isnad system, the troubled relationship between scholars and the state, the problem of falsification, and the gradual development of a systematic approach to the material. This edition is a fully revised and updated version of the original, which was first published in 1961 to considerable scholarly acclaim.

The author, Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi, was a Professor of Islamic Culture at the University of Calcutta.

PAGES: 192, PAPERBACK
SIZE: 23 x 15cm