From Document Criticism to Text Criticism (Pt. 2)

Dr Hasan Hanafi

Translated by Dr Muhammad-Husayn Rawhani

The writer seeks to propose a way to benefit from the social sciences and humanities in studying prophetic hadiths. He thus embarks upon the criticism of the Prophetic hadith document and text from such perspectives as sociological, historical, and literary criticisms. Recognizing the various literary genres of the hadith, he points to the uses and utilization of each method of criticism. In this part, the writer goes on to discuss the dialogue style, moving on to an analysis of query and answer. Here he finishes the hadith literary genres with a distinction made between al-riwaya (report) and al-naql (direct quotation). Elsewhere in this article the historiography of the form and content of the hadith is studied. Notably, this study is conducted on the basis of al-Sahih of al-Bukhari, hence a descriptive one: it only aims to intellectual understanding of the content of the hadith as well as the scholarly basis of its issuance.

Key Words: al-Riwaya (Report), al-Naql (Direct Quotation), Prophetic Hadiths, Document Criticism, Text Criticism.

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