Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law

The traditionist-jurisprudents (<em>fuqahā' ashāb al-hadīth</em>) of the earlier ninth century C.E. proposed that Islamic law be inferred from hadith, reports of what the Prophet, his leading Companions, and the Followers had said or done, without significant resort to reason. Contr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Melchert, C
Format: Journal article
Published: Brill 2001
_version_ 1797054222360903680
author Melchert, C
author_facet Melchert, C
author_sort Melchert, C
collection OXFORD
description The traditionist-jurisprudents (<em>fuqahā' ashāb al-hadīth</em>) of the earlier ninth century C.E. proposed that Islamic law be inferred from hadith, reports of what the Prophet, his leading Companions, and the Followers had said or done, without significant resort to reason. Contradictions among hadith reports they either resolved by means of <em>isnād</em> comparison or simply let stand, refusing to define the law by their own preferences. Their adversaries the rationalistic jurisprudents (<em>ashāb al-ra'y</em>) also used hadith, but far less extensively and without significant use of <em>isnād</em> comparison to sort out the sound from the unsound. In the later ninth century, rationalistic jurisprudents took up many of the forms formerly peculiar to the traditionist-jurisprudents, especially formal dependence on hadith and <em>isnād</em> comparison to sort the sound from the unsound. Traditionist-jurisprudents in turn accepted the need for separate expertise in legal reasoning besides hadith criticism. Although some developments took place independently of them, the history of Islamic law across the ninth century cannot be written without reference to the traditionist-jurisprudents and their strident advocacy of hadith.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T18:54:09Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:113dd690-3253-4e98-ada7-21d96c4886dc
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-06T18:54:09Z
publishDate 2001
publisher Brill
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:113dd690-3253-4e98-ada7-21d96c4886dc2022-03-26T10:01:15ZTraditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic lawJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:113dd690-3253-4e98-ada7-21d96c4886dcSymplectic Elements at OxfordBrill2001Melchert, CThe traditionist-jurisprudents (<em>fuqahā' ashāb al-hadīth</em>) of the earlier ninth century C.E. proposed that Islamic law be inferred from hadith, reports of what the Prophet, his leading Companions, and the Followers had said or done, without significant resort to reason. Contradictions among hadith reports they either resolved by means of <em>isnād</em> comparison or simply let stand, refusing to define the law by their own preferences. Their adversaries the rationalistic jurisprudents (<em>ashāb al-ra'y</em>) also used hadith, but far less extensively and without significant use of <em>isnād</em> comparison to sort out the sound from the unsound. In the later ninth century, rationalistic jurisprudents took up many of the forms formerly peculiar to the traditionist-jurisprudents, especially formal dependence on hadith and <em>isnād</em> comparison to sort the sound from the unsound. Traditionist-jurisprudents in turn accepted the need for separate expertise in legal reasoning besides hadith criticism. Although some developments took place independently of them, the history of Islamic law across the ninth century cannot be written without reference to the traditionist-jurisprudents and their strident advocacy of hadith.
spellingShingle Melchert, C
Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title_full Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title_fullStr Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title_full_unstemmed Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title_short Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of Islamic law
title_sort traditionist jurisprudents and the framing of islamic law
work_keys_str_mv AT melchertc traditionistjurisprudentsandtheframingofislamiclaw