کتاب حاضر تقریری از درسهای استاد محمد سند است که به زبان عربی بیان گردیده و با اضافات تکمیلی به زبان فارسی تحریر شده است.

ʻAlī b. Abī Tālib (d. 40/661), who took over the caliphate duty in a troubled environment after the murder of ʻUthmān b. ʻAffān (d. 35/656), first faced with the demands that the murderers of his murdered predecessor be punished. Although Hazrat ʻAlī himself was of the same opinion, he wanted to ensure public order in the city first. However, the Companions of the Prophet (aṣ-ṣaḥābah) like Zubayr b. al-ʻAwwām (d. 36/656) and Ṭalḥa b. ʿUbaydallāh (d. 36/656), who were not convinced (...) about this issue, started an opposition movement under the leadership of ʻĀ’isha bt. Abī Bakr (d. 58/678), who went to Mecca. The attempts of this movement, which got out of control with the participation of Umayyads and ʻAbdallāh b. Saba’ supporters of different intentions, ended with The Battle of the Camel. Before the war took place, Hazrat ʻĀ’isha heard the barking of dogs when the army led by ʻĀ’isha came to Hawaab on the road to Basra. For this reason, she asked where they were. When she heard that this region was Hawaab, she wanted to go back. Because the Hazrat Prophet had said the following before: "Which of you the Haw's dogs will bark for." The following statement is used in the ḥadīth sources in several different variants, generally without specifying a name: "Thereupon, the people with her wanted her to continue her journey, hoping that the Muslims would recover.” At this point, there is a difference between ḥadīth sources and Islamic historical sources. Islamic historical sources state that the people who wanted her to continue her journey were Ṭalḥa b. ʿUbaydallāh, Zubayr b. al-ʻAwwām and ʻAbdallāh b. al-Zubayr (d. 73/692). The following statements are included in another narration reported from Ibn ʻAbbās (d. 68/688) regarding the issue: The Prophet said to his wives: “I wish I knew! Which of you owns the beautiful hairy camel!” She will set out and then Hawaab dogs will bark at her, many people will be killed, right and left. Then she will survive when she is almost dead. A fifth piece of news mentioned within this framework was narrated by Abū Rāfiʻ (d. 40/660). According to this rumor, the Prophet of Allah said to Hazrat ʻAlī: "Something will happen between you and ʻĀ’isha." Hazrat ʻAlī said: "O Prophet of God! Me?" Allah's Prophet said: "Yes." Hazrat ʻAlī said: "Is it me among my friends?" Allah's Prophet said: "Yes." Hazrat ʻAlī said: "Well, did I trouble them?" The Prophet of Allah said: "No," and then added: "If such a thing happens, take her to a safe place." The sixth narration on the subject is a statement made by Ḥudhayfa b. al-Yamān (d. 36/656). Accordingly, Ḥudhayfa said: "Would you believe me if I told you that one of your mothers will set out with a group of Muslims and will fight you?" Those who were there said: "Will this really happen?" Ḥudhayfa said: "Yes". The last narration mentioned in this context is the news of Abū Bakra (d. 52/671). According to this narration: "Abū Bakra said: Immediately after joining the people of Camel in order to fight with them in the days of Camel, Allah helped me with a word I heard from the Prophet. When the news that the Persians appointed the daughter of Kisrā as the ruler reached the Prophet, the Prophet said: ‘The people who entrust their works to women will not find peace’. " In such a situation, it becomes important to analyze the narrations. Because analyzing the reliability of the narrators and the contents of the narrations will help to understand the subject in a healthy way. Although ḥadīth scholars make some different statements about the reliability of the people who narrated the narrations, the view that gains weight is that they are reliable. Likewise, no problem was detected in the contents of the narrations. Some problems draw attention when Islamic historical sources are considered. For, these historians were not as sensitive as ḥadīth scholars regarding the evaluation of the narrations. At this point, two problems draw attention: The transponder understanding adopted in the early stages of historiography. The effort to protect some valued people. Early historians generally adopted the transponder understanding while writing their works. For this reason, some misinformation that was not analyzed began to be passed down from generation to generation. At this point, the science of history should benefit from the methods of ḥadīth and its sound narrations. In addition, the effort to protect a valuable person like Hazrat ʻĀ’isha has brought the understanding of holding the Companions like Ṭalḥa b. ʿUbaydallāh and Zubayr b. al-ʻAwwām responsible for a behavior that is thought to be wrong. However, it should not be ignored that people can make mistakes. Loving Hazrat ʻĀ’isha does not require defending her wrong decision. In addition, this has brought the accusation of other Companions of behavior unbecoming to them. (shrink)

The Muhaddis have demonstrated their efforts for the identification and preservation of ḥadīths by compiling various types of works such as musnad, mucem, sunen, musannef, cami‘.‎ On the ṣaḥīḥs and Sunens in the golden age of classification, especially the works of Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) and Ebu'l-Hüseyn Müslim b. al-Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ād̲j̲ (d. 261/875) some studies have been done.‎ Mustedrek, Mustakhraj, zawâid, aggregation, summary and commentary are studies on the main ḥadīth sources. From the third century on, in (...) ḥadīth studies, it is seen that the works of the ḥadīths, which the ḥadīths gave importance to, have been dealt with depending on the subject of the authentic ḥadīth and some of their benefits have been explained. Based on the definitions in the method works, istihraj is the determination of the tariks of the narrations in a ḥadīth book by another scholar. The ‎tariq and the ‎producer he reached are sometimes combined with the sheikh of the author of the work, or with a sheikh who is higher up, sometimes even with a companion. In these works, expressions such as al-Muharrec, al-Musnad, es-Ṣaḥīḥ, ‎es-Ṣaḥīḥu'l-Muharrec, al-Müsnedü's-ṣaḥīḥ and al-Müsnedü'l-Mustakhraj are sometimes used instead of the concept of mustahrec. The words "Mustakhrajat has a great value in the eyes of the people of ḥadīth" reveal its value in the eyes of ḥadīth scholars. Scholars valued the genre of mustahraj, which is thought to have contributed significantly to the science of ḥadīth, and they intensified their studies on Bukhari and Muslim, who are considered the basis of ḥadīth science (umdetu'l-ilm). According to the Muhaddis, in order to be able to pass judgment on any narration, it is necessary to have knowledge about the narration and its narrators. Considering the contributions it has made to the ʿulūm al-ḥadīth, to convey more than one narration on the same subject is an important issue. Because, in cases such as its determination, interpretation and preference, determining that the ḥadīth comes from different tariqs (chain) is accepted as a fact that strengthens the narration. The primary goal of the works of the mustahrec type is to obtain the ālī isnād, but it is seen that the copyrighted works contain a significant amount of ‎abuses to the original text as well as to the individual texts. Considering that excess affect the ruling, it is considered important to focus on the mustakhraj type works, which contain different tariks, in terms of the discovery of the meaning and its contribution to the change of the ruling. In this study, an evaluation has been made about the nature of the mustakhraj, its benefits, the value of the mustakhraj as a species, their contribution to the ʿulūm al-ḥadīth in terms of promissory sanad and texts, and what they contain. In the research, the comparison of the narrations selected from the works of the mustakhraj type with the originals and whether the narrations in these works were used in the annotations were investigated. In the study, besides the ḥadīth method works, especially in determining the examples, due to the fact that it is one of the early period works and its reputation, Abū ‘Awāna Ya'kup al-Isferâyînî's ‎‎(d. 316/929) “Musned ṣaḥīḥu'l-muharrec 'ala kitâbi Müslim” In the context of his work named, the concept of mustakhraj has been emphasized. As a result of the research, it can be said that being knowledgeable about the tariqs of the ḥadīths made important contributions to the sanad and text, and that the ḥadīthists referred to the tariqs in the aforementioned literature in the interpretation of the ḥadīth. In summary, in the context of narration and wisdom sciences such as gharib al-hadīth, ıkhtilaf al-hadīth, mushkil al-ḥadīth, ʿIlal al-ḥadīth, nâsiḫu’l-ḥadīth ve mensûḫuh, fiqh al-ḥadīth, it is seen that it makes significant contributions the determination and evaluation of the ḥadīth. Each item mentioned about the benefits of the works in question has a comprehensive study and research field in the science of ḥadīth. It can be said that the methods used/offered in the current researches in which studies on the holistic approach style are carried out are applied by the hadith scholars in the tradition of ḥadīth science (partly in the differences of isnad and commentaries). It is possible to say that the ḥadīthists refer to the tariks in the aforementioned literature in the interpretation of the ḥadīth. As a result of the research, it is understood that the narrations in the mustakhraj support the originals in terms of wording and meaning. In addition to the aim of increasing the prestige of the original, the differences in the isnad and texts show the necessity of evaluating the narrations independently of the original. This study on the mustakhraj shows that extensive research can be done on the place of the related literature in the ʿulūm al-ḥadīth. (shrink)

The narration of tashahhud being a conversation between Allah, the Prophet and the angels is quite common among people. This article examines the authenticity of this narration and questions whether it has an informative value. In this context, the research undertaken in Hadith, Siyar, Tafsīr and Fiqh sources resulted that the narration was not stated in the hadith books -with sanad (the chain of narrators) or without sanad. The first and only summary version of the script was included (...) in the commentary of Thaʿlebī (d. 427/1035), which has very problematic sanads. The first narration without sanad but having a full text (matn) was narrated by Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273). It appears that various commentators of hadith, fuqahāʾ (expert in Islamic jurisprudence), mufassirs (commentators on the Qur’ān) and historians followed Thaʿlabî and Qurṭubī by narrating from them. In fact, these group of scholars did not specify a sanad for the narration but they usually used tamrīd forms (a form which shows that the hadith is weak or deficient), which suggests that they also did not convinced that the narrarion was makbūl (accepted). On the other hand, the fact that this narration did not accompany authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths on the emergence of tashahhud narrated by hadith scholars, such as Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah, which also indicates another problem with this narration. Summary: The narration on the emergence of the prophetic prayer that is called tashahhud in the fiqh literature as it includes the word shahadah (testimony) and known as “al-tahiyyat” and “tahiyyat” is constantly transmitted among people. According to this narration, the Prophet (pbuh) praised Allāh by saying “al-taḥiyyātu lillāhi wa-al-salawātu wa-al-ṭayyibāt” on the night of Miʿrāj when he met Allāh. Our Lord responded to him by saying “al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa-raḥmatullāhi wa-barakātuhu”. The honorable Prophet also included his ummah in this prayer by saying “al-salāmu ʿalayna wa-ʿalā ʿibād Allāh al-ṣāliḥīn” and the Gabriel (and/or angel community) who witnessed this greeting said “ashhadu an lā illāha illallāh wa-ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa-rasūluhu.”This article examines the authenticty of the narration and whether it has an informative value. The findings of the research undertaken in hadith, siyar, tafsir and fiqh sources suggests that the narration was not included in any hadith books with sanad or without sanad. The first and only narration with sanad is found in Thaʿlabī’s tafsīr titled al-Kasfh wa-al-bayān. However, it is a summary version of the narration and its sanads are very problematic. In this tafsīr, Thaʿlabī combines two different chains of narrators in one text. The sanads of these two narrations combined by Thaʿlabī as follows:1. Sanad: Zuhrī → Ibn Salimah b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān → Jābir b. ʿAbdullāh → Prophet (pbuh).2. Sanad: Suddī → Muḥammad b. al-Sāib → Bāzān → Ibn ʿAbbās → Prophet (pbuh).The identity of Ibn Salimah mentioned in the first sanad is disputed. The rijāl (literally; men, refers to knowledge of men/narrators) scholars, such as Ibn Abī Ḥātim stated that he is a man whose memory is corrupted in his old age. In the second sanad there are three dhaʽīf (weak) narrators, namely Suddī, Muḥammad b. al-Sāib and Bāzān. Ibn Abī Ḥātim stated that some parts of Kalbī’s (Muḥammad b. al-Sāib) narration with ṭarīkh (synonym of sanad) of Bāzān from Ibn ʿAbbās was fabricated. Moreover, Thaʿlabī who narrated these two sanads in his tafsīr was accused of being conveying fabricated narrations in his books.As far as we can ascertain, Qurṭubī narrated the first narration of this story without sanad and without referring to a source. However, he narrated the full version of the text. Similarly this narration was also transmitted by Suhaylī and ʿAlī al-Qārī without sanad and a reference but they transmitted it by seperating into two slightly different texts. According to Suhaylī’s text in al-Ravḍ al-Unuf, angels stated “al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa-raḥmatallāhi wa-barakātuhu” not Allāh. According to ʿAlī al-Qārī’s text in Sharḥ al-Shifa, when Allāh Said “al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa-raḥmatallāhi wa-barakātuhu”, the Prophet (pbuh) responded by saying: “Allāhumma anta al-Salām wa-minka al-Salām wa-ilayka yarjiuʿ al-Salām, al-Salām alaynā wa-alā ibād Allāh al-sālihīn.” It is clear that there are disputes about the contents of some sentences as well as their subjects in the text of Tashahhud’s narration.The full text and summary versions of this narrarion can be found in tafsīr books, such as Rāzī's Mafātiḥ al-ghayb, Samarqandī's Baḥr al-ʿulūm and Bursavī's Rūḥ al-bayān; in fiqh books, such as Bābartī's al-ʿInâyah, Ḥaddād's al-Javharah al-nayyirah, ʿAynī’s al-Bināyah, Molla Khusraw’s Durar al-ḥukkām, Jamal’s Futūḥāt al-Wahhāb and Bujayramī’s al-Tajrīd; and in various hadith commentaries and in some siyar books. The authors of these books did not mention sanads of their narrations and they usually used tamrīd forms. This suggests that they also did not consider this narration as authentic. On the other hand, the fact that all narrations transmitted in these books are not compatible with those authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths about the emergence of tashahhud, which were reported by muhaddiths, such as Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Nasāī and Ibn Mājah. This also indicates another problem with this narration. The authentic hadiths on the issue as follows: 1. Bukhārī→Musaddad→Yaḥyā→Aʿmash→Shaqīq→Ibn Masʿūd: He said:When we prayed with the Messenger of Allāh (pbuh), we used to say: “Peace (al-Salām) be upon Allāh, peace be upon Jibrīl, peace be upon Mikāʿīl.” The Messenger of Allāh (pbuh) said: “Do not say: Peace (al-Salām) be upon Allāh, for Allāh is al-Salām.” Rather say: “al-taḥiyyātu lillāhi wa-al-salawātu wa-al-ṭayyibāt, al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa-raḥmatallāhi wa-barakātuhu. Al-salāmu ʿalayna wa-ʿalā ʿibād Allāh al-ṣāliḥīn, ashhadu an lā ilāha illallāh wa-ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa-rasūluhu (Allāh compliments, prayers and pure words are due to Allāh. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allāh and his blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allāh. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allāh and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His slave and Messenger.”2. Bukhārī→Abū Nuaym→Sayf→Mucāhid→Abū Maʿmar ʿAbdullāh b. Saḥbarah→Ibn Masʿūd: He said:Allāh’s Messenger (pbuh) taught me Tashahhud as he taught me a sūrah (chapter) from the Qur’ān, while my hand was between his hands. (Tashahhud was): “All the best compliments and the prayers and the good things are for Allāh. Peace and Allāh’s Mercy and Blessings be on you, O Prophet! Peace be on us and on the pious slaves of Allāh, I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allāh, and I also testify that Muhammad is Allāh’s slave and His Apostle.” (We used to recite this in the prayer) during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh), but when he had died, we used to say: “Peace be on the Prophet.”As a result, it is unlikely that the Prophet (pbuh) did not touch upon the relationship between the Miʿrāj and the Tashahhud while teaching it. It is also unlikely that his companions who narrated this occasion did not mention about this important detail although they had such knowledge. Indeed, hadith scholars did not include the narrations that associated tashahhud with the Miʿrāj but they reported two other aforementioned narrations on the emergence of the Tashahhud in their books, which raises doubts over the authenticity of the relevant narration in question. (shrink)

Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn al-Marwarrūdhī is one of the important representatives of Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School. Al-Ta‘līḳa is his famous work, which is one of the first commentaries of al-Muzanī’s Mukḫtaṣar. One of the important features of this work is the introduction to some of the subjects of ijtihād (process of juristic legal reasoning), taqlīd (acting upon the word of another without asking for specific proof), ijmā‘ (consensus of jurists) and view’s of the companions of the Prophet. The first systematic, complete and detailed (...) works of uṣūl al-fiqh (Islamic legal theory) that belonged to the Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School have reached to the present day belong to the second half of the V./XI. century. Making research on the studies which were done about uṣūl al-fiqh and formed the basis of this period is essential to follow the development of uṣūl al-fiqh of the Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School. Transfer of the uṣūl al-fiqh in al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn al-Marwarrūdhī’s al-Ta‘līḳa make it possible to determine the literatüre, which was formed in Khurāsān region in the period from the death of Shāfi‘ī to the first half of the V./XI. century until the first half of the Khurāsān region, which allows the determination of the uṣūl al-fiqh. In this study, on the basis of ijmā‘, al-Qāḍî Ḥusayn al-Marwarrūdhī’s method in al-Ta‘līḳa will be examined.Summary: Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn al-Marwarrūdhī is considered to be one of the most important representatives of the Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School. In addition to receiving fiqh education from al-Qaffāl al-Marwazī, who is accepted as the founder of the Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School in Shāfiʿī fiqh circles. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn, one of the most distinguished students of al-Qaffāl al-Marwazī, has become one of the important bearers of the fiqh heritage of Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School. The fact that the epithet “el-kāḍî” is used in the works of Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School to absolutely refer to al-Qāḍî Ḥusayn, is another issue that shows his being authority on fiqh. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn al-Marwarrūdhī has accomplished many works in the field of fiqh. The most famous and most important work of al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn is the al-Ta‘lîḳa, written according to the Mukḫtaṣar arrangement style of al-Muzanī. He is often cited as the author of the well-known work al-Ta‘lîḳa in the sect. Al-Ta‘lîḳa, commonly cited in fiqh studies to refer to the views of al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn, is one of the first commentary on Mukḫtaṣar by Muzanī. With these characteristics, al-Ta‘lîḳa is one of the outstanding manuscripts for exploring the fiqh legacy of the Khurāsān Shāfi‘ī School. Another important feature of this text is that uṣūl al-fiqh issues such as ijtihād, taqlīd, ijmā‘ and view’s of the companions of the Prophet (qawl al-ṣaḥābah) have been covered in the introduction of the work. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn discusses the issues of evidentiality and types of ijmā‘ and ijmā‘ of ṣaḥābah in the chapter on ijmā‘ in al-Ta‘lîḳa. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn also handles the debates on view’s of the companions of the Prophet in the section on ijmā‘ of ṣaḥābah. It is also seen that the proofs proposed for evidentiality of ijmā since Shāfiʿī’s period became more versatile and differed. The fact that the arguments al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn cites in the chapter of the evidences of ijmā‘ were also mentioned by his contemporary, al-Māwardī, an Iraqi Shāfiʿī jurist, points out the accumulation of knowledge in terms of proofs of ijmā. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn makes two related distinctions that are fundamentally related to the types of ijmā. The first is the division between ijmā supporters, those who argue for knowability of ijmā, and their opponents. According to this, ijmā is divided into two parts as ‘āmm (general public) ijmā‘ and khāṣṣ (scholars) ijmā‘. Opposition to ‘āmm ijmā‘, such as fardhs (obligations) in prayer, rawātib sunnah (the practice that the Prophet regularly performed) and feast prayer requires kufr (blasphemy). Al-Qāḍî Ḥusayn, who considers issues such as ‘awl (a sharing method in Islamic inheritance law), mut‘a marriage (a type of temporary marriage) and riba’l-faḍl (interest in exchange or sale transactions) which are seen as controversial ijmā‘ issues in literature, as khāṣṣ ijmā‘ and evaluates opposition to this type of ijmā‘ as fisq (impiety). The second division al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn makes is between ijmā‘ based on the text and apparent comparison, and the ijmā‘ based on hidden comparison. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn thinks that the opposition to ijmā‘ that is based on ijtihād or the text in terms of sanad (chain of narrators), requires blasphemy. In a sense, this is to accept ijmā‘ as a provision on an equal basis and to reduce the distinctions of ijmā‘ to literary level. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn also discusses evidentiality of qawl al-ṣaḥābah in connection with the issues of ijmā‘. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn opposes the thesis that ijmā‘ is only limited to companions’ era and argues that it can be realized in any century after the Prophet. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn, who discusses ṣaḥābah’s ijmā‘ under two categories: the views of ṣaḥābah that have gained prevalence among other ṣaḥābahs and those that have not gained prevalence among other companions, argues for evidentiality of qawl al-ṣaḥābah, which have gained prevalence and known not to be opposed. He provides significant information on ijmā‘ discussion in Shāfi‘ī fiqh methods with regard to the evidentiality of this type of qawl al-ṣaḥābah, which is referred ijmā‘ al-suqūtī (consensus based on lack of opposition-silence). The knowledge al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn cites with regard to the evidentiality of qawl al-ṣaḥābah which have not gained prevalence among other ṣaḥābahs differs from Māwardī, one of his contemporary, and his predecessors. The fact that he cites Shāfi‘ī’s previous and latest views with regard to the state of such qawl al-ṣaḥābah in the face of qiyās (legal analogy) enables him to make comparison using uṣūl material available in his era. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn, who mentions debatable issues among ṣaḥābah, makes controversial narrations. While al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn reports that there is not any conflict on the argument that it is legitimate to express a third view with regard to issues on which ṣaḥābah is divided in two groups and fall into conflict, his contemporary al-Māwardī and other Shāfi‘ī jurists report that it is not legitimate to propose a third view on such an issue as there is ijmā‘ on these issues. (shrink)

Understanding and interpreting religious texts correctly is an important problem in every period and culture. Taking advantage of the ezperience of our ancient culture in solving this problem will greatly alleviate our burden. Because, despite the historical distance between us, it is possible to come across traces in the works of the predecessor ulama which will enlighten modern methods of today. In addition, the scientific and cultural heritage of the sects other than Ahl-Sunnah has rich content in this sense. To (...) benefit from this accumulation will give us different perspectives. In this article the principles that Zaydī mohaddith who lived in Hijri 6th centuryin Yemen, used in understanding and interpreting the hadiths of judgment are discussed around two main titles as internal and external factors and nineteen sub-titles under these titles. These principles were evaluated within the scope of his work called Uṣūl al-aḥkām al-jāmi' li-adillat al-ḥalāl wa-al-ḥarām. The principles that followed by an important figure of Zaydī thought, Ahmad b. Suleiman (d. 566/1171), in understanding and interpreting the hadiths of judgment include notable examples in this sense. Because he is more interested in the text and notion of hadiths rather than criticism of the sanad within framework of Zaydiyya of which he is a member. He also makes his comments from this perspective. In this aspect, this article will make a small contribution to the interpretation of the hadiths of ahkām. (shrink)

During the past century of oriental studies, the question of when and where Muslim traditions came to be propped up with validating lines of transmission has attracted a considerable amount of scholarly attention, for its bearing on the key issue of the historicity of ḥadīth. In this essay, I review the existing theories about the origin of the isnād, which alternate between the lifetime of the Prophet’s Companions and the end of the second century AH/c. 816 CE. Based on a (...) hitherto largely overlooked tradition and two general methodological premises, I associate the inception of corroborative attribution to past authorities in legal and theological ḥadīth with the aftermath of al-Mukhtār b. Abī ʿUbayd al-Thaqafī’s revolt in Kūfa. Over the course of the second/eighth century, the isnād institution spread out across the major centers of learning in the caliphate and entered the field of historical reports. Such geographical and typological unevenness of the isnād’s evolution gave rise to conflicting theories about its chronology. (shrink)