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THE VIEWS OF ORIENTALISTS ON THE HADITH LITERATURE

1848-1889

1) GUSTAV WEIL (1808-1889)
Argued in his bokk Geschichte der Chaliphen that all the hadiths in al-Bukhari must
be rejected.
He was also skeptical of the authenticity of those verses in the Quran that speak of the
Prophet as a mortal being and those about the event of the Isra.

2) ALOYSSPRENGER (1813-1893)
His book Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammad published between 1861 and
1865.
He said that the hadith literature contains more authentic material than fabricated
events.

3) WILLIAM MUIR (1819-1905)
His book The Life of Mahomet.
He proposed a number of criteria to establish the authenticity of hadiths, thereby
giving the first examples of the orientalist effort to establish a chronology for them.
According to Muir, although narrators often made distortions in hadith texts, the
hadith literature largely contains historical facts.

4) REINHART DOZY (1820-1883)
His book Het Islamisme.
He argued that about half of the hadiths in al-Bukhari were authentic.
The fact that the writing of the hadiths occurred in the second century after the Hijrah
was the reason why many fictitious hadiths to be included in the literature.







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1890-1949
1) IGNAZ GOLDZIHER (1850-1921)

His famous book, Muhammedanische Studien which he focuses on the hadiths before
Goldziher got another scholar below.
Skeptical about the hadith, literature but disagreed with Dozy on his view that at least
half of the hadiths in al-Bukhari should be considered as authentic.
He claimed that the great majority of the hadiths were products of the religious,
historical and social conditions prevalent in the first two centuries of Islam.
Argues that different groups would either make up many hadiths that supported their
respective positions, or modify existing traditions to justify their views, or else censor
the hadiths that had been adopted by others.
Accuses Muslim scholars of relying solely on the isnad (chain of transmitters) without
paying attention to obvious anachronisms' in hadith texts.

2) SNOUCK HURGRONJE (1857-1936)

Dutch orientalist.
Contemporary of Goldziher's.
Hadith literature was a product of dominant groups in the first three centuries of
Islam, and thus it reflected their views.
Agree with Goldziher on the idea that different groups made up many hadiths and
used them as a means to gain their objectives.
Both claim that the hadith literature contains many elements of the Old and the New
Testament, as well as Roman law.

3) HENRI LAMMENS (1862-1937)
Belgian orientalist.
Agrees with Goldziher about the allegedly fictitious nature of the traditions, and
argues that Islamic law was very much influenced by Roman law.
Elements borrowed from foreign sources were not only falsely attributed to the
Prophet and his Companions through the fabrication of hadiths, but they also had been
completely assimilated into Islamic law, thereby making it seem as if Islamic law was
an original and authentic legal tradition.




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4) DAVID SAMUEL MARGOLIOUTH (1858-1940)

Highly influenced by Goldziher and Muir.
He claims that the development of the hadith literature, as explicated in Goldziher's
studies, should lead the researcher to be skeptical.
His most effective assertion is the idea that the concept of the "sunnah" was originally
used to refer to pre-Islamic customs/traditions that had not been abolished by the Quran.
He argues that the desire to prevent a potential anarchical situation that might be caused
by the prevalence of the traditions and life styles of the different groups.
He sees the concepts of infallibility (ismah) and non-recited revelation
(wahyghayrmatluw) as theories constructed to justify the position of the Prophet's sunnah
as a legitimate source of the law.

5) JOSEF HOROVITZ (1874-1931)

Studied on seerah.
Tried to establish the chronology of the isnad by employing the methods of IbnIshak.
According to him, the isnad emerged in the last quarter of the first century.
He still skeptical about the isnad in terms of its role in establishing the sources of hadith.
For him, Islam contains many elements from many religions and cultures.
He describes Islam as an area where syncretism dominates.

6) ARENT JAN WENSICK (1882-1939)
Lead member of the famous Concordance project.
Working on his PhD dissertations on Prophet Muhammads relationship with the Jews in
Medina.
Realized the significance of the hadiths for Islamic theology, and the Concordance
project to make sure that the hadiths can be used more efficiently in his studies on Islam.
He claims that the scope of the provision Quran was limited to the Medina context.
He sees the hadiths as an important source for the Islamic theology.
He assumes that the Quran was authored by the prophet.
He claims that the hadith were produced by Islamic society after the Prophet.





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1950-1970
1) ALFRED GUILLAUME (1888-1965)
Claim the hadith were fabricated reflect the political and religious tendencies of
competing group.
Argue that only a few hadith can belong to the authorities to whom they were
attribute.
His book on hadith literature: The Traditions of Islam.

2) JOHAN FUECK (1894-1974)
Focusing on independent and neutral hadith scholar rather than competing group
fabricating prophetic tradition.
Fail to see the originality of hadith literature.
Accept hadith as fabricated until proven otherwise.
Hadith literature contains many authentic tradition.
Argues that the fact that the narrative chains of hadiths can ultimately be traced back
only to the second century.
Claim that some modifications and revision in the hadith were made by later
generation.
Believe in many cases the authentic essence beneath these modification can be
established on the basis of certain criteria.

3) JOSEPH SCHACHT (1902-1969)

He alleges marfu hadiths emerged in the middle of the second century and legitimate
hadiths belonging to the Companions (mawkuf traditions) emerged in the early
second century.
He argues that authentic legal traditions can only be found among those attributed to
the subsequent generation.
He admits that the hadiths about theological issues could be dated to an earlier time
than the legal traditions.
Legitimate hadiths can be applied to historical narratives as well.
He became a major figure in orientalist literature, greatly influencing the later
scholars.
He shaped the direction of the discipline by generating a strong reaction against his
assertions.
Common allegation: contrary to what Muslims think.