Page:Selections from Muhammadan Traditions - tr. William Goldsack (1923).djvu/7



In the system of Islám the Traditions occupy a place second only in importance to the Qurʾán itself. They are described as a record of 'the words of the Prophet and his actions and what he permitted.' Their importance is derived from the Muslim belief that Muḥammad, in all he said and did, was divinely guided. The Traditions are technically known as waḥi gẖairuʾl-matlú, unrecited revelation, in contradistinction to the revelation of the Qurʾán which is said to have been recited word for word by Gabriel to the Prophet. Thus it will be seen that whilst the Qurʾán, according to Muslims, is a purely objective revelation, in the Traditions the inspiration is subjective only.

In Islám the Traditions are used both in the formation of canon law and also in the exegesis of the Qurʾán; whilst not a little of what we know of the life and character of Muḥammad is derived from the same source. As every word and act of the Prophet is for the Muslim a divine rule of faith and practice, the influence of the Traditions on the lives of millions, all over the world, is difficult to over-estimate.

A Tradition is technically divided by Muslim theologians into two parts. There is first, the isnád, the support or authority on which the Tradition rests. This consists of the names of the succession of reporters by whom the particular Tradition was handed down. This isnád, to be complete, must begin with the name of the original person who actually heard the words spoken by Muḥammad, and must continue in an unbroken chain up to the name of the last reporter from whom the written record was made, when, of course, oral transmission automatically ceased. In a genuine Tradition (Ḥadíṯẖuʾṣ-Ṣaḥíḥ) each narrator in the Isnád must be a pious man, of unblemished character. Traditions in which there is a break in the chain of narrators are of slight value. The second part of a Tradition