M.Phil.

Synopsis
A Comparative Study of Joseph Schacht & Harald Motzki
approach towards Hadith transmission
By
Fatima Sarfaraz Abbasi
M.Phil. - Isl-St-003
Session 2022-2024
Supervisor
Dr Aayesha Rafique
Department
Islamic Studies
Fatima Jinnah Women University
Rawalpindi

Student Signature Supervisor Signature

Introduction
The study of Hadith literature holds great importance for understanding Islamic law and the
advancement of Islamic jurisprudence. Hadiths are attributed sayings, actions, and approvals
of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that serve as a fundamental source of guidance for
Muslims. Muslim Scholars have worked hard to investigate the reliability, transmission, and
interpretation of these traditions but Western scholars have also stepped into this field of
study providing critical perspectives and approaches.

Joseph Schacht and Harald Motzki are among the scholars who have written on the subject of
hadith studies. This study attempts to investigate and compare the approaches used by
Schacht and Motzki in their analysis of Muslim Hadith literature.

In the middle of the 20th century, Joseph Schacht a German-British orientalist wrote his
groundbreaking book, "The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence," 1 questioned long-held
beliefs about the veracity and accuracy of ahadith. Schacht's methodology focused on closely
examining how Islamic law evolved and how ahadith fit into this framework. He conducted a
critical analysis of the mechanisms used to transmit Hadith, the emergence of legal schools,
and the impact of local traditions on the development of Islamic jurisprudence. Schacht's
skepticism about the reliability of Hadith received praise and criticism, generating intense
debates among scholars of Muslim and Western scholars

A contemporary German scholar named Harald Motzki worked in the field of Hadith studies

and reached on conclusions which were far-fetched from those of Schacht. In order to
preserve and express the traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) Motzki's research focused on the
early stages of Hadith transmission, looking at the methods and norms used by early Muslim
scholars. His comparative examination of different Hadith collections and narrators offers
valuable insight on the development of Hadith literature. The intricate nature of the topic is
revealed by Motzki's careful analysis of the chains of transmission, the reliability of the
narrators, and the socio-political setting of Hadith transmission.

1
Schacht, Joseph. The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950.
Literature Review:

Joseph Schacht (1902-1969) continued Goldziher's (1850-1921) work fifty years later in his
important publications "Origins" (1950) and "Introduction to Islamic Law" (1964). Schacht's
opinions were outlined in his article, "A Revaluation of Islamic Traditions," which was
published before Origins. Schacht claims that since Goldziher released his work, the
significance of his studies and results has been gradually diminished and their consequences
have been ignored. Following in the footsteps of Goldziher, he suggested applying a fresh
critical perspective to the entire corpus of hadith literature. Schacht also takes A.N.Poliak's
2
claim that the body of Islamic traditions is a collection of divergent viewpoints formed at
uncertain times by unknown individuals.

Based on his examination of the technical legal issues, he believes that the concept of Medina
as a true source of Sunnah is a fiction of the early third century of Islam. Furthermore,
traditions from the Prophet lacked supremacy among Iraqi, Madani, and Syrian schools of
thought, which relied significantly on traditions from companions and their successors.
Schacht attempts to provide an acceptable replacement to Goldziher's formula. He uses the
Legal Historical Method of research to describe the methods he used to test the critical
approach to Islamic traditions. He explains this by giving two reasons

 First, literary sources of law take us further back in history and are much more abundant, and
second, our judgments on formal and abstract problems of law and legal science are less
likely to be distorted if we use political or religious history. He continues on to say that
Muslim studies are founded on historical intuition, which must be replaced with historical
criticism.

Regarding Prophetic traditions Schacht, in his article, “Revaluation of Islamic Traditions”

(1949) says “This assumption should be abandoned that there originally existed an authentic
core of information going back to the time of Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) due to the fact
that tendentious and spurious additions were made to the original mass of hadịth literature in
every succeeding generation.3

2
9 A.N.Poliak, in AJCL 57, 1940:50
3
Joseph Schacht, ‘Revaluation of Islamic Traditions’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain &
Ireland (New Series), (1949), p.150.
Schacht considered his research as an extension of Goldziher's. According to Schacht, it was
Shafi (150-204 A.H.) who elevated hadith to the status of a genuine source of law, obtaining
ultimate authority. Schacht believes that the marfu hadith emerged in the middle of the
second century (AH), while hadith from the Companions (mawkuf) traditions appeared in the
early second century. Furthermore, while admitting that hadith about theological matters
could be dated earlier than legal traditions, Schacht maintains that not all of these hadith can
be dated to the first century. In short, Schacht established himself as a key character in
orientalist literature.

Harald Motzki’s research also demonstrates that Schacht’s premise that an early scholar’s
failure to employ a Prophetic hadith in a debate in which it would have been pertinent
somehow proves that this Prophetic hadịth did not exist at that time was a 160 flawed
argument e silentio. Motzki after consulting sources far more expansive than those examined
by Schacht demonstrates that certain traditions actually appeared earlier than these scholars
believed that the hadịth existed or did not consider it useful for the argument. Rather than
being active forgers of hadịth early legal scholars and hadịth transmitters such as Zuhri (d.
124) and Ibn-e- Jurayj (d. 150) and Sufyan Ibne-Uyayna (d.196) were reliably passing reports
from the previous generation.

Motzki challenged the reigning conclusions of Joseph Schacht by demonstrating

convincingly that their study of early hadịth and law used only a small and selective body of
sources, and that it was based on skeptical assumptions which, taken together, often asked the
reader to believe a set of coincidences far more unlikely than the possibility that a hadịth
might actually date from the genesis of the Islamic community. Motzki” s work and that of
those who have followed in his footsteps have contributed greatly to advancing the study of
early Islamic history and law

Problem Statement;

Schacht and Motzki both being European scholars carried an extensive study of Muslim
Hadith Literature but reached different conclusions. The purpose of this study is to explore
the reasons of their divergent conclusions and approaches towards the study of Muslim
Hadith Literature.
Research Questions:

1. What are the sources employed by both Schacht and Motzki in their study?

2. What are the methodologies put forth by Schacht and Motzki in their respective works?

3. Understanding of the critical issues: argument of e silentio, back growth of isnads and
common link theory that Joseph Schacht and Harald Motzki address in their respective
works?

4 .What impacts have the works of Schacht and Motzki had on the field of Hadith studies,
particularly in terms of subsequent academic debates, methodologies, and interpretations?

5. How do Schacht and Motzki's perspectives on Hadith literature align or diverge from the
perspectives of traditional Muslim scholars?

Research Methodology:

The study will apply a comparative research methodology to examine Joseph Schacht's and
Harald Motzki's approaches to Muslim Hadith literature. A literature review will be done to
identify and understand major scholarly works on the topic. Schacht and Motzki's key
writings will be critically examined for their arguments and approaches. Historical context
will be used to better understand the sociopolitical variables influencing their methods.
Furthermore, primary sources of Hadith literature will be examined to determine the
ramifications of their results.

Objectives:

 To compare the approaches of Joseph Schacht and Harald Motzki towards Muslim
Hadith literature regarding its authenticity, reliability, and transmission.
 To analyze the main arguments and methodologies used by Schacht in and Motzki.
 To understand the impact of Schacht and Motzki's works on the field of Hadith
studies, including their influence on debates, methodologies, and interpretations.
 To explore the historical context that shaped Schacht and Motzki's perspectives on
Hadith literature, considering societal factors and intellectual trends.
  To contribute to the existing knowledge in Hadith studies by identifying
commonalities and differences between Schacht and Motzki's research, highlighting
areas of potential agreement or disagreement.

Significance:

The importance of studying Joseph Schacht's and Harald Motzki's approaches to Muslim
Hadith literature stems from the fact that the orientalist paradigm differs largely from the
non-orientalist approach towards the study of Islam.

This study will offers a foundation for future academic discussion and research in the field of
Hadith studies by critically analyzing their works, developing a greater comprehension of
Western writings on Muslim hadith studies and the growth of legal thought.
Bibliography
Book Review of Analysing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal, Exegetical and Maghazi
Hadith." Islamic Law and Society 78 (2010).

Hassan, Ahmad. The Early Development of Islamic Jurisprudence. Islamabad: International

Research Institute, 2001.

Motzki, Harald, and Nicolet Boekhoff, eds. Analysing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal,
Exegetical and Maghazi Hadith. Vol. 78, Islamic History and Civilization. Leiden: Brill,
2012.

Motzki, Harald. The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh before the Classical
Schools (Islamic History and Civilization). Translated by Marion H. Katz, Brill Academic
Publishers, 2001.

Schacht Joseph , ‘Revaluation of Islamic Traditions’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of
Great Britain & Ireland

Schacht, Joseph. The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

1950.

Shamsy, Ahmad. "Analysing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal Exegetical and Maghazi
Hadith." Islamic Law and Society 18 (2011): 440-49

The Role of Non-Arab Converts in the Development of Early Islamic Law." In International
Medeival Conference. University of Leeds, 1997.