Explores key texts and critical themes of hadith commentary Represents a milestone for the field: the first-ever edited volume on the important subject of hadith commentary Presents diverse case studies of hadith commentaries across time, place and sect Delivers new insights into themes of Islam and politics, Islamic mysticism, Islamic law, Islamic philosophy and the digital humanities Offers cross-disciplinary models of cutting-edge methods in textual studies from a group of international scholars Hadith commentary has been a central site of Islamic intellectual life for more than a millennium, across diverse periods, regions and sects. This is the first volume of scholarly essays ever collected on the key texts and critical themes of hadith commentary. The book unfolds chronologically from the early centuries of Islam to the modern period, and readers will discover continuities and changes as a group of international experts offer illuminating studies of Sunnis, Shi'i and Sufis who interpret and debate the meaning of hadith that spans a wide terrain: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, India, and further. The volume also models a variety of methodological approaches, including social history, intellectual history, the study of religion, and digital history. By highlighting both differences and commonalities as the practice of hadith commentary circulated across distant eras and lands, this volume sheds new light on the way Muslims have historically understood the meaning of Muhammad's example.

About the Author
Joel Blecher is Associate Professor of History at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, the author of Said the Prophet of God: Hadith Commentary Across a Millennium (University of California Press, 2018), and co-translator of Ibn ?ajar al-?Asqal?n?'s Merits of the Plague (Penguin Classics, 2023). His other writings have appeared in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Islamic Law & Society, Oriens, and several edited volumes. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Library of Congress, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.Stefanie Brinkmann is Research Fellow at the Bibliotheca Arabica Project at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig. Trained in Arabic, Persian, and Roman Studies, she had acting professorships at the universities of Freiburg and Hamburg, and was member and principal investigator of a number of manuscript projects. She has published in the fields of manuscript studies, especially on hadith manuscripts, material culture in hadith, and classical Arabic poetry.

Reviews
"Engaging and informative, this impressive book explores the rich genre of commentary literature that developed around the interpretation of the Hadith. With its broad coverage and analysis, the work should serve as a valuable reference source for the academic study of the Prophetic hadiths." -Mustafa Shah, SOAS, University of London



Book Information
ISBN 9781474461047
Author Joel Blecher
Format Hardback
Page Count 312
Imprint Edinburgh University Press
Publisher Edinburgh University Press