In Search of Ali Ibn Abi Talib’s Codex: History and Traditions of the Earliest Copy of the Qur’an. With a Foreword by James Piscatori

"The history of the text of the Qur'an has been a longstanding subject of interest within the field of Islamic Studies, but the debate has so far been focused on the Sunni traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Uthman b. 'Affan. Little to no attention has been given to the traditions on 'Ali b. Abi Talib's collection of the Qur'an. This book examines both Shi'i and Sunni traditions on the issue, aiming to date them back to the earliest possible date and, if possible, verify their authenticity. To achieve this, the traditions are examined using Harald Motzki's isnad-cum-matn method, which is recognised as an efficient tool in dating the early Islamic traditions and involves analysis of both matn (text) and isnad (chain of transmission) with an emphasis on finding a correlation between the two"--Back cover Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Foreword 12 Introduction 16 1 Western Scholarship and the Early History of the Qur’ān: A Short History of Qur’anic Studies in th 22 Discovering the Biblical Roots of the Qur’an 22 Challenging the Muslim Narrations 29 Syriac Influence on the Qur’an 34 The Wansbrough School 40 Decoding Wansbrough 42 ‘Muslim Conspiracy’ Against the Qur’an 45 2 Muslim Response to the Criticisms of the Textual History of the Qur’an 52 Convincing ‘Non-Believers’ of the Authenticity of the Qur’an: The Traditional Muslim Approach to the 53 Arguing Historicity of the Qur’an 64 Use of Archaeological Data 67 3 Shiʿi Approach to the History of the Collection of the Qur’ān 74 Denial of Judeo-Christian Influence on the Qur’an 74 The Issue of taḥrīf 80 ʿAlī’s Codex in the Earliest Shiʿi Sources 83 The Collection of the Qur’an at the Time of the Prophet 86 4 Introduction to isnād-cum-matn Methodology 90 The isnād-cum-matn Method in the Assessment of the Sunni Traditions Regarding the Collection of the 97 Employment of the isnād-cum-matn Method on Fewer Variant 99 Criticism of the Method 101 5 Traditions Attributed to Muḥammad Al-Bāqir 110 Investigating the Identity of the Reporter 114 An Analysis of al-Kāfī’s isnād Patterns 121 Group Two Variants 132 Isnād Analysis 133 Matn Analysis 137 Group Three Variants 142 Isnād Analysis 142 Matn Analysis 146 6 Traditions Attributed to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib 148 A Brief Study of the Succession Crisis 158 7 Traditions Attributed to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq 168 8 Traditions Attributed to Ibn Sīrīn 180 Miscellaneous 192 Conclusion 198 Appendix 204 Notes 260 Introduction 260 Chapter 1 260 Chapter 2 264 Chapter 3 267 Chapter 4 270 Chapter 5 274 Chapter 6 277 Chapter 7 280 Chapter 8 282 Miscellaneous 284 Conclusion 285 Bibliography 286 The history of the text of the Qur'an has been a longstanding subject of interest within the field of Islamic Studies, but the debate has so far been focused on the Sunni traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān. Little to no attention has been given to the traditions on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib's collection of the Qur'an. This book examines both Shiʿi and Sunni traditions on the issue, aiming to date them back to the earliest possible date and, if possible, verify their authenticity. To achieve this, the traditions are examined using Harald Motzki's isnād-cum-matn method, which is recognised as an efficient tool in dating the early Islamic traditions and involves analysis of both matn (text) and isnād (chain of trans-mission) with an emphasis on finding a correlation between the two.'Kara's application of hadith criticism to Shi‘i sources is innovative as well as constructive. Respectful of others'contributions, he nonetheless subverts conventional sceptical and starkly sectarianised approaches to Scriptural textual history.'(From the foreword by James Piscatori)