Oxford Scholar Dr. Joshua Little Gives 21 REASONS Why Historians are SKEPTICAL of Hadith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz4vMUUxhagSummary notes weakest to strongest:
1. Common Practice: People have a long history of making up stories.
2. Delayed Origins: Many hadiths collected after the 8th century are based on reports from 100 to 250 years earlier.
3. Internal Inconsistencies: Hadiths often contradict each other, for example, some provide unclear details about specific events (e.g., 5:3, when and where did this happen?).
4. Propaganda Potential: Hadiths can be biased, promoting or opposing certain groups. Who, for instance, is considered the first male convert according to differing hadiths?
5. Anachronisms: Some hadiths reference historical events that occurred later, suggesting the stories were created after the fact.
6. Unlikely Events: The supernatural elements present in some hadiths make their historical accuracy doubtful.
7. Widespread Fabrication: There are reports that a large portion (or most) of hadiths are fabricated.
Further Considerations:
8. Late Isnads: The chains of transmission (isnads) for many hadiths were established much later than the events they describe, often during the 2nd Fitna (Islamic civil war), raising questions about their accuracy.
9. Early "Sunnah": The concept of "Sunnah" originally referred to good customs and practices. Hadiths, as a specific genre, didn't exist before the 8th century.
10. Rapid Growth: The number of hadiths reported grew rapidly during a specific period in Islamic history.
11. Absence in Early Islam: Early Islamic sources don't rely heavily on hadiths.
12. Retrojection: Hadiths may have been created later and attributed to earlier figures, with a progression from followers to companions to the Prophet himself. Prophetical hadiths likely emerged later in this process.
13. Contradictions with History and Archaeology: Some hadiths contradict established historical and archaeological evidence. For instance, the claim that Mecca was entirely pagan before Islam contradicts the Quran itself, which suggests some form of monotheism existed there.
Oral Tradition and Reliability:
14. Oral Transmission Issues: Hadiths were primarily transmitted orally for over a century during a period of significant conflict. This raises concerns about their accuracy due to the potential for distortion and embellishment over time.
15. Variations and Inconsistencies: Extreme variations exist in the content of hadiths, even those supposedly describing the same event, highlighting the unreliability of oral transmission.
Literary Features:
16. Formulaic Storytelling: Many hadiths share similar narrative structures, tropes, and themes, suggesting a formulaic approach to storytelling rather than accurate historical accounts.
17. Entertainment Value: Some hadiths seem more concerned with entertainment than historical accuracy. Stories about the Prophet striking a rock with a staff and water emerged like story of Moses seems embellished for dramatic effect.
Exegesis and Interpretation:
18. Explaining the Quran: Some hadiths attempt to explain the Quran through stories, often lacking historical basis. For instance, hadiths about the meaning of specific Quranic verses often vary depending on the scholar interpreting them.
19. Infering from the Qur'an (74:49-51 asses from lion, hunters, archers) why variation? to explain an argument e.g., word meanings.
20. External Influences: Early Islamic interpretations of the Quran (exegesis) may have been influenced by external sources like Jewish and Christian traditions.
Classifying Hadiths:
21. Subjectivity of Authenticity: Is there a truly reliable method for classifying hadiths as weak, strong, or authentic? After all, people can be dishonest at any time.
