Recep SENTÜRK / Social and Literary Structure of Isnad: A Historical Perspective

Abstract: This paper explores how the literary structure of hadith transmission is related to its social structure. It is argued that literary and social processes compliment each other and thus cannot be reduced to one another. It is demonstrated that changing literary structures have an impact on the social structure of Isnad. Likewise, changing social structure of Isnad has an impact on its literary structure. Most recent methods from linguistics, literary analysis, narratology and social network analysis are combined to further our understanding of the monumental hadith transmission network which is a distinct facet of Islamic civilization. The fluid, dynamic and changing structure of hadith transmission network is explored by following the patterns of relations between its social and literary dimensions.

Citation: Recep Sentürk, “Social and Literary Structure of Isnad”, Hadis Tetkikleri Dergisi (HTD), II/1, 2004, s. 31-50.

Key words: Narrative, Islam, Prophet Muhammad, isnad, hadith, age structure, mode of narration, sunnah, network analysis.

  

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