The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki ed. by Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort et al. (review)

Harald Motzki is renowned for his studies concerning the transmission of early Islamic texts (especially hadith) and for grappling with issues related to the historical origins of such writings. His approach, one that he has termed isnad-cum-matn analysis, focuses on tracing isnad patterns and textual variations in order to determine the mode of the earliest transmission of the material. The essays gathered in this volume honouring him reflect the themes of his own work, and many of the contributors develop his insights by employing his approach. Divided into four sections – ‘Production’, ‘Transmission’, ‘Interpretation’, and ‘Reception’ – nineteen scholars have contributed essays that treat a diverse range of subjects. Among the authors in the first section are Gregor Schoeler (49–61) commenting on Kitab al-Maghazi of Musa ibn ‘Uqbas (d. 141/758), Maribel Fierro (63–89) writing on hadith in al-Andalus, Fred Leemhuis (91–103) discussing a Qur’anic manuscript in Groningen likely written in the sixteenth century as a ‘not very careful imitation of a part of an old Qur͗ān manuscript’, and Claude Gilliot (105–33) meticulously tracing traditions on the collection of the Qur’an. In Section Two we find Michael Lecker (181–96) discussing the death of Jewish merchant Ibn Sunaynah during the lifetime of Muhammad, Maher Jarrar (197–227) writing on Ibn Abi Yahya who was a scholar of traditions in the second/eighth century, and Gerard Wiegars (229–47) documenting the reception of the ‘prophecies’ of the fourteenth century friar, Jean de Roquetaillade. The third section provides us with Uri Rubin (251–78) working on the interpretation of Qur’an 44:10–11, Joas Wagemaker (301–27) discussing modern Salafi conceptions of ‘ignorance’ (jahl) as an obstacle to making the accusation of disbelief (takfir), and Herbert Berg (329–53) exploring Elijah Muhammad’s interpretation of the Qur’an. Finally, Section Four sees Abdulkader Tayob (357–74) discuss human rights in the modern Islamic discourse, Roel Meijer (375–99) document ‘the transnational battle for religious authority’ as illustrated by the Saudi quietist-Salafi Rabi‘ ibn Hadi al-Madkhali (b. 1931), Martijn de Koning (401–19) explore the experience of the Qur’an among Muslim youth in the Netherlands, Carmen Becker (421–41) outline ideas related to computer-mediated use of the Qur’an in the Salafi view, and Ulkire Mitter (443–73) analyse modern discussions of the hadith that states ‘The majority of the dwellers of hell-fire are women.’

It is in the nature of such volumes that some essays will be of greater interest to individual readers than others; I am highlighting here four essays from the volume (not mentioned in the above summary) that particularly drew my attention and which also illustrate the overall themes of the volume (and much of Motzki’s work).

It is true that a number of the essays in the volume display the problems that emerge when scholars try to establish the historical validity of their sources on the basis of attributions to early authorities. Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort in her essay entitled ‘The Kitāb al-Maghāzī of ͑Abd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām al-Ṣan͑ānī: Searching for earlier source material’ (27–47) tries to determine the historical reliability of traditions ascribed to al-Zuhri (that is, she wishes to establish that such traditions can be asserted to have been circulating at the time of al-Zuhri, d. 124/742) as they are found in later works, specifically in the transmissions of Ma‘mar (as transmitted by ‘Abd al-Razzaq) and Ibn Ishaq (as transmitted by Ibn Hisham). Significant differences are seen between three similar reports ascribed to al-Zuhri; various explanations are proffered for...