The canonization of al-Bukhārī and Muslim : the formation and function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon / / by Jonathan Brown.

• Superior document: Islamic history and civilization. Studies and texts, v. 69
• Author: Brown, Jonathan
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Islamic history and civilization ; v. 69.
• Physical Description: xxii, 431 p.
• Notes: Revision of thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Chicago, 2006.

The two 'Authentic' ḥadīth collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim are the most famous books in Islam after the Qur'ān – a reality left unstudied until now. This book charts the origins, development and functions of these two texts through the lens of canonicity. It examines how the books went from controversial to indispensable as they became the common language for discussing the Prophet’s legacy among the various Sunni schools of law. The book also studies the role of the ḥadīth canon in ritual and narrative. Finally, it investigates the canonical culture built around the texts as well as the trend in Sunni scholarship that rejected it, exploring this tension in contemporary debates between Salafī movements and the traditional schools of law.

Table of Contents

Preliminary material / A.C. Brown -- Chapter One. Introduction / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Two. The study of canons and canonization / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Three. The genesis of Al-Bukhārī and muslim / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Four. A "period of intense canonical process": Imagination and the study of the Ṣaḥīḥayn in the long fourth/tenth century / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Five. Canon and community: Al-Ḥākim Al-Naysābūrī and the canonization of theṢaḥīḥayn / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Six. The canon and the needs of the community: The Ṣaḥīḥayn as measure of authenticity, authoritative reference and exemplum / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Seven. The principle of charity and the creation of canonical culture / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Eight. The canon and criticism: Iconoclasm and rejection of canonical culture from Ibn Al-Ṣalāḥ to the modern Salafi movement / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Nine. Canon and synecdoche: The Ṣaḥīḥayn in narrative and ritual / A.C. Brown -- Chapter Ten. Conclusion / A.C. Brown -- Appendix I. References for the Ṣaḥīḥayn network chart / A.C. Brown -- Appendix II. The question of the attribution of the Ṣaḥīḥayn / A.C. Brown -- Select bibliography / A.C. Brown -- Index / A.C. Brown.