Page 199 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

THE MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY 179

During the first three centuries the first and second methods were most
common, followed by muniiwala, kitiiba, and finally wamya. Later periods
witnessed the creation of three additional practises:
j) fjiiza (.jL.:-l). Transmitting a fJadith or book on the authority of a scholar
who grants permission expressly for this, without actually reading
the book.
g) I'liim (i~l). To inform someone about a particular book and its
contents. (Most scholars did not recognise this as a valid basis for
transmitting ~arfiths.)
h) Wi/iida (.~L.:-)). This pertains to the discoveryof texts (forexample, old
manuscripts) without having read them to the author or obtained
consent for their transmission. In using this method it is essential
to state clearly that the book was found, and to list its contents.
Each method enjoyed its own terminology, which served to disclose the
mode of transmission to future scholars. The contents of ~arfith books were
to some degree shaped by this approach, as the transmitter's name became
part of the text and any defects perceived in his character naturally affected
the document's integrity" Just as each ~arfithintegrated its own chain of nar-
rators leading back to the Prophet or a Companion, so each book possessed
its own chain of transmitters leading back to the author who originally
compiled the work. This chain was mentioned either on the title page, at
the start of the book, in both places, or perhaps as an amendment to each
hadith. Consider the example in Figure 12.3. 34
The first few lines read;"
h...lky.1 f"-< J. ~ -!'J.>. ~)I ~)lilll r
~ J. <...,--1"J ,y J'L,.l1 ~I ,y ,,-::<1 ,y L,....u~1 J. ~I ..l.,Y L;;J.>. Jl;
~J '-# illl J.... illl Jy J JI ':lyl J rLJ.I ~\..;:j LlJl;
••• ..l.....o.1 J. •)Jj ,,-::<1 JI •)Jj J. ..l.....o.1 ~I
This translates to:

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Muhammad
bin Hahr Abu Talha read to us, stating that 'Abdul-Mun'im bin Idris
read to us on the authority of his father, from Abu Ilyas, who narrated
from Wahb bin Munabbih, who said, "When the delegations began
approaching the Prophet to declare their embrace of Islam, As'ad bin
Zurara went to his father Zurara bin As'ad ..."

33 For example seeNuskhat Abu az-Zubairb. 'AdZal-Kifi, the spurious copy mentioned
inp.174.
34 R.G. Khoury, TMzhb b. Munabbih, Otto Harrassowitz - Wiesbaden, 1972, Band 1,
Teil 2, plate PB1. The date 227 A.H. actually appears in Plate GD 1.
35 ibid,p. 118.