The Concept of Early Islamic Society in Terms of Determining of Goldziher’s Approach to the Hadith
Rahile Kızılkaya YılmazIgnaz Goldziher is accepted as the founder of hadith studies in the West. He is attributed as facilitating the method of historical criticism—which he inherited from the Western thought tradition—to hadiths. Goldziher, who significantly influenced his successors in the orientalist tradition, uses narration as the basis for his hadith evaluations and accepts them as the product of the religious, historical, and social developments in the first two centuries of Islam. In this study, Goldziher’s primary assertions—generated while evaluating the views and hadiths about the changes within Arab society following the pronouncement of Islam—are analyzed with reference to his primary work, Muhammedanische Studien. Goldziher attempts to understand the environment of Islam. The relevant period during his work, interprets the birth and development of Islamic sciences within the framework of these conditions. It is possible that Goldziher’s evaluations of hadith are influenced by his views on Islam and the history of Islam.
Goldziher’in Hadise Yaklaşımını Belirlemesi Açısından Erken Dönem İslam Toplumu Tasavvuru
Rahile Kızılkaya Yılmazİslamî ilimlerin farklı dallarına dair yaptığı çalışmalar sebebiyle önemli oryantalistler arasında zikredilen Ignaz Goldziher, Batı’da hadis çalışmalarının kurucusu kabul edilmektedir. Onun oryantalist hadis çalışmaları bakımından önemi, Batı düşünce geleneğinden tevarüs ettiği tarihî tenkid metodunu hadislere uygulama yolunu açmış olmasıdır. Oryantalist gelenek içerisinde haleflerini önemli ölçüde etkileyen Goldziher, hadis değerlendirmelerinde ilgili rivayetin metnini esas almakta ve onların İslâm’ın ilk iki yüzyıldaki dinî, tarihî ve sosyal gelişmelerinin ürünü olduğunu kabul etmektedir. Bu çalışmada Goldziher’in İslam’ın tebliğiyle birlikte Cahiliye Arap toplumunda meydana gelen değişimlere dair görüşleri ve hadisleri değerlendirirken ön plana çıkan temel iddiaları, onun temel eseri mahiyetinde kabul edilen Muhammedanische Studien’den hareketle analiz edilecektir. İslam’ın geldiği ortamı ve ilgili dönemi anlamaya dönük çabasını eserinin tamamında ortaya koyan Goldziher, İslamî ilimlerin doğuşunu ve gelişimini bu şartlar çerçevesinde yorumlamaktadır. Goldziher’in hadis değerlendirmelerinin onun İslam dinine ve İslam tarihine dair görüşlerinden büyük ölçüde izler taşıdığını söylemek mümkündür.
Ignaz Goldziher’s (1850–1921) works form the basis of Islamic studies in the West. In order to understand his method of evaluating the hadiths, his ideas about Islamic history and the religion of Islam must first be analyzed. Goldziher’s views on hadith cannot be evaluated independently of his views on the history of Islam. Muhammedanische Studien has been translated into different languages. In his book, which is accepted as the main source for hadith studies in the West, the author attempts to read hadith based on the history of Islam. Goldziher considers the revival process of the Arab society following the birth of Islam from his own perspective and through the conflicts in the history of Islam. According to him, the creed of the Prophet Muhammad is the product of an original genius that would enable him to become a Prophet in his own society. However, Muhammad’s creed is unimportant for cultural history.
Goldziher suggests that the Islamic creed and the ancient Arab tradition are two ideologies irreconcilable in terms of their principles establishing social order. According to him, during the period of the birth of Islam there were tribes that were hostile to each other. Goldziher attempts to determine the dates when the hadiths emerged based on their contents and their texts. In addition, he claims that the majority of hadiths are the product of religious, historical, political, and social developments within the first two centuries of Islam. Goldziher had a significant influence on his successors in the orientalist paradigm, as he applied the method of historical criticism to the hadiths.
Goldziher’s method of evaluating hadiths is closely related to his convictions about the religion of Islam and early Islamic society. He accepts hadith texts as the product of the conditions and period in which they emerged and provides the beginning of the dating of the hadiths considered important for hadith studies in the orientalist literature. During his studies, he attempts to reveal the influence of foreign cultures on Islam. Goldziher claims that the prayer in the Islamic creed was quoted by the Prophet Muhammad from Jewish and Christian sharia.
According to Goldziher’s approach, the hadith is an oral tradition; Sunnah of Prophet is a tradition lived in religious or legal fields within the old Islamic society. The hadiths are the result of the religious, historical, and social developments of Islam in the first two centuries. However, Sunnah is the transmission of Arabic tradition during the Jahiliyya period as hadiths. By him idea that the Sunnah is the source of revelation settled in time. The legal aspect of the Prophetic Sunnah has increased in importance over time. Goldziher considers the hadiths as a set of teachings formed by “pious Muslims” according to the mentality of the Prophet Muhammad. According to his assessments, hadiths are a source for the birth of Islam and an important material for understanding the development and transformation process of Islam. Goldziher suggests that hadiths should be considered fabrications until proven otherwise. He neglects the most important aspect of the hadith— which is the isnad—and dates the hadith texts based on their contents. Goldziher claims that the isnads are fabricated, and establishes a connection between politics and hadith. He argues that the political convictions of religious groups were disguised as hadith. According to his claim, although the Umayyads were anti-religious, they fabricated political hadiths to ensure the obedience of the people. Goldziher claims that religious life in Islamic societies was not based on the Sunnah in the early period. He also evaluates the hadiths on their afflictions and the end of the world on a political and social basis.
Goldziher, who envisions an Islamic society in which hadith fabrication activities are intense, reads and interprets the entire history of hadith from this perspective. According to him, hadiths ordering the showing of respect to the Arab race were fabricated. In addition, these fabricated hadiths are important in the development of nations in Islam. According to Goldziher’s claim, apart from the sects, theological schools additionally fabricated hadith in order to impose their views and refute the views of their opponents. Opposing religious groups fabricated hadiths with the desire to accuse their opponents and legitimize their own opinions.
Goldziher suggests that religious circles opposing the administration fabricated hadiths in their favor. However, he claims that the Umayyad rulers also fabricated hadith in order to silence this opposition. Goldziher maintains that numerous hadiths have been fabricated on the principle of “equality of Muslims” as non-Arabs became Muslims—as a result of the spread of Islam to different lands. Goldziher claims that Islam was unable to prevent the tribal rivalries existing in the Jahiliyya Arab tradition.
