Hadith

The book under review covers a wide range of relevant topics pertaining to modern discourses on tiadith literature. Brown attempts to simplify controversial and intricate issues in the domain of tiadith, but one gets the feeling that his work situates itself, despite the author’s striving to be objective, in the western scholars’ approach to Hadith criticism, which has its own premises and givens.

The book is divided into nine chapters with a conclusion. The core issues discussed can be brought under five headings:

1. the well-known topics of usul al-tiadith such as the transmission of

tiadith;

2. the Shi[i and Sunni approaches to tiadith;

3. the functions of tiadith in relation to other branches of Islamic disciplines such as theology and jurisprudence;

4. The western debates on the authenticity of tiadith; and

5. Contemporary thought on tiadith in the Muslim world.