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Tawaatur: Difference between revisions
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Tawaatur (تواتر) is a concept that seeks to classify hadith traditions into more or less reliable categories based on the multiplicity of attestation traditions standing behind them. Tawaatur means "succession" and in the "science" of hadiths (so called due to its Arabic designation, علم الحديث, "'ilm al-hadith", where "'ilm" meaning "knowledge" is also used in Arabic to mean "science" (compare Latin "scienta", "knowledge", source of the English word "science")) it means that there are | Tawaatur (تواتر) is a concept that seeks to classify hadith traditions into more or less reliable categories based on the multiplicity of attestation traditions standing behind them. Tawaatur means "succession" and in the "science" of hadiths (so called due to its Arabic designation, علم الحديث, "'ilm al-hadith", where "<nowiki>''</nowiki>ilm" meaning "knowledge" is also used in Arabic to mean "science" (compare Latin "scienta", "knowledge", source of the English word "science")) it means that there are many isnaads (chains of narrators of an oral tradition). When a hadith has many chains, the hadith is then called "mutawaatir" (متواتر). The mutawaatir hadiths are distinguished from hadiths that are called ahaad (آحاد) which have a "small" number of chains (although ahad literally means "singular" <ref>https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/ar-en/%d8%a2%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%af</ref>). | ||
==The number of chains== | ==The number of chains== | ||
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There is no precise definition for a "large number of reporters"; although the numbers '''four, five, seven, ten, twelve, forty and seventy, among others, have all been variously suggested''' as a minimum, the exact number is irrelevant (some reporters, e.g. Imams of Hadith, carry more weight anyway than others who are their contemporaries): the important condition is that the possibility of coincidence or "organised falsehood" be obviously negligible. | There is no precise definition for a "large number of reporters"; although the numbers '''four, five, seven, ten, twelve, forty and seventy, among others, have all been variously suggested''' as a minimum, the exact number is irrelevant (some reporters, e.g. Imams of Hadith, carry more weight anyway than others who are their contemporaries): the important condition is that the possibility of coincidence or "organised falsehood" be obviously negligible. | ||
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The hadith is mutawaatir when there is "no possibility" that so many people could agree on a lie. This is the traditional view, though forensic investigators or modern scholars of oral traditions would not use such a criterion. Some scholars might think that 4 chains are enough, other might think that 70 chains are needed | The hadith is mutawaatir when there is "no possibility" that so many people could agree on a lie. This is the traditional view, though forensic investigators or modern scholars of oral traditions would not use such a criterion. Some scholars might think that 4 chains are enough, other might think that 70 chains are needed. There is not a universal acceptance of what is and is not mutawaatir. | ||
==Methodological Criticisms== | ==Methodological Criticisms== | ||
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==Tawatur in transmission of the Quran== | ==Tawatur in transmission of the Quran== | ||
Tawaatur is often invoked to substantiate the reliable transmission of the Quran. The point of tawaatur is that many people say the same thing, therefore it must be true; yet in the case of the Quran, this criterion is not met. There are many versions (qira'aat) of the Arabic Quran accepted by traditional scholars as being authentic. We have 10 "reciters" (in Arabic ''qurra'', plural of ''qari''): | The concept of Tawaatur is often invoked to substantiate the reliable transmission of the Quran. The point of tawaatur is that many people say the same thing, therefore it must be true; yet in the case of the Quran, this criterion is not met. There are many versions (qira'aat) of the Arabic Quran accepted by traditional scholars as being authentic. We have 10 "reciters" (in Arabic ''qurra'', plural of ''qari''): | ||
*Ibn Kathir al-Makki | *Ibn Kathir al-Makki | ||