Dear Colleagues in Hadith Studies,

We would like to call your attention to the recent review published by Pavel Pavlovitch on Harald Motzki’s Reconstruction of a Source of Ibn Isḥāq’s Life of the Prophet and Early Qurʼān Exegesis: A Study of Early Ibn ʽAbbās Traditions. You will find the review on the website of the Journal of Semitic Studies. As pointed by our colleague, Raashid Goyal, in our blog, the “review covers some important methodological issues relating to isnād and text analysis of ḥadīth reports and offers a compelling critique of an unfalsifiable aspect of Motzki’s approach, namely the criterion of diversity, which Motzki has applied differently than in previous studies. There is also a helpful diagram that illustrates Motzki’s findings.” The need to “develop precise checks and balances” advocate by Pavel Pavlovitch is very much actual and deserves further reflection in which our network actively partakes and will hopefully further enhance.