Papers are welcome that focus on a commentary or a commentary tradition consisting of several commentarial writings (sharḥ, ḥāshiya, nukat). They should highlight the role of the commentator as the intermediary between the base text and the changed audience. The conference is open with regard to the fields of Islamic studies, such as Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh), ḥadīth, Qurʾān commentaries (tafsīr), Grammar, Medicine, Philosophy, Logic, Kalām, Ṣufism etc. For a better comparison of the case studies, we invite abstracts focusing on pre- modern and modern periods and on different regions.

Abstracts of 300 to 500 words shall be send no later the January 31st to mohammad.gharaibeh@hu-berlin.de.

Organization
The conference will be organized by Mohammad Gharaibeh, Asad Q. Ahmed,
and Walid Saleh. The conference will take place in Berlin July 27th–30th 2023. Expenses for travel and accommodation will be covered by the chair for Islamic Intellectual History at the Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Time Frame
We might organize a preparatory workshop (online) before the conference to exchange
ideas, expectations and concepts in April or May 2023
The conference will take place in Berlin July 27th–30th 2023

For more information on the conference download the full call or visit Mohammed Gharaibeh’s Academia profile.

Pavel Pavlovitch is dedicating his latest monograph to Muslim al-Naysaburi, arguably one of the most influential figures in Hadith studies. The theology and methodology of this third/ninth century scholar have considerably participated in shaping Hadith literature until today, and the comprehensive reflection which Pavel Pavlovitch is sharing with us in this book is an important contribution to a better apprehension of some of the key moments in the history of our field. This reading will surely inspire many future discussions and further investigations in the life and legacy of the greatest ‘influencers’ in Hadith studies.

For an excerpt from the monograph please have a look at Pavel Pavlovitch’s Academia page.

Yasmin Amin has made sure we will not be bored as the new year starts and people come back from holidays! She has uploaded yet another paper on a different aspect of her research in Hadith studies: Umm Salama and her role in the legitimisation of the Imams’ authority. You can read “Umm Salama: A Female Authority Legitimating the Authorities” on Yasmin Amin’s Academia profile or directly on the DeGruyter’s website.

Dear Friends;

You can access the latest issue of Hadith and Sira Studies from the following link: http://www.hadithandsira.info/issues/

Articles in English:

• Pavel Pavlovitch – A Rare Witness to Muḥammad Ibn Ibrāhīm Al-Kisāʾī’s (Naysābūr, d. 385/996) Transmission of Muslim Ibn Al-Ḥajjāj’s (Naysābūr, d. 259/872–3 or 261/875) Ṣaḥīḥ
• Mohammad Sa’id Mitwally Alrahman – Handling Some Linguistic Problems in Hadīth Translation by Reference to Venuti’s Domestication and Foreginization Strategies

Review article:

Javeed Ahmad Malik and Showkat Hussain Dar – Reviewing the Historicity of Buhīra’s Meeting Incident with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the Orientalist and Muslim Scholarship

Book review:

Tauseef Ahmad Parray – Faces of Muhammed: Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today – John V. Tolan

Good wishes and stay safe,

Fatma Kızıl

Dear Colleagues in Hadith Studies,

I would like to share with you the long awaited publication by Elias G. Saba, Harmonizing Similarities, A History of Distinctions Literature in Islamic Law. You will find the summary and the table of content on Elias’s academia page. Since Hadith and Islamic law are two  inseparable fields, which almost cannot be studied one without the other, this publication is particularly relevant for our network and promises important insights in both fields.

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.

Dear Colleagues;

Two weeks ago I discovered Golden Shamela. Maybe everyone is aware of it but it has more than 20 thousand searchable books and various edition of different hadith collections. I use it with Jawami’u’l-kalim ( http://gk.islamweb.net/ ), I wanted to recommend them for those who work with hadith texts.

For further information on Golden Shamela, you can look: https://www.ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?t=381192

Dear all,

I hope that you are all well and enjoying warmer weather than we are here in the North of England!

As many of you will know, as well as completing a Ph.D. on isnad-cum-matn, I have the pleasure of looking after the Islamic studies and antiquity series at Gorgias Press. With the latter role in mind, I am delighted to bring to your attention a new academic project and translation series established by Gorgias Press and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. The project is called the Library of Islamic and Arabic Heritage and will usher in several new series that will introduce new translations, Arabic editions and other interesting things to the field.

The first series within the project is the Classical Islamic Tests Series, which invites interested academics to produce ten short translations of important classical Arabic texts. By short, I mean in the region of up to 350 pages (substantial English introduction + Arabic + English translation). So this will roughly break down to 50 pages for the introduction and 150 pages each for the Arabic and English. A little more or less is not an issue at all.

In terms of the choice of text, we are looking for key texts, such as manuals or chronicles, that researchers would consider important to-hand reference works and useful teaching aids / reading texts. Realising that texts of this length are not always easy to find, you are also welcome to propose sections of larger compendiums that are recognised (or you might argue should be recognised) as important.

In return for your labour, there is a modest but significant pot of gold in the form of a stipend. In addition, your translation will be guaranteed a substantial subvention grant (to make it affordable!), proofreading, a marketing grant and professional copy editing.

We would love for some of the books to be related to hadith and history. So please do throw your hat into the ring if you have something interesting in mind. And feel free to send me an email if you want to have an informal chat.

More details about the editorial board and how to submit can be viewed here.

Best regards,

Adam.