Dating Hadith Textual Transposition by Means of Sanad-cum-matn Analysis

A “transposed tradition” (al-hadiṯ al-maqlūb) is defined by Muslim traditionists as a hadith whose isnād is grafted to a different text or vice versa, or a hadith whose reporter reversed the order of a sentence within the text. The former is called maqlūb al-isnād, where an inversion occurs in the chain of transmission, while the latter is termed maqlūb al-matn, where an inversion occurs in the order of a sentence or a number of sentences within a text. This paper seeks to specify the date of hadith textual transpositions by using sanad-cum-matn analysis, an approach which employs intensive study of both isnād and textual analysis of hadith variants and has recently proved to be an effective tool for dating single traditions. It also attempts to identify who was responsible for transposing the text and at what stage of transmission a change occurred. On the basis of the answers to these questions, we can test the applicability and efficacy of sanad-cum-matn analysis as a research tool for uncovering hadith textual interpolations.