Toward a Sunni Consensus on the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Ibn 'Umar's Hadith and Its Transmitters.

• Author: Su, I-Wen

INTRODUCTION

The four-caliph thesis--the belief that the first four caliphs, in contrast to subsequent rulers, were chosen by the Prophet as rightly guided (rashidun)--was not a standard Sunni position in the first three centuries of Islam. The position taken by the majority of the early traditionist scholars (ahl al-hadith) was the three-caliph thesis, which recognized only Abu Bakr (r. 11-13/632-634), 'Umar b. al-Khattab (r. 13-23/634-644), and 'Uthman b. ' Affan (r. 23-35/644-656) as the chosen successors of the Prophet Muhammad. 'A1T b. AbT Talib's (r. 35--40/656--661) entanglement in the first civil war (fitna), and especially the murder of 'Uthman, likely put his moral rectitude and standing vis-a-vis other Companions into question, leaving the legitimacy of his caliphate up to debate. (1) According to Patricia Crone and Wilferd Madelung, in the first two centuries of Islam most Muslims were supporters of 'Uthman (or 'UthmanTs), who embraced the three-caliph idea, and were well represented in the main Muslim cities--Medina, Basra, and Baghdad--as well as in Syria. (2) A number of hadith scholars from that time are also identified as 'UthnianTs. (3) In the course of the ninth and tenth centuries, the ahl al-hadith in Iraq gradually came to agree upon the concept of the four rightly guided caliphs, with 'Ali being admitted to the rank of the caliphate of the prophethood (khilafat al-nubuwwa). In light of the Abbasid program of legitimization, which subdued and eventually replaced the Umayyad narrative of their dynastic rule that, bypassing 'A1T. links directly to 'Uthman, (4) such a transformation was brought about by scholars' endeavors to delineate their communal identity. Madelung suggests that Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241/855) was a key actor in ushering in the four-caliph concept. (5) but the idea was very likely present among hadith scholars before him. (6) Yet overall, the historical process of how the early ahl al-hadith came to embrace the four-caliph thesis in lieu of the three-caliph thesis needs further research. (7)

This article will flesh out this historic transformation by examining closely the following hadith: "During the time of the Prophet, we compared none with Abu Bakr. then 'Umar, and then 'Uthman; then we finished [the topic] and did not compare them [the rest of the Companions]." (8) Attributed to 'Abdallah b. 'Umar b. al-Khattab (d. ca. 73/692f), and, in fewer cases, to Abu Hurayra (d. ca. 57/676f), it is frequently cited in support of the threecaliph thesis. (9) For the sake of brevity and convenience, I will refer to it as Ihn 'Umar's hadith, although its namesake is not always given as its ultimate source. Rather than seeking to locate the fans el urigo of Ibn 'Umar's hadith by applying isnad-cum-matn analysis, this article investigates variations in the contents of different chains of transmission in relation to the geographical affiliation and movements of the transmitters active in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. (10) The temporal scope for hadith transmitters before the generation of Ibn Hanbal has been chosen in order to revisit the current narrative on the historical transformation of the ahl al-hatiith's attitude toward the first four caliphs. Modern-day scholarship outlines the development and spread of the three-caliph thesis among the ahl al-hadith but hardly discusses 'Uthmani hadith scholars in depth." In its investigation of the scholarly networks of the propagators of the three-caliph thesis, this article will furthermore situate the trend that elevates 'Ali's status before the end of the eighth century, pace Madelung's argument. (12)

The question of why the four-caliph thesis became the mainstream discourse among early Sunnis cannot be fully addressed, yet the study of the transmission and transmitters of Ibn 'Umar's hadith might help explain why the 'Uthmani hadith narrators failed to perpetuate their ideas. Hadith study is an enterprise involving much network construction and expansion. A transmitter's inability to broaden his network limits his contact with influential teachers and students, which potentially inhibits dissemination of his ideas. Most of the 'Uthmani traditionists examined here were less successful in attracting students than their counterparts who promoted the four-caliph thesis. However, it should be borne in mind that Ibn 'Umar's hadith is not the only tradition endorsing the three-caliph thesis, although it is widely transmitted and thus suitable for an isnad-cwn-matn analysis, compared with others. (13) Given that more evidence should be incorporated, the results of this study are more a call for further research than a conclusive statement.

Section I will describe the spread of Ibn 'Umar's hadith and then thoroughly examine the ramifications of its chains in correspondence with the textual variants. The analysis suggests that Ibn 'Umar's tradition was present in two versions at the turn of the ninth century. circulated in Iraqi cities and non-Iraqi cities respectively. In Section II this finding will be contextualized by an examination of the Basran and Kufan scholarly milieux, with special regard to the life of Abu Mu'awiya (d. 195/810), an important point of convergence of the Iraqi version of Ibn 'Umar's hadith. Finally. Section III will investigate the eighth- and ninthcentury transmitters of Ibn 'Umar's hadith who circulated meritorious (fada'il) hadith on the first three caliphs, identify the 'UthmanTs among them, and survey their geographical movement and interpersonal networks.

Before proceeding to Section I. a note on the sources used in the analysis of Ibn 'Umar's hadith's transmission is required. As the analysis below identifies specific chains of transmission in the discussion, the following monograms stand for the hadith compilers and their specific works consulted. I have tried to keep them as intuitive as possible.

AD--Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, al-Sunan (14)

AH--Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fadc''il al-sahaba (15)

AY--Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, al-Musnad (16)

Bukh--al-Bukhari, al-Jdmi' ( )ol-sahih (17)

Har--al-Harith b. AbT Usama, Musnad (18)

lA'Asim--Ibn AbT 'Asim, al-Surma19

IAShayba--Ibn AbT Shayba, al-Mitsannaf (20)

Tir--al-Tirmidhi. al-Jam' al-kabir (21)

(1.) IBN 'UMAR'S TRADITION AND ITS DISSEMINATION

Ibn 'Umar's hadith was purportedly narrated from Ibn 'Umar to five transmitters: Abu Salih (d. 101/719f), Nafi'(d. ca. 117/735f), Salim b. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar (d. 106/725), Ya'qub b. DTnar al-Majishun (died in the 120s/737-747), and Muhammad b. STrTn (d. 110/729). In two instances (IA'Asim 1197 and Har 959), the ultimate source of the hadith is identified as Abu Hurayra, who is alleged to have transmitted it to Abu Salih, who then transmitted to Suhayl (died during the caliphate of al-Mansur, 136-158/754-775). Along with the two of Abu Hurayra, the narrations (riwayat, sg. riwaya) derived from Muhammad b. STrTn (AH 61) and al-Majishun (AY 5602) are single strands ("dives") whose authenticity and origins cannot be known for certain. However, after establishing the geographical connections of the two versions of Ibn Omar's hadith, it is possible to posit their provenance. The narrations from Abu Salih, Nafi', and Salim b. "Abdallah b. 'Umar constitute separate bundles of chains, (22) as represented respectively in Figs. 1-3. The details of each riwaya (main, isnad, and its transmitters' geographical connections) found in each bundle are provided with each figure. followed by an analysis.

IA 'Asim 1196--Homs

Abu Salih [Medina; Kufa]--Suhayl [Medina]--Isma'il b. 'Ayyash (d. ca. 181/797f.)

[Horns]--'Abd al-Wahhab b. al-Dahhak al-HimsT [Horns]:

Kunna natahaddathu 'ala 'ahd rasul Allah inna khayr hadhihi al-umma ba'd nabiyyiha Abu Bakr wa-'Umar wa-'Uthman fa-yablughu dhalik al-nabi fa-la yunkiruhu 'alayna.

AH 58--Kufa

Abu Salih--Suhayl--Abu Mu'awiya [Kufa]:

Kunna nc 'uddu wa-rasul Allah hayy wa-ashabuhu mutawafirun Abu Bakr wa-'Umar wa'Uthman thumma naskutu.

AY 5784--Kufa

Abu Salih--Suhayl--Abu Mu (c)awiya--Zuhayr b. Harb (d. 234/849) [Baghdad]:

Kunna na'uddu wa-rasul Allah hayy wa-ashabuhu mutawafirun Abu Bakr wa-'Umar wa'Uthman thumma naskutu.

IAShayba 32534--Kufa

Abu Salih--Suhayl--Abu Mu'awiya:

Kunna na'uddu wa-rasul Allah hayy wa-ashabuhu mutawafirun Aba Bakr wa-'Umar wa'Uthman thumma naskutu.

IA Asim 1195--Kufa

Abu Salih--Suhayl--Abu Mu'awiya--Abu Bakr b. AbT Shayba (d. 235/849) [Kufa]:

Kunna na'uddu wa-rasul Allah hayy Abu Bakr wa-'Umar wa-'Uthman thumma naskutu.

Abu Salih's bundle, originally derived from Medina, splits into two subsets after Suhayl: (23) a Syrian subset (lA'Asim 1196) passing through lsma'Tl b. 'Ayyash and 'Abd al-Wahhab b.

al-Dahhak, and an Iraqi one. featuring Abu Mu'awiya as the point of convergence of the subsequent Kufan and Baghdadi transmitters (AH 58, IAShayba 32534, IA'Asim 1195, and AY 5784). (25) The Syrian subset (IA (c)Asim 1196) states: "We said, during the time of the Messenger of God. that the best of this community after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman. That reached the Prophet and he did not reprove us for that." Its wording accentuates the status of the first three caliphs as being above that of the other Companions, a striking contrast to that of the Iraqi subset. Transmitted to the Kufans and Baghdadis, (26) the texts of Abu Mu'awiya's subset display a remarkable similarity in terms of verb choice and syntactic structure. (27) But instead of singling out the "best" Companions, the traditions from this subset use a more ambiguous verb, 'acida, e.g., AH 58: "We enumerated, while the Messenger of God was alive and his Companions were numerous, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, and then we fell silent." All traditions in Abu Mu'awiya's subset are similar in wording, with only one minor difference in IA'Asim 1195--even a grammatical error was replicated in all but IAShayba 32534, where Abu Bakr is properly inflected in the accusative: Aba Bakr. The bifurcation of Ibn 'Umar's...