4,542
edits
Tawaatur: Difference between revisions
→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. | 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 scholar 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. | ||
*There were thousands of Muslims available when the hadiths were written | *There were thousands of Muslims available when the hadiths were written; even giving the the most generous assumptions of Muslim honesty, it wouldn't be hard to find 4, 5 or 70+ liars. | ||
*Most sahih hadiths are not mutawaatir, but they are accepted anyway (because all people in the chain supposedly always tell the truth) | *Most sahih hadiths are not mutawaatir, but they are accepted anyway (because all people in the chain supposedly always tell the truth) | ||