Best books about hadith according to redditors
We found 72 Reddit comments discussing the best books about hadith. We ranked the 17 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
5. Peak of Eloquence, Nahjul Balagha
3 mentions
Islam, Shia, Qur'an, Mohammad, Ali, Ahl-Bayt, Ahl Bait
13. Hadith of Bukhari: Volumes I, II, III & IV (Forgotten Books)
1 mention
Used Book in Good Condition
Although I am not a fan of the veil in general, (for a feminist look at the veil I suggest The Veil And The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation Of Women's Rights In Islam by Fatima Mernissi) but I find it insane that we are letting males who “identify” as female compete against girls, but we are disqualifying girls for wearing hijab. Girls are screwed no matter what they do.
let's remember folks, Islamic anti-Semitism existed long before Israel and was this wasn't unnoticed by certain people.
Islamic anti-Semitism has a long history even before the modern era.
sunnah.com has hadiths from Sunni books
But watch out, you can't just read hadith as a laymen and think you can correctly derive rulings and interpret them like a scholar.
Also check out his other book: http://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Foundations/dp/1851686630
It has a section about Shia hadith.
>From what I understand, hadiths in Shi'a Islam also deal with the Imams in some way.
In Shiism, the Imams are divinely appointed. If I have an Isnad going to the 10th Shia Imam, were that Imam says "The Prophet ﷺ said ...", according to Sunnis this only proves that the 10th Imam ages later is attributing something to Muhammad ﷺ. The isnad does not go to the Prophet ﷺ or even the tabi'un/companions. However since the 10th Imam is infallible in Shiism, this enough proof. If it is confirmed the 10th Imam said this, he can't be wrong so it's true. If I am wrong, a Shia here should correct me; don't wanna misrepresent.
Also, go out to /r/shia.
> I am not Muslim myself, but I do enjoy learning about Islam. Correct me if I am wrong, Muslims are encouraged to read the Hadith in order to understand how the Prophet (pbuh) and other Muslims lived during that time.
Hadith compilations weren't meant for the average person to just pick up and try to understand on one's own. You can easily derive the wrong conclusion reading that way, especially if you don't know the context of each hadith, the Arabic language, the authenticity of the hadith, or how they work. I find new Muslims making this mistake too. You need a teacher or learn with other Muslims in a class type setting or something.
If anyone wants, here is some introductory information on hadith:
____HADITH/SUNNAH____
[Book] Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World - Jonathan Brown, provides a detailed exploration of the collection and criticism of hadith and examines the controversy surrounding its role in modern Islam.
I recommend these books:
and Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time
Side note on Quran translation:
Stay away from
Try:
Misc:
Movie:
FGM predates Christianity and Islam. It's intertwined with cultural notions of purity and religiosity that go back to days when animism was the dominant form of religion (something that is still the case in many parts of Africa where this is practiced). Why it emerged I think varies from community to community. Many of these same cultures practice male circumcision in ways that are hardly more pleasant (think a dude scraping somebody's foreskin off with a piece of broken glass when they're 16). Though that isn't to excuse this sort of thing at all.
Religion comes up when these cultural practices are put in the context of broader religious/sexual morals.
The issue isn't how to make people doubt their religion (that's counterproductive), it's more how do you encourage a division between the two. For example your typical protestant has no issue eating meat on Fridays, even though during the middle ages this would have gotten you publicly flogged by the local priest.
A lot of people act like women's rights and Islam are somehow incompatible. This is uneducated. You can absolutely make a feminist interpretation of Islam if one wanted to, and people have, just like people have found similar things in Christianity and Judaism.
Any change in a culture has to come from within that culture. This is something I don't think people in the west have ever really figured out.
> We don't like it when anti semites take our religious texts out of context and meaning, so I'm not going to do it with Muslims.
Christians and Muslims had the same problem they needed the legacy of the Jews but not the Jews. The Pauline gospels were taken out of context by Christians to justify their hatred, and blood libel and Replacement theory were common Christian Ideas as were Passion Plays during Easter which sparked pogroms.
Islam also needed the legacy of the Abrahamic faith but not the Jews, both had the problem that the original Abrahamic faith didn't recognize their particular messiah/prophet which was (as they saw it) the inheritor of the faith line. So the existence of the Jews continued to deny the legitimacy of their claims. Islam generally regards the Jews as having "corrupted" the Torah to "hide" the fact that it talks about the coming of Muhammed. Since of course, it must have been foretold for it to be legitimate.
There is quite a bit of clear anti-Semitism outside the texts, which is very well documented:
When I get home to my bookshelf I can pull out dates, etc but here as some books on it:
The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History
Anti-Judaism
The largest issue with both traditions was claims of Jewish ancestry and "Judaising" being used to discredit early followers, in Christianity the used these claims to fight over initial thoughts as they hashed out core tenants of Christianity.
In Islam when they went through their own splits after the death of Muhammed, which some blame on the Jews since Muhammed had taken, forcefully, a "Jewess" as a wife and she eventually poisoned him (according to tradition). They used evidence of Jewish bloodlines of "taints" on particular groups that needed to not be followed or justified their removal. There are also some Suras that speak directly about a convert to Islam from Judaism as trying to "pervert" Islam because of his Jewish roots.
edit:
To add some more the Yellow Star used by the Nazis was first introduced in Baghdad by an Islamic Caliph since Jews (and Christians) were considered Dhimmi (second class citizens).
Also review: Muhammad and the Jews According to Ibn Ishaq by Joseph Spoerl originally published in The Levantine Review 2(1) 84-103 The Journal of Near Eastern and Mediterranean Studies at Boston College
https://jewishaction.com/opinion/legal-ease-whats-the-truth-about-muslim-anti-semitism/
CodeReaper,
All statements of the Prophet ﷺ are equal in that if he said it, we follow it without question. However, the recording of those statements is of varying authenticity. They range from certain statements we know for sure he didn't say (called mawdu' or fabricated) to ones we are sure he did say (called sahih or authentic).
The best place to start would be the compilation of 40 hadith written by Imam an-Nawwawi. Here's an edition with commentary or you can read them online here.
Hope that helps,
TheMuslimShrink
Here's a list of the key books in the field that I'm familiar with (by name and general contents, I've only actually read a few of them). I'm mainly focusing on what is relevant to the study of Twelver Shi'ism; there aren't many English language books on Zaidism, as far as I'm aware, and for Isma'ilism you can start with the works of Farhad Daftary.
I'll start with important works providing an overview of the area, and then give a rough breakdown by "era" (I may be a bit off regarding the era, and many of these books straddle two or more eras, so be warned). This list does not emphasize geographic studies of Shi'ism in various areas and countries, and rather traces the "core narrative" of the development of Shi'i intellectual history, which is typically thought of as happening in what is now modern day Iran, Iraq, and (especially in the post-Mongol/pre-Safavid era) Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Bahrain. Once you've read the initial works, you should have a good idea about what's going on in each era, and you can pick and choose what to read based on your interests.
If you have no background in general Islamic history, you should first pick up a book on that subject. Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted is an accessible non-academic book on general Islamic history (with an entertaining audiobook read by the author). If you want something heavier and more academic, Marshall G.S. Hodgson's The Venture of Islam is the classic three-volume reference in the field of Islamic studies, although it's a bit dated, especially in the third volume (covering the so-called "Gunpowder Empires"). Note that the standard introductory text on Shi'ism has long been Moojan Momen's book An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, but this book is now a bit dated. Heinz Halm also has some surveys, but I'm less familiar with these; likewise for the surveys of Farhad Daftary (who is better known for his work on Isma'ilism than general Shi'ism).
Surveys, Background, and Introduction
The Succession and the so-called "Rashidun" Era
The Imams and Early Shi'is in the Ummayid and `Abbasid Eras
The Buyid, Seljuq, and Mongol Eras
The Safavid Era and the Scholars of Jabal Amil
The Iranian Interregnum Era
The Qajar Era
The Contemporary Era / Miscellaneous
>If slavery is not haram than we have a different religion my friend
Can you tell me from an authentic source if slavery is Haram, with Quran or Sunnah.
It is not. However by ijma of scholars it is haram to reestablish slavery once it's abolished in society.
>If we can not superimpose today's moral
Today's morals accept homosexuality, it's clearly haram in the Quran. Either we follow the Quran and Sunnah or society and our desires.
Islam and Slavery and I recommend a read.
The most basic book in Islamic theology is Aqeedah Tahawiyyah. Here's a PDF.
Not quite a book, but after that, I'd recommend this audio series by Yasir Qadhi. Goes into some more tangible aspects of theology. After that, this commentary on Aqeedah Tahawiyyah if you really want to learn about detailed theological matters (this is more philosophical than practical).
It's a decent translation, but I prefer Zaki Hammad's The Gracious Qur'an
Study Qur'an, I'd stay away from. If you want some commentary, I'd recommend Abdullah Yusuf Ali's commentary here.
This is a better book of hadith to start out with.
I wouldn't normally recommend an advanced text to someone just thinking about Islam, but you attended seminary and I'm assuming not exactly a novice to the concepts and forms of textual criticism. You might appreciate some context to hadith studies generally to see that there is more basis to it than what it may initially seem like.
you might want to try this book. It's probably one of the best if not the best introduction to hadith sciences in English.
If you prefer learning directly from a person rather than pouring over what can be a dense and difficult text that gives you too much information, you could listen to these lectures. I don't think I've listened these, but the sheikh himself is very deservedly popular:
http://www.halaltube.com/usul-al-hadith
http://www.halaltube.com/sciences-of-hadith
>So, from what I have been reading, there are two categories of certainty for the validity of the hadith. The most certain are categorized as mutawaatir, and these are binding in terms of belief and obedience, right? This class of hadith is based on the number of witness in the chain of transmission that verify the saying or the event - and can also apply to the content of a hadith that may not have as reliable a chain of transmission. But there is also another component to this designation of validity, and that is that the Qur'an was compiled from the same sources as these hadith? So, the reasoning from scholars is that to deny these hadith is to deny portions of the Qur'an?
There are many more than two kinds of categories of certainty. Mutawatir doesn't actually refer to the degree of certainty, it applies to number of narrators that support each chain within a certain hadith, however, both a mutawatir and an ahad (only one narrator at one of the steps within the chain) hadith can be considered 'certain' in regards to their truth value as to whether the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, actually made the statement. Mutawatir typically means that there are 4+ narrators at each step in the chain (scholars differ about the number), but you have to understand that if there is a reliable narrator at each step in the chain, then the hadith itself is still considered reliable.
When you say the Quran was compiled from the same sources, if you mean witnessed by people, then yes, the Quran was recorded according to how people heard the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, recite the Quran. It didn't come down from the sky in book form, it was recited. Every verse of the Quran is considered mutawatir, meaning multiple people testified to each of the verses being considered Quran. There isn't really a "chain" though since it was compiled by people who all heard it directly from the Prophet himself.
>So, without these sources, would we have these verses in the Qur'an? Are there known manuscripts from about the same time or prior that contained these verses independent of these hadith? In other words, are these sources for the mutawaatir hadith the confirmed primary sources for those verses in the Qur'an?
again, by sources, in the Islamic tradition, the best source is the testimony of a truthful and reliable person with an unfailing memory. There were of course texts that had Quran and hadiths written on them, but they are not considered as reliable. Is the writing of a liar or a person prone to error better than the speech of a truthful person not known to err? The ancients Arabs preferred the latter. but to answer your question, the narrators of mutawatir hadith are not necessarily the people relied upon in compiling the Quran.
>is Sahih Al Bukhari considered totally checked and true by all Muslims? What about specifically Sunni?
Sahih al-Bukhari is one of many compilations of hadith. All the ahadith within are sahih (authentic) according to the conditions of Imam al-Bukhari. Every hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari is accepted as authentic by all Sunni Islamic scholars, not Shias.
>if you disagree with something that is supposed to be a totally sahih hadith -- is that "haram"?
Yes, to deny a sahih hadith is fisq (transgession). To deny a hadith that is mutawatir (sahih through multiple chains) is kufr (disbelief).
>Is Sahih al Bukhari considered THE definition of the Prophet?
No. Firstly, Sahih al-Bukhari does not contain every sahih hadith - there are hundreds that are not found in Sahih al-Bukhari or even Sahih Muslim (which are together known as the Sahihayn - the two Sahihs). Secondly, we do not reject all other ahadith just because they are not at the level of sahih.
FYI most hadith compilations are not intended for use by layman. There are volumes of books devoted to the interpretation of hadith - Ibn Hajar's Fath al-Bari, for example, is a sharh (commentary) on Sahih al-Bukhari.
Edit:
(Your comments aren't showing up since you're using a new account)
>Do different schools of Islamic thought differ on the answer to these questions? For example Hanafi vs Maliki?
No. Scholars of all four madhhabs accept the ahadith in Sahih al-Bukhari as sahih. However the different madhhabs differ on the interpretation and applicability of individual ahadith.
>I understand compilations like Bukhari were made 100-200 years after the Prophet.
Clarification: Bukhari was not the first compiler of hadith.
>What is the common answer to the question of - how do we know that these actually were his sayings? I know there is the "chain" of relayers, but what is it beyond that?
A hadith has two parts - the sanad/isnad (chain of narrators) and the matn (the text). Scholars of the past memorized thousands of hadiths word for word along with their isnads. The authenticity of a hadith is judged primarily on evaluation of its isnad. It needs to be possible for each narrator to have met each successive narrator. There are volumes of books devoted to ilm ar-rijal - biographical evaluation - which include details of each narrators memory, trustworthiness, piety, knowledge, students, teachers, date of birth and death, etc. Narrators are judged as strong, rejected, unknown, trustworthy, etc. The strength of a hadith is judged by its weakest link. Multiple isnads strengthen a hadith, as do supporting narrations. There is much more to it, please take a look at this book:
Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature by Mustafa Azami
>I understand Kufr to be when one denies the oneness of God or his prophet. Anything else, isn't Kufr -- correct?
Kufr is disbelief. Each verse of the Qur'an is mutawatir (mass-transmitted at every level of transmission). Similarly if a hadith reached the level of mutawatir there is no possibility for error. So just as denying a single verse of the Qur'an is kufr, so too is rejection of a mutawatir statement of the Prophet SAW.
Edit 2:
>thanks very much for the updated reply -- very thorough and i plan to check out the book. Did you ever read this book? If so, thoughts? I read it, but it was my first book on the topic.
http://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Foundations/dp/1851686630
Glad to be of help. No, sorry, I haven't read Brown's book, but I've seen others recommending it and I've heard only good stuff about his work.
I am Catholic and learned most of what I know about Islam though university classes and independent research. I can give you a list of books I have read about Islam that will get you started.
Oxford English Koran
Obviously the primary text is important to have and the book is pretty small. Much smaller compared to the bible.
Hadith of Bukhari: Volumes I, II, III & IV
Half of Islamic law is derived from the Koran and the other half from the Hadith. The Hadith is the collection of events, and quotes by Mohammad and his followers. This book is huge and you shouldn't try to read the whole since it is just list quotes and who they are by. But it is a good reference source and something to page through.
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
Biography of Mohammad using historical sources. Good reference.
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes
Brief 350 page run of Islamic history until now as told by a Muslim. I felt the book was a bit preachy and accusatory towards the end but I read it 6 years ago so my memory might be hazy. Still a good read if you want to try to understand how mainstream moderate Muslim scholars see things. It has a good bibliography too.
There are probably a bunch of other ones I am forgetting. Take a look through Amazon and see what else they have. I would only buy books from university presses or published by academics though. They can be dense and difficult but they are peer reviewed which is important since there is so much anti-Islam, pro-Islam publishing out there.
Knowledge is the cure to almost everything. What you're doing is excellent -- seeking out the knowledge. Muslims are encouraged to read hadith, to think critically about their religion rather than believe blindly, and above all--validate their personal understanding of the Quran + Hadith from more knowledgeable Muslims, as instructed from God in the Quran:
> فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَ
> ...then ask the people of remembrance if you do not know
---
> Has anyone read some of the Hadith from Bukhari Book of Jihad? What are your opinions of the Hadith in general?
Hadith are the premiere source for us getting to know our Prophet. Please note: Hadith =/= Quran. The Quran is the unaltered word of God. Hadith are Prophetic narrations / actions recorded by people. There are different grades of hadith -- even in Sahih Bukhari. Some hadith have been transmitted by many people each generation, making them very strong. Others have came through a single person per generation, etc. Muslim scholars have devised an entire science to study and authenticate hadith and anyone who does even mild research into that will understand why even non-Muslims find it difficult to attack the authenticity of hadith.
> I have read before on /r/islam that Hadiths are to be interpreted by Imam and/or scholars with greater understanding, but if that is the case, why are Hadith generally encouraged to be read by all Muslims?
How does one become a scholar if information is hidden and not made readily available? How would you be able to come across the hadith you mentioned? How does one ensure that information is reliably transmitted and not mutated if it's contained in the private collections of select individuals? How does one interpret commandments the Qur'an (like fast + pray) if they don't have access to hadith explaining how to fast and how to pray? There are many reasons why hadith should be made available to all, and these are just a few of them.
As a non-Muslim you are interested in learning more about Islam; makes sense, as Islam has been in the news for a while and some of the misinformation stated therein is alarming. So you've picked up some hadith books and are looking through them. This being the case, you've undoubtably came across tens, perhaps hundreds of hadith which detail how the Prophet prescribed excellence, even when battling an enemy--such as:
Having seen all of these, you occasionally come across which seems problematic to your morals, such as the one you quoted:
> The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by me at a place called Al-Abwa or Waddan, and was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans)." I also heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "The institution of Hima is invalid except for Allah and His Apostle."
Is the Prophet instructing his companions to kill women + children here?
If we were to go through not just Bukhari, but all of the various hadith collections and tried to find every instance which even remotely seemed like the Prophet saw was suggesting it's okay to slaughter women + children or other non-combatants, vs the times where it is explicitly states that doing so it not part the Sunnah, you'll get over a crazy ration, something like over 99%. As someone who has gone through some of Bukhari, I am sure you've noticed this as well. So when you see something that looks a bit off, you have to hit it with context. Learn about what specifically was happening in a scenario and with that information, you'll see that the morals of the Prophet are unchanging.
> Chapter 44, 1264: Narrated by Aisha: Once the Jews came...
I can tell you about my day - I woke up, went to work, watched some tv and went to bed. Or I can tell you about my day: My alarm went off at the crack of dawn. I jolted out of bed, crept down the stairs. Used my favorite cinnamon toothpaste, gave the cat her treats. Started my Tesla, got in the carpool lane cause they allow electric cars---
In hadith, you can find multiple narrations of the same incident, depending on how much detail the narrator was giving the person being narrated to. Let's look at a dif narration of said incident:
> Aisha said, "The Jews came to the Prophet and said to him, "As-Samu 'Alaika (Death be upon you)." He replied, 'The same on you.' " Aisha said to them, "Death be upon you, and may Allah curse you and shower His wrath upon you!" Allah's Messenger I said, "Be gentle and calm, O Aisha! Be gentle and beware of being harsh and of saying evil things." She said, "Didn't you hear what they said?" He said, "Didn't you hear what I replied? have returned their statement to them, and my invocation against them will be accepted but theirs against me will not be accepted."
Let's dissect this together.
Given the above two pieces of information, I really do not see how anyone can find the above narration problematic(?). If anything I think it's extremely cute to see the love Aisha had for her husband, and I think it's an amazing example of the high moral character of the Prophet saw.
If I've said anything wrong here it is from me, and if I spoke the truth, then it is from what God has inspired me with.
This is perfect! Thank you so much for the info and the link as well. I will definitely check those out :) Just in regards to Nahjul Balagha, do you know if this is the full version of it or just a part: https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Eloquence-Nahjul-Balagha-Abu-Talib-dp-0940368439/dp/0940368439/ref=mt_hardcover?
I'm aware, the picture you posted doesn't mention semites though, just anti-semitism, which I've never once heard be used to refer to Islamophobia. Searching "Islamic Antisemitism" just returns results like this or this, even searching "anti-semitic islamophobia" returns this or this.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0940368439/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469754242&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=nahjul+balagha+english&dpPl=1&dpID=61twubE6aLL&ref=plSrch
It's available for free online as well
Hadith book collections such as Al-Buhkari are basically a collection of hadiths organized topically. It doesn't provide much in the department of context and what rulings can be derived from each hadith. some hadiths were valid for a set period of time for specific circumstances and then the rule changed later. Scholars call this "Al-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh" and it is found in the hadith as well as the Quran.
My point is that books like Al-Buhkari are meant as raw data for scholars who study the context and the reasons and the conclusions of rulings in the hadith. Not for the layman to causally read through.
If you want to read hadiths that are organized for the layman here are a few suggestions from the sidebar:
---
____LIFE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD____
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---
____HADITH/SUNNAH____
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^^credit ^^for ^^preparing ^^the ^^list ^^goes ^^to ^^/u/LIGHTNlNG
^
Seriously? I'm beginning to understand where you're coming from now, you have no idea what it means to have a hadith and analyze the isnad.
Here's a good starting place: http://www.aswatalislam.net/FilesList.aspx?T=Audio&C=Lectures&T1=Yasir%20Qadhi (see last three)
If you're more of a book person: http://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Modern/dp/1851686967/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322766881&sr=8-1
Hope that's a good start
Muhammed: How he can make you extraordinary
The Productive Muslim - Where Faith Meets Productivity
Dua, Weapon of the Believers
Revive Your Heart: Putting Life in Perspective
The Art of War
Khadija: The First Muslim and Wife of the Prophet Muhammed
Muhammed: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
Dua's for success in this world and the next, over 100 Duas
Fortress of a Muslim
Reclaim your heart
These are some of the books I have at the moment and I highly recommend them after reading them. I am waiting on a few more books but a lot are non Islamic but still really useful [:
Edit: Like this
>Very grateful for your reply, uwootm8. I googled "criterion of multiple attestation" in an attempt to learn more about this method. "Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim" will definitely take a look at those too. You mentioned "Ibn Ishaaq", are there other ((early)) Muslim historians who were more scrutinizing to Seerah than him? historians who made sure their stories are (as correct as it can get given the available resources of that time)? Thanks again.
Just FYI the subreddit filters out all submissions from new account, nobody can see them except if they click your username.
I am not certain of how much scrutiny was put in. Given the massive size of ibn ishaaq's collection, I tend to think he wrote everything he heard. There is another early historian named Tabari. He flat out just says that he is not judging anything he hears, he's just writing it down. Perhaps that could indicate how the early historians approached seerah. But, ibn ishaaq is pretty much the primary source nowadays. If you are critical of the work I think you can puzzle out the general life of the Prophet. The Qur'an helps in this regard, as do the hadith.
If you're interested in learning more about hadith, I would recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Foundations/dp/1851686630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411856221&sr=8-1&keywords=jonathan+brown+hadith
It's one of the best intro's I've read.
Bit cheap using the cover of Prof. Jonathan Brown's upcoming book for the thumbnail: https://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Islam-Jonathan-C-Brown/dp/1786076357 :)
Good article on the topic by Prof. Brown here too: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/jonathan-brown/slavery-and-islam-what-is-slavery/
> explain how I'm "just projecting," how my analysis is actually wrong, etc.
I am not saying you analysis is wrong at all. What I am saying is that your analysis is only true for a portion of the Muslim community, and that the reality of many Muslim women is different from what you are describing. Thus, I am saying that the French ban is ineffective because of this reality. But I acknowledge what you describe is true for some.
I am not looking for an argument at all, if that is what you want, go interact with someone else. I am merely stating that I understand your view, but I humbly submit that your view of the issue is not the only view, and that we need to understand the reality of other people. If you want to argue that I am not depicting an accurate description of the reality of many Muslim women, then there is not much I can do about that.
If you want to know more about how Muslim women and the community view the veil I will point you to two authors: 1) F. Shirazi, she is a great authority on Muslim women and is particularly good about the veil and its use in Iran and East over to India. 2) F. Mernissi, who specializes in the role of feminism in Islam. Menissi is especially good about talking about the role of the veil for Islamic identity among Muslim women across north Africa.
You asked for everything really, but here is a selection I personally like that is more focused on the biography of Muhammad.
For Muslim books on the biography of the Prophet, I highly recommend:
A Biography of the Prophet of Islam: In the Light of the Original Sources, an Analytical Study
In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
On the more academic side of his life and following centuries, I recommend:
Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction
Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World
In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire
The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam
For the four best primary sources of his biography translated into English:
The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi's Kitab al-Maghazi
The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya
The Life of Muhammad
The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muhammad
There is no denying that many traditional Islamic texts drip with venomous antisemitism. For anyone interested in a rather comprehensive presentation indicating as much I recommend Bostom's The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. It is primarily a presentation of primary texts in translation interspersed and scholarly essays. Denial, whitewashing and downplaying of such a history is simply that. This history long antedates the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The article is an excerpt from the excellent book of the author
https://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Foundations/dp/1786073072/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548981907&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hadith+muhammad+s+legacy+in+the+medieval+and+modern+world&dpPl=1&dpID=51FI3TaWMFL&ref=plSrch
This is the copy I have: https://www.amazon.com/Al-Quran-Contemporary-Translation-Ahmed-Ali/dp/0691074992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468624920&sr=8-1&keywords=quran+contemporary+translation
and my copy of the hadith: https://www.amazon.com/Translation-Meanings-Summarized-Sahih-Al-Bukhari/dp/1567445195/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1468624954&sr=8-4&keywords=hadith
>What do you mean by "bias[ed]"? Can you show how Gabriel's Catholicism has impacted his historical arguments in his work?
I haven't read his work. Are you implying a Christian writing about Islam and the Qur'an is not going to be biased? Everyone is biased buddy. It's like referring you to a Muslim scholar who writes about the Bible and Christianity. Of course I'd still love for you to summarize his arguments and his evidences for those arguments.
> This is hand-waving at its finest. You don't like the conclusion of some scholars, so you try to figure out a way to bracket off their research.
Quite funny, coming from someone who hand selected conspiracists, John Wansbrough who believes Muhammad (pbuh) is a manufactured myth, and Patricia Crone who once argued Muhammad (pbuh) doesn't even exist before retracting! I'm definitely the one hand waving.
>But I can explain why Richard Carrier and other Jesus mythicists are wrong and I don't have to appeal to their religious convictions to do so. I can explain why, on purely historical grounds, their position is absurd.
And if you had supplied me with arguments from your sources, I would have refuted them. It wouldn't be hard to refute your hand picked individuals, one who believes the Quran was compiled centuries after Muhammad's (pbuh) death and argues no Jews were present in Hijaz despite historical info. Then the other asserts the opposite, that the Quran was in conversation with mostly Jews and Christians. Quite conflicting sources. Also, your source believes Hadith were invented. If hadith which have isnad or chains of narrators authenticated back to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are invented, what are we going to say about the pseudo anonymous Gospels which have no chain of narrators leading to Jesus (pbuh)? In any ase, for a brief overview of how Hadith are authenticated read this:
http://ponderingislam.com/2015/01/01/the-hadith-critical-methodology-a-brief-look-at-how-hadith-are-authenticated-in-the-islamic-tradition/
If you're interested in an in depth read:
http://www.amazon.com/Hadith-Muhammads-Legacy-Medieval-Foundations/dp/1851686630
And:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Origins-Islamic-Jurisprudence-Civilization/dp/9004121315
> On purely historical grounds, it's not absurd to doubt what we can know about Muhammad. I think someone in the 7th century existed who had something to do with nascent Islam whose name was Muhammad. That's about all we can know.
Not true, simple Google search under 'Non Muslim Sources':
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Muhammad
Also to add a few things from the link:
>F.E. Peters states, "Few have failed to be convinced that what is in our copy of the Quran is, in fact, what Muhammad taught, and is expressed in his own words... To sum this up: the Quran is convincingly the words of Muhammad, perhaps even dictated by him after their recitation".[10] Peters argues that "The search for variants in the partial versions extant before the Caliph Uthman’s alleged recension in the 640s (what can be called the 'sources' behind our text) has not yielded any differences of great significance." .[10]
Your claim that the Quran is the work of many is a minority view. Even your source Patricia Crone says:
>She says we can be "reasonably sure" in attributing all or most of the Qur'an to him.
Also, regarding Crone and Cook from the link:
>Patricia Crone and Michael Cook challenge the traditional account of how the Qur'an was compiled writing that "there is no hard evidence for the existence of the Koran in any form before the last decade of the seventh century." They also question the accuracy of some the Qur'an's historical accounts.[11] It is generally acknowledged that the work of Crone and Cook was a fresh approach in its reconstruction of early Islamic history, but their alternative account of early Islam has been almost universally rejected.[12] Van Ess has dismissed it stating that "a refutation is perhaps unnecessary since the authors make no effort to prove it in detail...Where they are only giving a new interpretation of well-known facts, this is not decisive. But where the accepted facts are consciously put upside down, their approach is disastrous."[13] R. B. Serjeant states: "Hagarism [the thesis of Crone and Cook]...is not only bitterly anti-Islamic in tone, but anti-Arabian. Its superficial fancies are so ridiculous that at first one wonders if it is just a ‘leg pull’, pure ’spoof’."[14]
Read that? Universally Rejected.
>...but their alternative account of early Islam has been almost universally rejected.
Read what's next? No need to refute!
>a refutation is perhaps unnecessary since the authors make no effort to prove it in detail...
Regarding John Wansbrough:
> Herbert Berg writes that "Despite John Wansbrough's very cautious and careful inclusion of qualifications such as "conjectural," and "tentative and emphatically provisional", his work is condemned by some. Some of this negative reaction is undoubtedly due to its radicalness...Wansbrough's work has been embraced wholeheartedly by few and has been employed in a piecemeal fashion by many.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Islam#Reliability_of_the_Quran
As I said previously, I'd advise you not to use them as sources.
Also, if you're going to argue on soley historical grounds, we know infinitesimally less about Jesus (pbuh) than Muhammad (pbuh).
Are you interested in learning about hadith science in general and rijal? I recommend starting with An Introduction to Hadith by Abd Al-Hadi Al-Fadli.
I'm only familiar with these from a personal interest, I'm not a scholar, just read a bunch of books. In this case, I looked up the hadiths themselves since the book reference was given, and pretty much all hadith books are available online (at least in Arabic). It's obvious when a hadith has disconnected chain, and you can look up certain narrators in reference books of rijal (Khoei's book معجم رجال الحديث for ex. is available online), a handful of narrators are very common and you eventually just start remembering some of the names and unfamiliar ones stand out. I've also read a few writings by S. Khoei (ra) discussing certain fiqhi issues and how he arrives at a ruling, just to get a rough idea of how scholars determine rulings.
I have stumbled across this book on Hadith, which isn't specifically Quranic, but it does contain a section on academic critical views of the Hadith and their vetting process in Islam.
>People have already determined for you dedicating their lives to it. You can study their method and know that it is legit.
thats what i mean, there is at least 6 sahih books which i dont know how many pages, or this one :
https://www.amazon.com/Translation-Meanings-Sahih-Al-Bukhari-Arabic-English/dp/9960717313/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479677606&sr=1-3 ,
9 books,
Fabi-ayyi hadeethin baAAdahu yu/minoona
Then in what statement after it will they believe?quran 77:50
i prefer study the Quran then hadiths
>Do you beat your wife? The Qur'an says you can. Do you obey this?
you can read this, way :
Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great. Quran 4:34Muhammad Asad
or this way :
The men are to support the women by what God has gifted them over one another and for what they spend of their money. The upright women who are attentive, and keep private the personal matters for what God keeps watch over. As for those women from whom you fear a desertion, then you shall advise them, and abandon them in the bedchamber, and separate from them; if they obey you, then do not seek a way over them; God is High, Great. Quran 4:34
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)
Allah know is best
SLM
A scholar recently wrote a book on exactly this topic. His name is Jonathan Brown. Check out his book.
Slavery and Islam (Oneworld Academic) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786076357/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6ohsDb1VNJ657
Here is the desktop version of your link
I like these kinds of questions coz I get to use bulletpoints. I love bulletpoints.
Is it okay to use a video of a guy praying certain prayers....
What is the obligatory length I must trim.....
What are the requirements for a marriage to a Christian woman....
Where can I read more into the authentic ahadith....
Where does the idea of praying 5 times a day come from in the ahadith? The Qur'an only mentions 3.