Narrative Structures in the Hadīth

Author(s): R. Marston Speight

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Oct., 2000), pp. 265-271
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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NARRATIVE STRUCTURES IN THE HADITH

R. MARSTON
SPEIGHT,Cromwell,Connecticut

I. INTRODUCTION

THE literary features of the hadith have been often overlooked by scholars because of
the brevity of the texts, their seeming monotony of style, poverty of vocabulary,and artless
composition. A traditionof rhetoricalstudy of hadith developed in early Islam,1however,
and a few modern scholars have recommendedthat the formal characteristicsof the hadith
be investigated more thoroughly.2My Ph.D. dissertation3has dealt with this question, as has
that of E. Stetter from Tiubingen.4The present study, based on the reading of hundredsof
hadith texts and drawing upon insights from the disciplines of biblical form criticism, oral
tradition, Mishnaic and Talmudic studies, and Hellenistic rhetoric, describes some of the
types of narrativestructurethat exist in the material. In a sense, all hadith are narratives,
since they convey reports of events and sayings involving the Prophet and early Muslims.
A large numberof the texts, however, contain simple, voluntarydeclarations,reports,com-
mands, prohibitions, or judgments, all with or without circumstantialintroduction.These
forms exist in various degrees of complexity, depending on the type of rhetoricemployed,
and they culminate, with regard to form, in the discourse, which can be quite extended.
They are different in structurefrom those texts that involve conversationalexchanges and/
or dramaticaction in the process of communicatingwhatever propheticword or deed is the
subject of any given report. In this article, for the latter, I am reserving the designation of
narrative.

II. TYPES OF NARRATIVE

Two-PartNarrative
The simplest narrativeform consists of two parts, with or without circumstantialintro-
duction. In this form, the narratorreportsthat someone did or said something, and then the
1 See the hadithcommentariesand,for example, Abi (Paris, 1952-66), vol. 3, pp. 796-99; idem, "Regards
MuhammadCAbdAllah b. Muslim Ibn Qutayba,Kitab sur la litt6raturenarrative en arabe au ler sibcle de
Ta'wilMukhtalifal-Hadith(Cairo, 1326/1966); andMu- I'h6gire (VIIe sidcle J.-C.)," Semitica 6 (1956): 75-86;
hammad al-Sharif al-Radi, al-Majadzadt al-Nabawiyya James Robson, "The Formof Muslim Tradition,"Trans-
(Cairo, 1967). actions of the Glasgow University Oriental Society 16
2 For example, R6gis Blachbre,Histoire de la littira- (1955-56): 38-50; Mohammad Fadel, "Ibn Hajar's
ture arabe des origines la fin du XVe sihcle de J.-C. Hady al-Sari: A Medieval Interpretation of the Structure
t of al-Bukhari's al-Jadmic al-Sahih: Introduction and
Translation," JNES 54 (1995): 161-97.
3 "The Musnad of al-Tayalisi: A Study of Islamic
[JNES 59 no. 4 (2000)] Hadith as Oral Literature" (Ph.D. diss., Hartford Sem-
? 2000 by The University of Chicago. inary Foundation, 1970).
All rights reserved. 4 "Topoi und Schemata im Hadit" (Ph.D. diss.,
0022-2968/2000/5904-0003$02.00. University of Tilbingen, 1965).

265

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266 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

narratorreportsthateither someone else or, more rarely,the doer or speakerreactedin a par-

ticular way to the action or speech. This form can be called "Actionand Reaction."Several
varieties of content and rhetoric are to be noted in the occurrencesof Action and Reaction
narratives.Among the most common are the following:
1. The reaction corrects an error in the action, for example, from CAbdAllah b. CUmar:
[Action] The Prophet (Peace be upon him) passed by a man who was reprovinghis brother
for being modest, saying, "You are so modest that it will be harmful to you." [Reaction]
The Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) said, "Leave him alone, for modesty is a part
of faith."5
2. The reaction constitutes a commendation,confirmation,or justification of the action, as,
for example, from CAbdAllah b. CUmar:[Action] CUmarkissed the Black Stone, [Reaction]
and then said, "By God, I know that you are a stone, and if I had not seen God's Messenger
(Peace be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you."6In this case, the action and
the reaction are by the same person.
3. The reaction provides an answer to a complaint or a request, as in the reportfrom Anas
b. Malik: [Action] A man of the Helpers (ansar) said to the Prophet (Peace be upon him),
"O Messenger of God, you put so-and-so in a place of authority,but you did not do that
for me." [Reaction] Then the Prophetsaid, "Afterme you will see selfishness, but persevere
until we meet together aroundthe Pool7 (hawd)."8
4. The reaction may consist of an observation, but, since this observation is usually attrib-
uted to the Prophet,it carriesthe weight of an injunctionor a propheticopinion or, as in the
following, a divine revelation. From Jabirb. CAbdAllah: [Action] While we were praying
with the Prophet (Peace be upon him), a caravan from Syria drew near, carrying food. So
many people turned toward the caravan that there were only twelve persons left with the
Prophet(Peace be upon him). [Reaction]Then the following verse was revealed, "But when
they see a business transactionor some amusementthey disperse for one or the other."9
5. One of the most common two-partnarrativesis the "Questionand Answer,"which con-
forms to the Action and Reaction form. Many of the questions are addressedto the Prophet,
but others are asked of the Companions. Sometimes the Prophet asks the question, and
when his interlocutorcannot answer, the Prophet supplies the answer. Many examples of
the Question and Answer type have introductionsgiving concisely the circumstancesof the
exchange. When the circumstantialsettings are not necessary for the importof the question
and answer, they may be considered stereotypedcreations by the narrators.Often, too, the
exchange of question and answer itself appearsto be a literarydevice intendedto highlight
the propheticpronouncement.Some examples of the varietyof questionsandanswersfollow.
a. The answer is given in a direct quotation.From IHakimb. Hizam: [Action] I asked
the Messenger of God (Peace be upon him), "If a man should come to me and ask me
to sell him something that I do not have, may I purchaseit later and then deliver it to
him?" [Reaction] He replied, "Do not sell that which you do not have."'1
5 Muhammad b. Ismacil al-Bukhari, Sahih al- 8 Sulayman b. DaDudal-Tayalisi, al-Musnad (repr.
Bukhari, 3 vols. (Cairo, n.d.), adab, bab 77. Beirut, 1982), no. 1969.
6 Muslim b. al-Hajj5ij,Sahth Muslim, 5 vols., ed. 9 Qur~an62:11; Bukhari, Sahih, buyic, bab 7.
MuhammadFu'ad Baqi (Cairo, 1955), hajj, bab 41. 10 Muhammad CAbd al-Rahman al-Mubarakflri,
7 Eschatological reality. Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi bi-Sharh Jamic al-Tirmidhi, 10

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 NARRATIVE STRUCTURES IN THE HADiTH 267

b. The answer may be given in an indirect quotation, for example: cAsim b. Damra
said, [Action] "I questioned CAl about the prayer of the Messenger of God (May
peace be upon him), [Reaction] and he recalled that he prayed four bowings before
and two bowings after noontime (zuhr) and four bowings before the afternoon hour
(Casr)."11
c. The Propheteither asks a question or elicits one and then answers it, as from Abu
Ayyib: [Action] The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said to him, "O Abu Ayyub,
would you not like for me to indicate to you an alms that would be an object of plea-
sure to God and to his messenger?" "Why, yes," he said. [Reaction] So he said, "It
is to reconcile people who have become antagonistic toward each other and to bring
together those who have become separated."'2
d. There may be a series of questions and answers or an extended interrogation.For
example, Abi Hurayrareported,[Action] a man came to the Messenger of God (Peace
be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of God, who is most worthyof my companion-
ship?" [Reaction] He said, "Yourmother."The man asked, "Andwho after her?"He
said, "Yourmother."The man asked, "Andthen who?" He said, "Yourmother."The
man asked, "Andthen who?" He said, "Yourfather."'13

e. Expressions are used that do not constitute direct questions but that imply interro-
gations. For example, CADisha reported[Action] that some people said, "O Messenger
of God, here are some people who only recently came out of paganism. They brought
us some meat, and we do not know whether they pronouncedthe name of God while
slaughtering the animals or not." [Reaction] He said, "Pronouncethe name of God
yourselves, and eat."'4

Three-Part Narrative

The hadith literaturecontains a large numberof narrativesthathave a three-partstructure,

slightly more complex than the two-partdesign just described. It is largely a development
of the Question and Answer type. First someone's statementor act is reportedas a direct or
indirect quotation,either from the primaryguarantoror from one of the protagonistsin the
anecdote. It can be a statementor act of the Prophet,or of a Companion,or of someone else.
Then a questionreferringto the statementor act is asked by "someone,"or by the personwho
reportedthe statement,or by a Companion.Finally, the Prophetor a Companionsupplies the
answer. An example:
CAbd b. Mascid reported:[Statement]The Messenger of God (Peace be upon
All.h
him) said, "No one will go into hell who has even a tiny grain of faith in his heart.
And no one will go into paradise who has even a tiny grain of pride in his heart."
[Question]A man asked him, "O Messenger of God, I like to keep my clothing freshly
washed, my head anointed, my sandal thongs in good condition"-and he mentioned
other things, ending with the strapof his whip-"Is this a sign of pride, O Messenger

vols., ed. CAbdal-WahhabCAbdal-Latif and CAbdal- 12 Ibid., no. 598.

Rahman Muhammad cUthman (Medina, 1383/1963- 13 BukhairiSahih, adab, bMb2.
1387/1967), buyic, bab 19. 14 Ibid., tawhid, bab 13.
11 Tayalisi, Musnad, no. 128.

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268 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

of God?" [Answer] He said, "No, that shows comeliness. TrulyGod is beauty,and he

loves comeliness. By contrast, pride is seen in one who acts in stupid ignorance and
who despises other people."'"15
As was the case in previously described forms, the Statement,Question, and Answer struc-
ture often contains a brief situational setting, in which the initial statementor act engages
the situation. Sometimes the situationis integratedseamlessly with the opening action, such
as in the following:

From cADisha:[Statement]The Quraysh were concerned about the case of the Ma-
khzimiyya woman who had stolen something. They said, "Who will speak to the
Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) on her behalf?"Others said, "Who would be
bold enough to do it but Usama b. Zayd, the dear friend of the Messenger of God
(Peace be upon him)." [Question] So Usama spoke to him. [Answer] The Messenger
of God (Peace be upon him) said, "Are you interceding regardingthe legal punish-
ment for infractionof a divine statute?"He got up and addressedthe people, saying,
"Verily,what caused those who lived before to perish was that when one of their no-
bles stole, they let him go. But when one of their lowly ones stole, they carried out
the sentence against him. I swear by God that even if the thief is Fatimathe daughter
of MuhammadI shall cut off her hand."'16

In other cases the situation is stereotypedand has nothing essential to do with the anecdote,
as in the report of Abli al-Aswad al-Du'ali:

[Statement] I was sitting with CUmarb. al-Khattab,and he said, "The Messenger of

God (Peace be upon him) said, "No person who dies, having three witnesses testify
to his goodness, will be denied a place in paradise."[Question] And I said, "O Mes-
senger of God, what abouttwo witnesses?" [Answer] He said, "Also two."And no one
asked the Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) about a single witness.17

Some variationsof this type of narrativeoccur, such as an extended series of questions and
answers after the initial action,'8 a reversal of the first and second elements, becoming
Question, Answer, Statement,19the second element being simply a nonquestioningreaction
to the opening statementor act,20 and comment by the primaryguarantoror a transmitter.21
But whatever variations are seen, the basic three-partnarrativestructureremains.

Four-Part Narrative

In addition to two- and three-partstructures,we observe a four-partnarrative,consisting

of: (1) an initial action or statementthat sets the stage for the forthcoming pronouncement;
(2) an action or statement eliciting (3) a reaction, and (4) a response to the reaction in the
form of a prescription,an injunction, a question, an act, or a combination or these. The sit-
uations for these four-partnarrativesare often stereotyped, for example, the Prophet goes

15 Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, 22 vols., ed. Ahmad 18 Bukhari, Sahih, adab, bab 33.
Shakir (Cairo, 1949-1990), no. 3789. 19 Ibid., akhbar al-dhad, bab 1.
16 Muslim, Sahih, hudi~d, bab 2. 20 Tirmidhi, Jadmic,birr, bab 12.
17 Tayalisi, Musnad, no. 22. 21 Tayalisi, Musnad, no. 1411.

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 NARRATIVE STRUCTURES IN THE HADiTH 269

to a certain city, or he enters a mosque, or he is seated in a mosque, or he is on a journey,

or someone comes to him. As with the other types of narrative,some four-partanecdotes
give no indication of the circumstances. A few examples of the four-partnarrativefollow.
From CAli:[A] The Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) was presentedwith a gar-
ment of silk, [B] but he sent it to me, [C] Then I put it on, and he said, to me, "What
I despise for myself does not please me for you." [D] He commandedme, and I tore
the garment into strips to serve as veils for the women.22
From Jabir:[A] Two young men were fighting, one from the Emigrantsand one from
the Helpers (ansar). The Emigrant called to his fellow Emigrants, and the Helper
called to his fellow Helpers. [B] Then the Messenger of God (Peace be upon him)
went out to them and said, "Whatis this, proceedings of the Time of Ignorance?"[C]
They said, "No, O Messenger of God, it is just that two young men were fighting, and
one of them hit the other on his back." [D] Then he said, "Well, that is not so bad,
but a man should help his brother,whether he is doing wrong or has been wronged.
If his brotheris doing wrong, then he should hinder him from doing so. That is his
help. If the brotherhas been wronged then he should help to obtainjustice for him."23
In the next example elements B and C are doubled.

From Abu Hurayra:[A] Some people asked, "O Messenger of God, who is the most
noble of people?" [B] He replied, "The most God-fearingamong you." [C] They said,
"Thatis not what we are asking about."[BB] He said, "Well, it is Joseph, the Prophet
of God and the son of God's Prophet, who was the son of the Friend of God." [CC]
They said, "Thatis not what we are asking about."[D] He said, "Areyou asking about
the Arab tribes? The best of them in the Age of Ignorancewill be the best in Islam,
when they understand."24

From Anas b. Malik: As the Prophet(Peace be upon him) and I were going out of the
mosque we met a man at the gate. [A] He said, "O Messenger of God, when will be
the Hour?"[B] The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, "How have you preparedfor
it?" [C] The man appearedto be distressed. Then he said, "O Messenger of God, I
have not preparedmuch for it in the way of fasting, prayer,and almsgiving, but I love
God and his Messenger." [D] He said, "You will be with the one you love."'25

Among the many occurrences of the four-partnarrativeare found examples in which the
Prophethimself tells the anecdote. In these cases, the entire narrationmust be consideredas
the propheticpronouncement,not just a dictum or injunctionfor which the narrativeis the
framework.Examples follow.

From Abu Hurayra:The Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) said, [A] "A man
purchaseda piece of land from another.The purchaserfound on that land ajar of gold.
So the purchasersaid to the seller, 'Takeyour gold back. I bought land from you, not
gold'. [B] But the seller said, 'I sold you the land and all that was on it'. [C] So the two

22 Ibid., no. 119. 24 Ibid., fadd il, bab 44.

23 Muslim, Sahih, birr wa-sila, bab 16. 25 Bukhari, Sahih, ahkam, bab 10.

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270 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

of them went to someone for arbitration.The arbitratorasked them, 'Do you have
any children?'One of them said, 'I have a son'. And the other said, 'I have a daughter'.
[D] So the arbitratorsaid, 'Marrythe son and the daughter,then spend some of the
money for yourselves and give some as alms'."26
FromAbli Hurayra:The Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) said, "OnceAdamand
Moses debated with each other. [A] Moses said, 'Are you Adam who led humankind
astray and caused them to leave paradise?'[B] ThereuponAdam said, 'Areyou he to
whom God gave knowledge of everything and whom he chose to carryhis message?'
[C] He said, 'Yes'.[D] Then Adam said, 'Do you blame me for a matterthatwas decreed
for me before I was born?'"27

The dramaticaction and conversationalexchanges in hadith narrativesare not always con-

sidered necessary for the conveyance of the meaning of the propheticpronouncement.This
is seen in the fact that a four-partor three-partanecdote may have variantreadingsthat omit
the dramaticaction.28Whetherthe narrativestructurebelongs to the firsttransmissionof the
hadith or not is not possible to ascertain. Both abbreviationand amplification of reports
were practicedby early transmitters.But whereverthe longer dramaticversions of the texts
were retained, it may be assumed that the elaboration of dramatic interaction served to
enhance the rhetoricalforce of the prophetic pronouncement.

The Qissa

Some texts in narrative-formlack the structuresdescribedpreviously,or else they combine

several such structuresinto adaptedforms. These may be called composite or run-on narra-
tives. They are probablythe type of narrativeused by the qussas (story tellers) to entertain
and edify their hearers.They were also told in the khutba(sermon). They use more descrip-
tive material than the shorterforms and often contain a long series of conversationalex-
changes that do not build up to a climactic pronouncementas do the shorter,well-structured
narratives.For these run-onforms I reservethe term story,or qissa, a designationthatis often
found in the collections of hadith themselves. As used by compilers in the headings of their
materialor by transmittersas a designationof the type of reportthey arepassing on, the term
qissa is sometimes appliedto those four-partnarrativesthat I have describedas distinct from
the run-on story. A monographpublished in Egypt in 1978 by Muhammadal-Zir29 explores
in detail the natureof the qissa in the hadith. The authordoes not distinguish between the
run-on narrative and the shorter, more simply structuredforms, but his study suggests
potentially fruitful avenues of research,such as a typology of stories based on their content
and the relationshipbetween the riwl (narrator),whether the Prophet or another, and the
story itself. Al-Zir's book shows especially the diversity of structuresthat are manifestedin
the qissa, indicating that, for a rigorous formal analysis, a different approach would be
needed from that taken in this paper to describe the two-, three-, and four-partnarratives.

26 Muslim, Sahih, aqdiya, bab 11. 29 Muhammad b. Hasan al-Zir, al-Qisas fl-l-Hadith
27 Ibid., qadar, bab 2. al-Nabawi (Cairo, 1398/1978).
28 For example, several variants in Muslim, Sahih,
fadtddil, bab 40 and masdjid, bdb 53.

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 NARRATIVE STRUCTURES IN THE HADiTH 271

III. CONCLUSION

Still another type of hadith narrativeis the khabar (historical or biographical recollec-
tion). Stefan Leder has studied examples of this form with particularreference to their his-
toriographicalvalue.30It remains to be seen to what extent the khabar (pl. akhbadr)in the
canonical hadith collections conforms to the formal patternsdescribedin the presentarticle.
This investigation of two-, three-, and four-partnarrativeforms contributes to a fuller
appreciationof hadith in their phenomenal reality and in their total living context. It helps
us to see how hadith transmittersinformed the memory of the propheticmodel with clear
and consistent structurallines.

30 "The LiteraryUse of the Khabar: A Basic Form Source Material, vol. I of The Byzantineand Early Is-
of Historical Writing," in Averil Cameron and lamic Near East (Princeton, 1992), pp. 277-315.
Lawrence I. Conrad, eds., Problems in the Literary

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