"Classical hadith scholars focused on criticism of the isnad in order to certify the authenticity of the information relayed. The first technique in isnad criticism is to check whether the chain of narration leads back to the Prophet (musnad) or whether it ends with a companion or follower who had assumed that the information came from the Prophet himself (marfu). The second technique is to check whether each link between narrators is plausible; the two narrators of each link must have lived in the same time and place, so that the later narrator could have believably heard the report from the former; if just one link in the chain of narration is not plausible, then the report is considered to have a 'cut chain' (maqtu) and cannot give authentic information. The third technique is to check the morality of all the narrators to judge whether they are believers in Islam, not biased by heresy or sectarian partisanship, and not liars. The fourth technique is to check the veracity of each narrator: that he or she is mature with an adequate memory and is not known to have made errors in transmitting information. If these texts of the isnad are all positive, then the report is considered a hadith by scholars of the classical period.
Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam, (p. 79)
I've been working my way through Kugle's book on a re-read; I'm using it in class, and my first read was on my kindle, so now I'm focusing on my actual book copy and including the appropriate notes and commentary and directions for questions to ask students. As we've discussed, Kugle's point is that the all too frequent Islamic criticism (if not worse) of the LGBT community is based on a misreading of the Quran and the hadith. Even if you don't believe you central thesis, I would argue that it's refreshing, and important, that you have someone questioning the viewpoint from inside the faith (Kugle, as you might guess from his name, is a convert) as compared to simply attacking it from outside based on Western perceptions. As part of this reflection he discusses first the view of certain Quranic surahs, which we referenced before, but also influential ahadith. In the section above he lays out in a simplified (by his own admission) process for how an Islamic scholar might judge the validity of a hadith. Beyond everything else, I thought that it was worth noting for someone from outside the faith. Again, sometimes there is the perception, inexplicable in many ways, that Islam is a simplistic faith which is heavy on rote memorization and short an analysis and self-reflection, which could not be further than the truth. That said, I think I would argue that way too much of the analysis and self-reflection occurred centuries ago, and we as Muslims today owe it to ourselves, each other, and the faith itself to study, analyze and sometimes kick back against our own faith. If our religion can't take a little internal kickback then we don't have much of a faith.
Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam, (p. 79)
I've been working my way through Kugle's book on a re-read; I'm using it in class, and my first read was on my kindle, so now I'm focusing on my actual book copy and including the appropriate notes and commentary and directions for questions to ask students. As we've discussed, Kugle's point is that the all too frequent Islamic criticism (if not worse) of the LGBT community is based on a misreading of the Quran and the hadith. Even if you don't believe you central thesis, I would argue that it's refreshing, and important, that you have someone questioning the viewpoint from inside the faith (Kugle, as you might guess from his name, is a convert) as compared to simply attacking it from outside based on Western perceptions. As part of this reflection he discusses first the view of certain Quranic surahs, which we referenced before, but also influential ahadith. In the section above he lays out in a simplified (by his own admission) process for how an Islamic scholar might judge the validity of a hadith. Beyond everything else, I thought that it was worth noting for someone from outside the faith. Again, sometimes there is the perception, inexplicable in many ways, that Islam is a simplistic faith which is heavy on rote memorization and short an analysis and self-reflection, which could not be further than the truth. That said, I think I would argue that way too much of the analysis and self-reflection occurred centuries ago, and we as Muslims today owe it to ourselves, each other, and the faith itself to study, analyze and sometimes kick back against our own faith. If our religion can't take a little internal kickback then we don't have much of a faith.
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