GESTURES IN THE PROCESS OF ḤADĪTH TRANSMISSION: THE CASE OF DIVINE HEARING AND SEEING

Livnat Holtzman

GESTURES IN THE PROCESS OF ḤADĪTH TRANSMISSION: THE CASE OF DIVINE HEARING AND SEEING

Livnat Holtzman

Department of Arabic

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the markers of orality in the ḥadīth literature is the gesture (ishāra pl. ishārāt). In 1886, Ignaz Goldziher observed that the muḥaddithūn (teachers of ḥadīth) performed gestures while transmitting ḥadīth on various topics. The following article picks up the thread of Goldziher’s unique inquiry, characterizes gestures in the ḥadīth, and groups them into categories. The gestures related to the transmission of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt, namely the traditions about divine attributes (ṣifāt Allāh), form a separate category because they entail doctrinal and theological implications. This article spotlights the preservation and interpretation of one specific gesture which appears in a ḥadīth attributed to the ṣaḥābī Abū Hurayra. According to this ḥadīth, the Prophet placed his thumb on his ear and his forefinger on his eye to demonstrate that God “hears all and observes all” (Qurʾān 4:58). Does this gesture denote the attributes of God’s hearing and seeing, or God’s eye and ear? Was this gesture perceived as a metaphoric gesture representing an abstract concept, or was it understood as an iconic gesture displaying a concrete scene? The article considers the several possible interpretations of this gesture through the writings of the ultra-traditionalistic scholar Abū Saʿīd al-Dārimī (d. between 280-282/893-895) and the Ashʿarī theologian Ibn Fūrak (d. 406/1015).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	291-357
Number of pages	67
Journal	Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
Volume	46
State	Published - 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. All rights reserved.

Funding

The research for this article was supported by THE ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant ISF 79/10). The article stems from my presentation at the thirteenth international colloquium “From Jāhiliyya to Islam” that was held at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 4-6 July 2016. I am grateful to the participants of the colloquium for their illuminating remarks that helped me improve this article. The final version of this article is a follow-up to Chapter Three in my recently-published monograph Anthropomorphism in Islam: the challenge of traditionalism (700-1350), Edinburgh, 2018. I wish to thank the Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Prόximo – Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid for hosting me while I was working on the final version of this article. I am grateful to the wonderful staff of the Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás for their invaluable and generous assistance. Finally, my thanks are extended to Yohanan Friedmann and the two anonymous reviewers of this article for their helpful insights and suggestions. ∗ The research for this article was supported by THE ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant ISF 79/10). The article stems from my presentation at the thirteenth international colloquium “From Jāhiliyya to Islam” that was held at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 4-6 July 2016. I am grateful to the participants of the colloquium for their illuminating remarks that helped me improve this article. The final version of this article is a follow-up to Chapter Three in my recently-published monograph Anthropomorphism in Islam: the challenge of traditionalism (700-1350), Edinburgh, 2018. I wish to thank the Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Pr)?ximoC–entro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid for hosting me while I was working on the final version of this article. I am grateful to the wonderful staff of the Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás for their invaluable and generous assistance. Finally, my thanks are extended to Yohanan Friedmann and the two anonymous reviewers of this article for their helpful insights and suggestions.

Funders	Funder number
Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Prόximo
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities	700-1350
Israel Science Foundation	ISF 79/10

Keywords

aḥādīth al-ṣifāt
bi-lā kayfa
iconic gestures
ishāra
metaphoric gestures
orality of ḥadīth
ṣifāt Allāh

Cite this

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abstract = "One of the markers of orality in the ḥadīth literature is the gesture (ishāra pl. ishārāt). In 1886, Ignaz Goldziher observed that the muḥaddithūn (teachers of ḥadīth) performed gestures while transmitting ḥadīth on various topics. The following article picks up the thread of Goldziher{\textquoteright}s unique inquiry, characterizes gestures in the ḥadīth, and groups them into categories. The gestures related to the transmission of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt, namely the traditions about divine attributes (ṣifāt Allāh), form a separate category because they entail doctrinal and theological implications. This article spotlights the preservation and interpretation of one specific gesture which appears in a ḥadīth attributed to the ṣaḥābī Abū Hurayra. According to this ḥadīth, the Prophet placed his thumb on his ear and his forefinger on his eye to demonstrate that God “hears all and observes all” (Qurʾān 4:58). Does this gesture denote the attributes of God{\textquoteright}s hearing and seeing, or God{\textquoteright}s eye and ear? Was this gesture perceived as a metaphoric gesture representing an abstract concept, or was it understood as an iconic gesture displaying a concrete scene? The article considers the several possible interpretations of this gesture through the writings of the ultra-traditionalistic scholar Abū Saʿīd al-Dārimī (d. between 280-282/893-895) and the Ashʿarī theologian Ibn Fūrak (d. 406/1015).",

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GESTURES IN THE PROCESS OF ḤADĪTH TRANSMISSION: THE CASE OF DIVINE HEARING AND SEEING

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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Cite this