SCHOLARS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND SUFIS 95
times, thousands of remembered statements, quotations, and decisions of
Mohammed's were floating around. Combing through this jungle and de-
termining which ones were authentic provided employment for an ever-
greater number of scholars. The court funded this sort of work, but so did
rich men eager to earn merit in God's eyes. Independent scholars applied
themselves to the great task on their own time, as well. If they gained
enough fame, they attracted students and patrons. Informal groups of this
type ripened into academies, sometimes as adjuncts to the waqfs men-
tioned earlier.
The word hadith is sometimes translated as "sayings," but that term can
be misleading. The sayings of Mohammed are not like the sayings of
Shakespeare or Einstein or the local wit. They're not remembered for their
felicity of phrasing. No one would bother to record the sayings of the local
wit, or even of Shakespeare, unless they were witty, pithy, or profound, but
with hadith, what counts is the fact that Mohammed actually said them.
It's true that some hadith have an epigrammatic quality. One can admire
the economy of the admonition: "Food for one is enough for two, food for
two is enough for three .... " But many hadith come off as ordinary, even
casual, statements. They might have been remarks Mohammed tossed off
in the course of daily life. One hadith reports the Prophet telling a fellow
who had a sparse beard and had shaved those few scant hairs that he
should not have shaved his beard. This comment from anyone else would
have been forgettable and forgotten, but anything Mohammed said might
offer one more clue about how to live a life pleasing to God.
Since the authenticity of a hadith was absolutely crucial, the authenti-
cation of hadith developed into an exacting discipline. At its core, it con-
sisted of nailing down the chain of transmission and testing the veracity of
every link. A hadith was only as good as the people who transmitted it.
The chain of transmission had to extend to someone who knew the
Prophet personally. Only then could a purported hadith be taken seriously.
Ideally, it would trace to one of Mohammed's close companions, and the
closer the companion the more sound the hadith. In addition, every per-
son who transmitted it after that had to enjoy an impeccable reputation
for piety, honesty, and learning.
I heard that once the great scholar Bukhari was investigating the chain
of transmission for a particular hadith. He found the first link credible; the