| Description |
The thesis addresses the historiographical and methodological impasse in Arabic manuscript research. The first part of the thesis examines the authenticity debate in historical circles between the descriptivist and revisionist schools, followed by an analysis of the methodological problems faced in the criticism of prophetic logia {hadith). In light of these considerations, the codicological approach is advanced as an alternate conceptual schema. Subsequently, a case study of Ms Or.P443 is provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. The second part of the thesis provides the editions, translations, commentaries, and significance of six Arabic literary papyri from the Aziz S. Atiya Papyri and Paper Collection at the University of Utah. The six Arabic literary papyri comprise materials from both hadith and Islamic moral law ifiqh). The papyri include Ms Or.P173, P205, P365, P443, P518, and P521. These specific papyri address a variety of issues relating to the development of hadith sndfiqh. The publication of these papyri will prove to be a substantial contribution to the understanding of the evolution of these traditions. |
