The Zondervan Greek and English Interlinear New Testament (NASB/NIV) – Edited by William D. Mounce and Robert H. Mounce

Abstract

The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon, Jonathan Brown, Brill, 2007 (ISBN 978-90-04-15839-9), xxii + 431 pp., hb$181The 'Authenticity Question' concerning reports (hadith) attributed to the Prophet of Islam runs deep like a river in Islamic civilization and its tradition of hadith scholarship. Hadith erudition has developed complex and sophisticated methodologies to ascertain the authenticity of each report. Thus, the reliability concern looms large among Muslims and Western scholars alike.However, besides the work of the renowned Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher (d. 1921) on hadith canon emergence, a watershed chapter is left unattended in hadith literature and science. Why did al-Bukhari's and Muslim's collection of hadith -the sahihayn -became the most famous books in Sunni Islam after the qur'an and the sunna of the prophet? Jonathan Brown proposes an answer in his book The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Canon.Brown investigates how, when and why these two hadith collections became the hallmark in Sunni Islam. Astutely, he traces their origins, development and the functions of these two touchstones. In addition, he explores their nature, the tensions surrounding them and the role they play in Sunni scholarly culture. According to the author the canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim is the story of how the Sunni community and its hadith erudition build a common language to attend to the shared heritage of the prophetic tradition (sunna) (p. 4).Canonization makes a text authoritative and the nexus for communal identity. It transforms a text from an ordinary piece of literature to powerful symbols of divine and legal authority for a particular religious tradition. The collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim are considered normative sources of beliefs and practices. Their authoritative station is taking for granted by most Muslims today. It remains puzzling why there is very little literature to explain this undeniable historical event. Brown laments that scholars of Islamic history have not