Contributions of the Hadith Transmission Network to the Inter-generational Cultural Continuity

The transmission of hadiths has been going on since the ear of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with no interruption up until today. Within this system, each generation has functioned as part of this very long chain of transmitting the prophetic knowledge. In this way, the prophetic tradition has shaped the culture and life of every generation and provided a collective culture for them. Let us, however, take a counter factual example. If the chain of hadith narration were cut in one or more generations, it can be plausibly argued that the re-construction of this chain would no be possible anymore. This in turn would result in the emergence of significant cultural differences among different generations, and the cultural unity of Islam, which has been living for centuries, could not survive. 

Figure 2: The Rise and Fall of the Number of Prominent Hadith Scholars through Time, 610-1505.

As Figure 2 indicates above, though the number of the prominent hadith scholars within the system of hadith transmission does not remain the same but changes over time, the network of relations among these scholars have continued with no interruption through 26 layers. The figure also indicates the fact that there has been a general decline of interest in the systematic and critical transmission of hadith after the period when the authoritative compilations of hadith, known as al Kutub al Sitta (the Six Books), gained the status of canonical sources in the 4th cenury (AH). Ironically, when prominent hadith scholars made a remarkable achievement in preserving and narrating hadiths, the interest in their profession started to decline, because the canonization of the compilations of authentic hadiths rendered it unnecessary to a large extent to memorize hadiths.