THE TEN PROMISED PARADISE: A STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF A SUNNI DOCTRINE THROUGH ISN2D-CUM-MATN ANALYSIS

Abstract

The concept that a certain nine or ten Companions, assured of Paradise in a Prophet had _ ;th, are superior to the rest of the Companions is among the most noteworthy Sunni beliefs. However, though well represented in the works of the ninth-century had _ ;th scholars, this concept has yet to receive adequate discussion in current scholarship. This article investigates its origin by examining various versions of the ‘Ten Promised Paradise’ had _ ;th through isna̅d-cum-matn analysis. The analysis suggests that this hadith, first emerging before 700, was widely circulated in Iraqi cities (above all, Kufa), and Madina before the mid-eighth century. Through examination of the socio-political milieu in which the earliest known disseminators of the had _ ;th lived, this article argues that the concept came into circulation after the second fitna. This had _ ;th’s ascendancy emerged (in Kufa) from protest against both the Umayyad hostility towards the 6Alids and their partisans and proto-Shi6i movements of all kinds (the Ghula̅t and Ha̅shim;s); its propogation in Madina was most likely prompted by rivalry between the caliphate and the Hijazi elite. The article goes on to explore how the ethos of this had _ ;th became an early Sunni doctrine. A close examination of the transmitters following the earliest identifiable disseminators of various versions of the had _ ;th reveals that many transmitters played a prominent role in shaping the communal identity of the ahl al-h_ ad;th. They took part in formulating their historical memory, developing had _ ;th criticism and establishing sunna either by articulating the ‘orthodoxy’ or by combating the so-called ‘innovators’.