The Salafis and the Preservation of Isnād Tradition

Transmitting Hadith with full isnād (chain of transmitters) connecting backto Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has been consideredas an exclusive privilege for Muslims and one of the significant traditions of past Ahlal-Hadith (scholars of Hadith). In modern times, when isnād are no longer examinedto determine the authenticity of Hadiths, the tradition is still preserved by the scholarswith Sufi inclination whose credentials and works have been widely renowned. On theother hand, an indifference shown by some of modern Salafis has been used by theiropponents to question their qualification and expertise in Hadith criticism. This articleaims to examine how Salafis assess the importance of isnād tradition in modern times.This research is qualitative in nature. The data was mainly collected from modern andpre-modern biographical dictionaries. The research finds that pre-modern Salafis showedequal interest in preserving the living isnād tradition to their Sufi peers albeit a minorityof them did ignore its importance. A more careful examination suggests that this minorityopinion was not a total rejection of isnād tradition, instead, it should be seen as contention over excessive remarks regarding the importance of isnād, as well as a prevention fromendorsing Sufism.