Man’s Hollow Core: Ethics and Aesthetics in Ḥadīth Literature and Classical Arabic Adab

Year 2020, Volume: 19 Issue: 1, 509 - 546, 30.06.2020

Stefan Sperl Translator: Suat Koca

https://doi.org/10.14395/hititilahiyat.674885

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Abstract
Classical Arabic Ḥadīth literature is largely composed of micro-narratives recording the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muḥammad. This study seeks to examine their literary form by focusing on selected examples listed in the canonical Ḥadīth compendia under the heading of adab, a term which may be rendered here as “practical ethics” but which is also commonly used to designate classical Arabic belles-lettres. While the latter is a type of literature quite distinct from the literature of Ḥadīth the texts here studied point to a certain interface between them. The ethical dimension of adab as it appears in Ḥadīth is examined further in the light of Hayden White's theory on the relation between narrativity and law. Contrasting the micro-narrative of Ḥadīth with the “macro-narrative” of the epic provides further insight into its approach to adab and serves to highlight its distinct literary and religious aesthetic.

Keywords

Ḥadīth, Adab, Moral, Ethics, Aesthetics, Narrative

İnsanın Boş Özü: Hadis Literatüründe ve Klasik Arap Edebinde Etik ve Estetik

Abstract

Klasik Arapça Hadis literatürü, büyük ölçüde Muhammed Peygamber’in söz ve eylemlerinin kayıtları olan mikro anlatılardan oluşur. Bu çalışma, muteber (canonical) Hadis külliyatında -burada “pratik ahlak” olarak karşılanabilecek ancak genellikle klasik Arapça edebî eserleri (belles-lettres) belirtmek için kullanılan bir terim olan- edeb başlığı altında sıralanan seçilmiş örnekler üzerinde yoğunlaşmak suretiyle onların edebî formlarını incelemeye çalışmaktadır. [Klasik Arapça edebî eserler], Hadis literatüründen oldukça farklı bir literatür türü olsa da burada incelenen metinler ikisi arasında belirli bir kesişim noktasına işaret etmektedir. Hadiste tezahür ettiği şekliyle edebin ahlakî boyutu, Hayden White’ın anlatısallık (narrativity) ve yasa/kural (law) arasındaki ilişki üzerine olan kuramı ışığında ayrıntılarıyla incelenmektedir. Hadisin mikro-anlatısı ile destanın (epic) makro-anlatısını karşılaştırmak, [Hadisin] edebe yaklaşımına yeni bir bakış sağlamakta ve onun ayırt edici edebî ve dinî estetiğini vurgulamaya hizmet etmektedir.

Keywords

Hadis, Edeb, Ahlak, Etik, Estetik, Anlatı

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