The Travelling Tradition Test: A Method for Dating Traditions

Abstract

The āthār are our main source for the study of the first 150 years of Islam. They constitute a voluminous literature with layers of early and late traditions from different cities, tribes, and sects. Determining the date and provenance of a report is a complex task that calls for the development of a variety of methods. This study presents a technique that should be added to the scholars' toolbox. It uses correlations between the contents of traditions and the cities represented in their isnād s to put a bound on the date of a tradition. The essay presents three case-studies about women's participation in group prayers.

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