EVIDENCE FROM STYLOMETRY [HADITH RELIABILITY]
![EVIDENCE FROM STYLOMETRY [HADITH RELIABILITY] https://t.co/gvH1PVVth4](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FeWEi9MWIAIX4e4.jpg)
Stylometry is an objective way to prove that the authentic hadiths (sayings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) were not forged by Muslims for political reasons.
Stylometry is the quantitative study of literary style through computational distant reading methods. In simple terms, it is based on the observation that authors tend to write in relatively consistent, recognisable and unique ways.
For instance, each person has their own unique vocabulary, which is sometimes rich, and for others limited. Some people write in short sentences, while others prefer long blocks of text.
No two people use semicolons, em-dashes, and other forms of punctuation in the exact same way.
One of the most common applications of stylometry is in authorship attribution.
A good example of a successful stylometry study is from April 2015, where researchers using stylometry techniques identified a play, Double Falsehood, as being the work of William Shakespeare. [1]
They analysed 54 plays by Shakespeare and compared average sentence length, studied the use of unusual words and quantified the complexity and psychological valence of their language.
Similarly, there has also been a stylometry study composed on Sahih-al Bukhari (the most valued collection of Hadith by Muslims).
In this study, the hadiths that were attributed to be direct quotes of Muhammad ﷺ were analysed.
The conclusion was that it is very likely that all the segments that were extracted from Sahih-Al Bukhari have the same author. [2]
In other words, there were not enough stylistic differences to attribute multiple authorship to these quotes of Muhammad ﷺ.
Let's now go over some potential explanations for this conclusion:
One may claim that since Bukhari compiled this book, it is not surprising that it has one author. In other words, it is in the writing style of Bukhari himself.
This claim is refuted by the fact that we have sources earlier than Bukhari containing the same hadiths which are worded almost identically. [3]
The second explanation could be that the Muslims collaborated to ensure they narrated quotes of Muhammad ﷺ in the same style.
This however is an illogical claim. Like with any other specialist human skill, with forgery, only a select few would excel at it, some would be average whilst most would be poor at it.
Therefore, to suggest Muslims from different parts of the world were able to conform to the same style of speech when narrating hadiths, to the point of bypassing stylometry testing invented centuries later is absurd.
Had there been forgery or a mass conspiracy, it is very likely the stylometry studies would have detected multiple authors.
The most sensible conclusion is that the reason these stylometry studies found there to be only one author is because all the quotes go back to one common source. That common source is Muhammad ﷺ.
REFERENCES:
[1] journals.sagepub.com…
[2] Sayoud, H.. (2015). A Visual Analytics based Investigation on the Authorship of the Holy Quran. IVAPP 2015 - 6th International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications; researchgate.net
[1] journals.sagepub.com…
[2] Sayoud, H.. (2015). A Visual Analytics based Investigation on the Authorship of the Holy Quran. IVAPP 2015 - 6th International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications; researchgate.net
[3] @galacticwarrior9/sherif-gaber-hadith-8e4bf3e1a173" target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick="event.stopPropagation()">medium.com… - Hadiths compared: Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book 88, Hadith 231 & Malik, Muwatta, Book 16, Hadith 54.
For further evidence of Bukhari using earlier sources see: islamic-awareness.org
For further evidence of Bukhari using earlier sources see: islamic-awareness.org
![[3] https://t.co/IZx7YUXhaC… - Hadiths compared: Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book 88, Hadith...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fe56OUxXwAMrhUo.jpg)
For more details on how stylometry proves hadith preservation see the following video: youtube.com
Loading suggestions...