Marginal Commentaries in Hadith Manuscripts

Stefanie Brinkmann: “Marginal Commentaries in Hadith Manuscripts”, in: Markus Stock/ Christine Lechtermann (Hgg.): “Practices in Commentary”. Frankfurt a.M. 2020 [=   Zeitsprünge. Forschungen zur Frühen Neuzeit / Sonderband 24], S. 6-44.

Throughout centuries, people have annotated ḥadīth texts in the margin of manuscripts or between the lines. These annotations could be personal remarks, drafts for a proper commentary, or quotations from already existing stand-alone commentaries.

This article illustrates the potential of the analysis of such annotations for the reconstruction of the production, transmission, and use of ḥadīth commentaries. After a review of the state of research it addresses the issues of terminology, scribal practices and layout, and it offers a preliminary typology. The article is part of an edited volume on pre-modern practices of commentary in different cultures from the 8^th to the 16^th centuries.