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Joseph Schacht has devoted a considerable part of his career to study the early history and development of Islamic juristic thought. His thesis about the formation of Islamic law in which the Prophetic traditions played a decisive role has constituted a basis for subsequent research on the subject; and, what is more, it possesses all the attributes of originality and profound thought. / Some responses, sometimes severely critical, have been addressed to Schacht's thesis. Some even accuse him of fostering a "misconception" of the position of law in Islam and of paying little attention to the Qur'anic legislation. It is no wonder, they maintain, that Schacht upholds a view which clearly deviates from the common belief of the majority of Muslims. / On the other hand, certain scholars have thought highly of Schacht's thesis. The broad outlines of his thesis, his e silentio argument and his backward-projection and common link theories, have won high acclaim among leading scholars, both Orientalists and non-Orientalists. It is not an exaggeration therefore when Hourani writes: "Joseph Schacht resurrected the intellectual life of Medieval Islam by his powerful intelligence, learning and concentration."

The Common-Link Theory, invented by Joseph Schacht and widely accepted in modern scholarship, argues that ḥadith authorities knowingly and purposefully placed traditions in circulation with little care to support these ḥadiths with satisfactory isnads. G. H. A. Juynboll, Michael Cook and other Schachtians subsequently embraced and elaborated upon this theory. This dissertation challenges the accuracy of Schacht's founding theory. / The first chapter traces back and elucidates the formation of Schacht's Common-Link Theory, demonstrating how it is related to his other theories. The second chapter examines the responses to Schacht's theory, arguing that its proponents do no more than either expand upon it, or apply it to other fields of Islamic studies. The third chapter employs a critical technique in examining the evidence cited by Schacht and Juynboll, which not only shows the theory's deficiency, but also confirms its flawed nature by the very evidence they use. Two other critical approaches are demonstrated in the fourth chapter. The first rests on an analysis of relevant terms and rules employed by muḥaddiths, thereby offering a workable alternative to Schacht's faulty hypothesis. The second demonstrates the flaws of Schacht's methodology through a synthesis of multiple critiques developed here as well as by other scholars. The last chapter elucidates how Schacht's other theories would collapse as a result of the faultiness of the Common-Link Theory. / Because of the interconnectedness of Schacht's many theses about ḥadith and Islamic law, the findings of this dissertation will not only challenge the significant Common-Link Theory in legal ḥadith studies, but will, perforce, also open the door for scholars to question other important theories held by Schacht and his followers with regard to larger issues in Islamic legal history.

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Islamic Tradition is the record safeguarded by the Islamic community which claims to preserve the very words and deeds of Muhammad as well as those of many of his companions. In the West major work on Tradition was undertaken first by Ignaz Goldziher in his Muhammedanische Studien (1888). His investigation into Umayyad history convinced him the period allowed the influx of numerous forgeries. These Traditionserdichtungen so overcame Tradition that no attempt in the Abbasid era could ever repair the damage. The second major scholar of Tradition was Joseph Schacht. Though his book The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (1950), treated the legal work of al-Shafi'i in particular, his evaluation of al-Shafi'i's fight for the position of Tradition in law led Professor Schacht to make numerous conclusions about the authenticity and growth of traditions. Most recently Nabia Abbott in her Qur'anic Commentary and Tradition (1967) has taken a fresh look at Tradition. With the aid of early papyri fragments and an intensive combing of the sources on the scholarly practices of early traditionists, Miss Abbott was able to identify certain types of traditions as authentic and to show the genesis of scholarly interest in traditions from the time of the prophet himself. These three represent the best scholarship on Tradition available. They represent too varying approaches and evaluations. In short, their work points to more fruitful scholarship.

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