The Prayer of Jawshan - A Study of Its Sources -

Abstract

This essay attempts to question the authenticity of the so called Jawshan by analyzing the canonical sources of ḥadīth literature to determine whether it can be traced back to the Prophet of Islam. After subjecting the Jawshan to a careful analysis of chain (sanad) and text (matn), the es-say concludes that there is neither a reliable source nor a valid set of academic criteria that would prove that the text concerned is attributable to the Prophet of Islam. The results of our source analysis, the literature survey, and certain other historical data lead us to believe that this prayer, Jawshan, may have first appeared within the “Shīʿī world” in the prayer books by Ibrāhīm al-Kafʿamī, and only later was introduced to the “Sunnī world” through Majmūʿat al-aḥzāb, the collection of prayers by al-Gumushkhānawī, and gained wide circulation among certain groups.

Keywords

• Jawshan prayer
• Shīʿa
• al-Gumushkhānawī
• Majmūʿat al-aḥzāb
• Bediuzzaman

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