Motzki's Method

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Motzki’s argument:

After disputing non-Muslim scholars’ versions of the collection of the Qur’an, Motzki turns to the study of Hadith. In order to disprove the proceeding scholarship, Motzki uses new methodological developments in hadith studies: the isnad (recorded chains of transmission) analysis of single traditions, and matn analysis of hadiths, which allows for the textual variants of a tradition. Combining matn analysis with isnad analysis provides Motzki with a method that respects the meticulous oral traditions of knowledge. Without the use of isnads as a means for dating the collection of the Qur’an, the earliest written source concerning the collection is al-Bukhari’s mushaf, which dates to 256 AH/870 AD. Non-Muslim studies relied on al-Bukhari, with a gap of 200 years between the events and the recording. This led Mingana to dismiss it as historically unreliable, and the later date of al-Bukhari fits with Wansbrough and Burton’s assumptions that they had been created in the 3rd century AH.