The role of prophetic tradition as a source of law in the political legitimacy of the Abbasids

Abstract

The dogmatic foundation of Islamic law began under the Umayyads, but its true fulfilment occurred under the Abbasids. The driving force behind this process was the preservation of the caliphate established during the Umayyads and the legitimization of the Abbasid leadership. The genius of the Abbasids was that they were able to shape the still immature, multi-ethnic imperial peoples into ummah, by authenticating Islamic law post festum through the Sunnah in a way that consolidated their power.

Thus, jurisprudence could become the primary aid for political propaganda, which based its propositions on ancient principles that had primacy in the geographical zones of conquest. So the hadith seemed a more authentic source material than written sources, gained a key role. The collection of hadith material had helped to support the aspirations of religious and political parties since the 7th century, but its true power was harnessed by the Abbasids, thus creating a true past and form for the new, ethnically diverse ummah.

The prophetic traditions caused a flexibility existence in the law, which consolidated the position of the caliph by Divine Law, that was further fuelled by adab literature and historical thinking through the cultural development of Islam. The great jurisprudential conclusion of the era was marked by the consolidated doctrines of the classical madhabs, the rigidification of whose legal principles was brought about by the very cult of hadith that initially meant flexibility and opportunity.