Studying the Changes to the Prophet's Tradition Imagery during the First Two Centuries (AH)

Scrutinizing the history of Narration (Hadith) indicates conceptual changes to the term “tradition” during the first two centuries (AH). Conceptual changes to tradition during the first two centuries are resulted by various factors. Authors considered “tradition” as the sayings of the Prophet, his companions and followers and Muslims’ codes of conduct (Balaqaat). Narrators; however, narrowed the scope of the term. People of Arayat [3]considered tradition as creating systematic fatalistic jurisprudence, and eventually People of Verdict assumed it as an orderly system of jurisprudence based on verdicts. The present historical study is an imagery-based one which aims at exploring the conceptual changes to the tradition of the Prophet during the first two centuries (AH) via the lens of imageries. The findings of the study reveal that the tradition imageries have gone through conceptual transformations over time and in different lands in a way that “tradition” initially used to have a general conception and was then narrowed by the Shafii.