Editing Isnad (section)

== Isnad-cum-matn analysis ==
In the 1990s, hadith historians developed a method known as [[Isnad-cum-matn analysis|''isnad-cum-matn'' analysis]] (ICMA) as an alternative approach compared with traditional hadith sciences towards identifying the origins and developmental stages of hadith traditions.{{Sfn|Motzki|2000|p=174}} ICMA was invented twice independently in two publications that came out in 1996,{{Sfn|Kara|2024|p=14}} one by Harald Motzki{{Sfn|Gorke|Motzki|Schoeler|2012|p=43}}{{Sfn|Motzki|1996}} and the other by Schoeler.{{Sfn|Schoeler|1996}} The primary advocate of ICMA in the initial stages of the development and application of the method was Motkzi; Motzki believed that the oral transmission of hadith would result in a progressive divergence of multiple versions of the same original report along different lines of transmitters. By comparing them to pinpoint shared wording, motifs and plots, the original version of a hadith that existed prior to the accrual of variants among different transmitters may be reconstructed. In addition, Motzki believed that a comparative study of the differences between reports could enable the identification of particular manipulations and other alterations.{{Sfn|Kara|2024|p=14–15}}{{Sfn|Pavlovitch|2016|p=25}} Put another way, ICMA seeks to date and trace the evolution of [[hadith]] by identifying how variation in the text or content (''matn'') of a hadith correlates with the variation in the listed chain of transmitters (''isnād'') across multiple versions of the same report.{{Sfn|Motzki|2000|p=174}}