Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

I. The hadit in the discussion on birth-control -- II. Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (1892-1958) and his edition of Ibn Hanbal's Musnad -- III. Muslim's introduction to his Sahih, translated and annotated with an excursus on the chronology of fitna and bid'a -- IV. Dyeing the hair and beard in early Islam: A hadith-analytical study -- V. Some new ideas on the development of sunna as a technical term in early Islam -- VI. Some isnad-analytical methods illustrated on the basis of several woman-demeaning sayings from hadith literature -- VII. The role of mu'ammarun in the early development of the isnad -- VIII. Some notes on Islam's first fuqaha' distilled from early hadith literature -- IX. Nafi, the mawla of Ibn 'Umar, and his position in Muslim hadith literature -- X. On the origins of the poetry in Muslim tradition literature -- XI. Early Islamic society as reflected in its use of isnads -- Index Qur'anic verses.