Isnad-cum-matn analysis
Isnād-cum-matn analysis (ICMA) is a method in hadith studies that seeks to date 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. ICMA enables a construction of a chronology of the textual development and transmission of hadith reports by reconstructing older versions and dating them on the basis of the time at which the transmitters of older versions were active; this may also allow for a reconstruction of the original version of a tradition at the common link of the versions of the tradition found across multiple sources.