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Hadith terminology, (Arabic: Muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth; مُصْطَلَحُ الحَدِيْث), has been defined by Ahmad ibn 'Ali Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, a renowned hadith specialist, as: "knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined."[1] This means, essentially, that the body of hadith terminology serves to specify the acceptability of those narrations, hadith, attributed to the Islamic Prophet, Muhammad, as well as other early figures of religious significance. This page comprises the primary terminology utilized within the science of hadith. [edit] Number of termsThe individual terms are numerous, with Ibn al-Salah including sixty-five in his Muqidimah and then commenting, "This is the end of them, but not the end of what is possible, as this is subject to further particularization to an innumerable extent." Al-Bulqini followed this by saying, "we have added five more categories, making it seventy."[2] Ibn al-Mulaqqin counted the various types as being "more than eighty"[3] and al-Suyuti included ninety-three in Tadrib al-Rawi. [edit] Terminology relating to the authenticity of a hadithIbn al-Salah said, "A hadith, according to its specialists, is divided into sahih, hasan and da'if."[4] While the individual terms of hadith terminology are many, many more than these three terms, the final outcome is essentially determining whether a particular hadith is sahih and, therefore, actionable, or da'if and not actionable. This is evidenced by al-Bulqini's commentary on Ibn al-Salah's statement. Al-Bulqini commented that "the terminology of the hadith specialists is more than this, while, at the same time, is only sahih and its opposite. Perhaps what has been intended by the latter categorization (i.e., into two categories) relates to standards of religious authority, or lack of it, in general, and what will be mentioned afterwards (i.e., the sixty-five categories) is a specification of that generality."[4] [edit] SahihSahih, (صَحِيْح), is best translated as authentic. Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is sahih lithatihi, sahih in and of itself, as a singular narration (ahaad - see below) conveyed by a trustworthy, completely competent person, either in his ability to memorize or to preserve what he wrote, with a connected (muttasil) chain of narration that contains neither a serious concealed flaw nor irregularity (shadh). He then defines a hadith that is sahih ligharihi, sahih due to external factors, as a hadith "with something, such as numerous chains of narration, strengthening it."[5] This definition of Ibn Hajar illustrates that there are five conditions to be met for a particular hadith to be considered sahih. The first, is that each narrator in the chain of narration must be trustworthy. The second, each narrator must be reliable in his ability to preserve that narration - be it in his ability to memorize to the extent that he can recall it as he heard it, or, that he has written it as he heard it, and has preserved that written document unchanged. The third, the isnad must be connected, muttasil, in that each narrator could have at least conceivably heard from the previous narrator. The fourth, that the hadith, including its isnad be free of an 'illah or hidden, but detrimental, flaw - such as it being established that two narrators, while having been contemporaries, never, in fact, met thus causing a break in that 'chain'. And fifth, that that hadith be free of shudhudh, meaning that it not contradict another hadith better established than it. [edit] Sahih booksA number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion of only sahih hadith. Only the first two are considered to have achieved this. They are presented here arranged in descending order according to authenticity:
[edit] HasanHasan, (حَسَن), linguistically means 'good' and there exist somewhat convergent technical definitions, however, in general, it expresses the categorization of a hadith's authenticity as acceptable for use as a religious evidence, however, not established to the extent of sahih. Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is hasan lithatihi, hasan in and of itself, with the same definition a sahih hadith except that the competence of one of its narrators is less than complete, while a hadith that is hasan ligharihi, hasan due to external factors, is determined to be hasan due to corroborating factors, such as numerous chains of narration. He then states that it is comparable to a sahih hadith in its religious authority. A hasan hadith may rise to the level of being sahih, in spite of its own minor deficiency, due to the support of having numerous chains of narration; in this case that hadith would hasan lithatihi, hasan in and of itself, but when coupled with other supporting chains is sahih ligharihi, sahih due to external factors.[7] [edit] Related Terms[edit] MusnadThe early scholar of hadith, Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hakim, defines a musnad, (مُسْنَد), literally 'supported', hadith as:
[edit] The musnad format of hadith collectionA musnad hadith should not be confused with the type of hadith collection similarly termed musnad, which is arranged according to the name of the companion narrating each hadith. For example, a musnad might begin by listing a number of the hadith, complete with their respective sanads, of Abu Bakr, and then listing a number of hadith from Umar, and then Uthman ibn Affan and so on. Individual compilers of this type of collectiion may vary in their method of arranging those Companions whose hadith they were collecting. An example of this type of book is the Musnad of Ahmad. [edit] MuttasilMuttasil, (مُتَّصِل), refers to a continuous chain of narration in which each narrator has heard that narration from his teacher.[9] [edit] Da`ifDa`if, (ضَعِيْف), is the categorization of a hadith as 'weak'. Ibn Hajar described the cause of a hadith being classified as weak as "either due to discontinuity in the chain of narrators or due to some criticism of a narrator."[10] This discontinuity referrs to the omission of a narrator occurring at different positions within the isnad and is referred to using specific terminology accordingly as discussed below. [edit] Categories of Discontinuity[edit] Mu`allaqDiscontinuity in the beginning of the isnad, from the end of the collector of that hadith, is referred to as mu`allaq, (مُعَلَّق), literally, 'suspended'. Mu'allaq refers to the omission of one or more narrators. It also refers to the omission of the entire isnad, for example, (an author) saying only: "The Prophet said..." In addition, this includes the omission of the isnad except for the companion, or the companion and successor together.[10] [edit] MursalMursal, (مُرْسَل), literally means 'hurried'. If the narrator between the Successor and Muhammad is omitted from a given chain of narration, the hadith is mursal, e.g., when a Successor says, “The Prophet said ...”.[11] Since Sunnis believe in the uprightness of all Sahaba, they do not view it as a necessary problem if a Successor does not mention what Sahaba he received the hadith from. This means that if a hadith has an acceptable chain all the way to a Successor, and the successor attributes it to an unspecified companion, the isnad is considered acceptable. However, there are different views in some cases: If the Successor is a young one and it is probable that he omitted an elder Successor who in turn reported form a Sahaba. The opinion held by Imam Malik and all Maliki jurists is that the mursal of a trustworthy person is valid, just like a musnad hadith. This view has been developed to such an extreme that to some of them, the mursal is even better than the musnad, based on the following reasoning: "The one who reports a musnad hadith leaves you with the names of the reporters for further investigation and scrutiny, whereas the one who narrates by way of irsal (the absence of the link between the successor and the Prophet), being a knowledgeable and trustworthy person himself, has already done so and found the hadith to be sound. In fact, he saves you from further research." Others reject the mursal of younger Successor.[11] [edit] Mu`dalFrom the categories of discontinuity is mu`dal, (مُعْضَل), which is the omission of two or more consecutive narrators from the isnad .[12] [edit] MunqatiA munqati, (مُنْقَطِع), hadith, literally 'broken', is one in which the isnad of people reporting the hadith is disconnected at any point.[11] The isnad of a hadith that appears to be muttasil, but one of the reporters is known to have never heard hadith from his immediate authority, even though they lived at the same time, is munqati. It is also applied when someone says "a man told me". [11] [edit] Other types of weakness[edit] MunkarMunkar, (مُنْكَر), literally means 'denounced'. According to Ibn Hajar, if a narration which goes against another authentic hadith is reported by a weak narrator, it is known as munkar. Traditionists as late as Ahmad used to simply label any hadith of a weak reporter as munkar.[13] [edit] ShadhdhShadhdh, (شاذّ), literally means 'irregular'. According to al-Shafi'i, a shadhdh hadith is one which is reported by a trustworthy person who contradicts the narration of a person more reliable than him. It does not include a hadith which is unique in its contents and is not narrated by someone else.[13] [edit] MudtaribMudtarib, (مُضْطَرِب), literally means 'shaky'. According to Ibn Kathir, if reporters disagree about a particular shaikh, or about some other points in the isnad or the matn, in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there is irreconcilable uncertainty, such a hadith is called mudtarib.[14] An example is the following hadith attributed to Abu Bakr:
The hadith scholar Al-Daraqutni commented: "This is an example of a mudtarib hadith. It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different opinions are held regarding this isnad. Some report it as mursal, others as muttasil; some take it as a narration of Abu Bakr, others as one of Sa'd or `A'ishah." Since all these reports are comparable in weight, it is difficult to prefer one above another. Hence, the hadith is termed as mudtarib.[14] [edit] Mawdo`A hadith that is mawdo`, (مَوْضُوْع), is one determined to be fabricated and cannot be attributed to its origin. Al-Dhahabi defines mawdo` as a hadith the text of which contradicts established norms of the Prophet's sayings (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), or its reporters include a liar, e.g. the forty ahadith known as Wad`aniyyah or the small collection of hadith which was fabricated and claimed to have been reported by `Ali al-Rida, the eighth Imam of the Ithna 'Ashari Shi'ah. [edit] Recognizing fabricated hadith
[edit] Causes of fabricationThere are several factors which may motivate an individual to fabricate a narration, from them:
[edit] CollectionsA number of hadith specialists have collected fabricated hadith separately in order to distinguish them from other hadith. From these books are:
[edit] Terminology relating to the number of narrators in an isnadIn hadith terminology, a hadith is divided into two categories based, essentially, upon the number of narrators mentioned in isnad. Consideration is given to the least number of narrators at any level of the chain of narration; thus if ten narrators convey a hadith from two others who have conveyed it from ten, it is considered `aziz, not mashhur.[15] [edit] MutawatirThe first category is mutawatir, (مُتَواتِر), or a 'successive' narration. A successive narration is one conveyed by narrators so numerous that it is not conceivable that they have agreed upon an untruth thus being accepted as unquestionable in its veracity. The number of narrators is unspecified.[15] A hadith is said to be mutawatir if it was reported by a significant, though unspecified, number of narrators at each level in the chain of narration, thus reaching the succeeding generation through multiple chains of narration leading back to its source. This provides confirmation that the hadith is authentically attributed to its source at a level above reasonable doubt. This is due to its being beyond historical possibility that narrators could have conspired to forge a narration. In contrast, an ahaad hadith is a narration the chain of which has not reached a number sufficient to qualify as mutawatir. [edit] Types of mutawatirHadiths can be mutawatir in both actual text and meaning: 1. Mutawatir in wording: It is a hadeeth whose words are narrated by such a large number as is required for a mutawatir, in a manner that all the narrators are unanimous in reporting it with the same words without any substantial discrepancy.
2. Mutwatir in meaning: It is a mutawatir hadeeth, which is not reported by the narrators in the same words. The words of the narrators are different. Sometimes even the reported events are not the same. But all the narrators are unanimous in reporting a basic concept, which is common in all reports. This common concept is also ranked as a mutawatir concept.
[edit] AhaadThe second category, ahaad, (آحاد), or singular narration, refers to any hadith not classified as mutawatir. Linguistically, hadith ahad refers to a hadith narrated by only one narrator. In hadith terminology, it refers to a hadith not fulfilling all of the conditions necessary to be deemed mutawatir.[15] [edit] MashhurThe first category is mashhur, (مَشْهُوْر), and refers to a hadith conveyed by three or more narrators but is not considered mutawatir.[15] [edit] `Aziz`Aziz, (عَزِيْز), is any hadith conveyed by two narrators in any given level of a hadith's isnad.[15] [edit] GharibA gharib, (غَرِيْب), hadith is one conveyed by only one narrator.[15] Al-Tirmidhi's understanding of a gharib hadith, concurs to a certain extent with that of the other traditionists. According to him a hadith may be classified as gharib for one of the following three reasons:
[edit] Impact on Islamic LawThere are differing views as to the level of knowledge achieved by each of the two primary categories, mutawatir and ahaad. One view, expressed by Ibn Hajar and others, is that a hadith mutawatir achieves certain knowledge while ahad, unless otherwise corroborated, yields speculative knowledge upon which action is mandated. [15] A second view, held by Dawud al-Thahiri, ibn Hazm and others, and reportedly the position of Malik, is that a hadith ahad achieves certain knowledge as well. Ibn Hazm stated, “The narration conveyed by a single, upright narrator conveying from another of a similar description until reaching the Prophet mandates both knowledge and action.” [16] This issue is discussed, to some extent, pertaining to the impact of hadith ahad on issues of belief, here. [edit] Terminology pertaining to a narration's originDifferent terms exist which are utilized to denote the origin of a narration. These terms specify whether a narration is attributed to the Prophet, a companion, a successor or a latter historical figure. [edit] Marfu`Ibn al-Salah said: "Marfo`, (مَرْفُوْع), refers to a narration attributed to the Prophet specifically. This term does not refer to other than him unless otherwise specified. The category of marfu` is inclusive of narrations attributed to the Prophet regardless of their being muttasil, munqati` or mursal among other categories."[17] [edit] MawqufAccording to Ibn al-Salah: "Mawquf, (مَوْقُوْف), refers to a narration attributed to a companion, whether a statement of that companion, an action or otherwise."[17] [edit] Maqtu'Ibn al-Salah defined maqtu`, (مَقْطُوْع), as a narration attributed to a successor, whether a statement of that successor, an action or otherwise. In spite of the linguistic similarity, it is distinct from munqati`.[17] [edit] A Concise History of Sunni Literature Pertaining to Hadith TerminologyAs in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points of the science of hadith. Ibn Hajar provides a summation of this development with the following: “Works authored in the terminology of the people of hadith have become plentiful from the Imams both old and contemporary:
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