SCIENCES OF

HADITH

ISLAMIC STUDIES
INTRODUCTION
 The Science of hadith is the process that Muslim scholars
use to evaluate hadith.

 It has been described by one hadith specialist, Jalal al-Din

Abd al-al-Rahman al-Suyuti, as the science of the principles
by which the conditions of both the sanad, the chain of
narration, and the matn, the text of the hadith, are known.

 This science is concerned with the sanad and the matn with
its objective being distinguishing the sahih, authentic, from
other than it.

 Ibn Hajr said the preferred definition is: knowledge of

the principles by which the condition of the
narrator and the narrated are determined.
 An Introduction To
The Science Of Hadîth
I The Muslims are agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) is
S the second of the two revealed fundamental sources of Islam.
L
A A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts:
M
I  The matn (text)
C
 The isnad (chain of reporters)
A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic
S isnad with reliable reporters to be acceptable; 'Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d.
T 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers of Imam al-Bukhari, said, "The
U
D
isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished
I to would have said whatever he liked."
E
S
 THE SANAD AND THE MATN
 The sanad and matn are the primary elements of a hadith.
 The sanad is the information provided regarding the
route by which the matn has been reached. It is so
named due to the reliance of the hadith specialists upon
it in determining the authenticity or weakness of a
hadith.
 The term sanad is synonymous with the similar term
isnad.

‫ الذي تفوته صالة العصر‬:‫ مالك عن نافع عن ابن عمر أن رسول هللا صلعم قال‬
"‫كأنما وتر أهله وماله‬

 The matn is the actual wording of the hadith by which its

meaning is established, or stated differently, the
objective at which the sanad arrives at consisting of
speech.
 The sanad consists of a ‘chain’ of the narrators each
mentioning the one from whom they heard the hadith
until mentioning the originator of matn along with the
matn itself.
 The first people who received hadith were the
Prophets's Companions; so they preserved and
understood it, knowing both its generality and
particulars, and then conveyed it to those after them as
they were commanded.
 Then the generation following them, the Followers,
received it and then conveyed it to those after them and
so on. Thus, the Companion would say, “I heard the
Prophet say such and such.” The Follower would then
say, “I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the Prophet .’”
The one after the Follower would then say, “I heard
someone say, ‘I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the
Prophet …’’” and so on.
 5. The absence
of defects
('illah)
in the Hadith:

1. Continuity
4. Conformity of the
of the Hadith: chain
of transmitters
(ittisal assanad):
CONDITION
FOR
THE
ACCEPTANCE
OF
HADITH

3. Soundness 2. The integrity

('adalah)
of memory of the
of the transmitters:
transmitters:
 THE CONDITION FOR THE
ACCEPTANCE OF HADITH
 A Hadith must meet the following five criteria in order to be
accepted in Islamic law as a source of legal ordinance:

1. Continuity of the chain of transmitters (ittisal assanad):

This chain of transmitters has to be unbroken in order for
the Hadith to be acceptable. That is, none of the
transmitters must be missing from the chain of narrators.
Furthermore, each transmitter must also have heard the
Hadith in question directly from the transmitter before him.
Knowledge of this is verified with the help of the
biographical sciences of the science of Hadith.
2. The integrity ('adalah) of the transmitters:
The integrity of the transmitters is established
in terms of their out- ward observance of Islam.
In other words, it is ascertained that they
practice what is required of them by Islam and
they are not known to engage in the doing of
things which are forbidden. Again this
precondition is verified through the biographical
sciences of Hadith.
3. Soundness of memory of the transmitters:
It must be verified through the biographical
sciences of Hadith that each transmitter has a
sound memory or that his books were accurate
and that he only transmitted directly from his
books. – Rijal Al- Hadith
 .
4. Conformity of the Hadith:
It is important that the Hadith conform with similar
Hadiths on the same topics which are stronger than it.
This conformity should be both in the chain of transmitters
and the text. Non-conformity in the chain of transmit- ters
for example, might be if one of the transmitters in the
chain is different than in a stronger version of the same
Hadith. Non-conformity in text would imply divergence in
the meaning of this Hadith with one which is stronger.

5. The absence of defects ('illah) in the Hadith:

A defect ('illah) in Hadith is defined as a hidden defect in
the Hadith which takes away from its authenticity. A Hadith
which has such a defect is one which appears to be free
from defect at first while after investigation it is discovered
that it has a certain defect which would not be apparent
without investigation. The defect can be in the chain of
transmitters or in text or both.
 TYPES OF
HADITH
( no. of narrators)

al-Hadith
al-Hadith al-ahad
al-mutawatir

al-Hadith al-Hadith al-Hadith

al-mashhur al-aziz al-gharib
CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH
There are two distinct types of Hadith:

A) The recurrent Hadith (al-Hadith al-mutawatir):

 This type of Hadith is decisive in its certainty (qat'i thubut). There is
no doubt that it actually came down from the Prophet (peace be upon
him). There are four conditions which must be present for a Hadith to
be of this category:

 At least four different persons must have narrated the Hadith.

 It must have been impossible for these four or more to have concurred on a
lie.

 They must have narrated the Hadith from similar people (the first two
conditions being applicable) from the beginning of the chain of transmit-ters
until the end of it.

 Their narration of Hadith must rely on the mind and the senses not the mind
only because the mind might be mistaken (as imagining something to have
happened).
CONT…
B) The non-recurrent Hadith (al-Hadith al-ahad):
Any Hadith which is not recurrent (mutawatir) is
called non-recurrent ('ahad). This category is
divided into three sub-groupings according to the
number of narrators of the Hadith:
 The well-known Hadith (al-Hadith al-mashhur).
This is a Hadith which has been narrated by three
or more people in the chain of transmitters but did
not arrive at the rank of recurrent Hadith.
 The strong Hadith (al-Hadith al-aziz). This is a
Hadith in which there are no less than two
narrators in each part of the chain of narrators.
 The rare Hadith (al-Hadith al-gharib). This is a
Hadith which is narrated by a single person at one
point in the chain of transmitters.
 The Classification Of Hadîth: According
To The Reliability And Memory Of Reporters
I

1. Sahih
S
L
A
M –Ibn al-Salah defines a Sahih hadîth as:
I A Sahih hadîth is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of
C reporters of trustworthy memory from similar authorities, and which is
found to be free from any irregularities (i.e. in the text) or defects (i.e. in
the isnad).
S – Of all the collectors of hadîth, al-Bukhârî and Muslim were greatly
T admired because of their tireless attempts to collect Sahih ahadîth
U
only. It is generally understood that the more trustworthy and of
D
I good memory the reporters, the more authentic the hadîth.
E
S
 The Classification Of Hadîth: According
To The Reliability And Memory Of Reporters
I
S
1. Sahih (Cont..)
L The following grading is given for Sahih
A
M ahadîth only:
I 1. those which are transmitted by both al-Bukhârî and Muslim;
C
2. those which are transmitted by al-Bukhârî only;
3. those which are transmitted by Muslim only;
S those which are not found in the above two collections, but
T
4. which agree with the requirements of both al-Bukhârî and
U
D Muslim;
I 5. which agree with the requirements of al-Bukhârî only;
E
S 6. which agree with the requirements of Muslim only; and
7. those declared Sahih by other traditionists.
 The Classification Of Hadîth: According
To The Reliability And Memory Of Reporters
I
2.Hasan
S
L
Ibn al-Salah classifies Hasan into two categories:
A 1. one with an isnad containing a reporter who is mastur ("screened", i.e. no
M prominent person reported from him) but is not totally careless in his reporting,
I provided that a similar text is reported through another isnad as well;
C
2. one with an isnad containing a reporter who is known to be truthful and reliable,
but is a degree less in his preservation/memory of hadîth in comparison to the
reporters of Sahih ahadîth.
S Several weak ahadîth may mutually support each other to the level of Hasan.
T
According to the definitions of al-Tirmidhî and Ibn al-Salah, a number of similar weak
U
D ahadîth on a particular issue can be raised to the degree of Hasan if the weakness
I found in their reporters is of a mild nature.
E • Such a hadîth is known as Hasan li ghairihi (Hasan due to others), to distinguish it from the
S type previously-discussed, which is Hasan li dhatihi (Hasan in itself).
• Similarly, several Hasan ahadîth on the same subject may make the hadîth Sahih li ghairihi,
to be distinguished from the previously-discussed Sahih li dhatihi
 The Classification Of Hadîth: According
To The Reliability And Memory Of Reporters
I
S 3. Dacif
L
A – A hadîth which fails to reach the status of Hasan is Dacif. Usually, the
M weakness is one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadîth
I could be Mursal, Mucallaq, Mudallas, Munqatic or Mucdal, according to
C
the precise nature of the discontinuity, or one of a reporter having a
disparaged character, such as due to his telling lies etc.

S 4. Mauduc
T – Al-Dhahabi defines Mauduc (fabricated, forged) as the term applied to
U
D a hadîth, the text of which goes against the established norms of the
I Prophet's sayings (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), or its
E reporters include a liar
S
TYPES OF HADITH

Types of Hadith

Historical criticism Logical criticism

(Riwayat) (Dirayat)

•Continuous Isnad
•Highly Recommended Implication:
•Research about the
from the Quran: •Ilmu Mustalahu Al
background of the
Al Baqarah:143 Hadith,
• narrators
Al-Hujurat:6 •ilmu Rijal Al Hadith
REFERENCES

 http://members.cox.net/arshad/azmihad.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_of_hadith