An Introduction to the Science of Hadith
Some commonly-quoted ahadith [Be sure to look at the appendix below! -Ed. note]
SECTION A
l Introduction
A brief history of Mustalah al Hadith
l Mustalah al-Hadith (the Classification of Hadith)
l Rijal al-Hadith (the study of the reporters of Hadith)
SECTION B
l THE CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH
¡ According to the reference to a particular authority
¡ According to the links in the isnad
¡ According to the number of reporters in each stage of the isnad
¡ According to the manner in which the hadith is reported
¡ According to the nature of the text and isnad
¡ According to a hidden defect found in the isnad or text of a hadith
¡ According to the reliability and memory of the reporters
SECTION C
l Further branches of Mustalah and Rijal
APPENDIX
l Verdicts on the ahadith mentioned in the Foreword
SECTION A
INTRODUCTION
The Muslims are agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) is the second of the two revealed fundamental sources of Islam, after the Glorious Qur'an. The
authentic Sunnah is contained within the vast body of Hadith literature.1
.
A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnad (chain of reporters)
.
A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnad with reliable reporters to be
acceptable; 'Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers of Imam al-Bukhari,
said, "The isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished to would have said
whatever he liked."2.
During the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and after his death, his
Companions (Sahabah) used to refer to him directly, when quoting his sayings. The Successors
(Tabi'un) followed suit; some of them used to quote the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) through the Companions while others would omit the intermediate authority - such a hadith was
later known as mursal. It was found that the missing link between the Successor and the Prophet (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace) might be one person, i.e. a Companion, or two people, the extra
person being an older Successor who heard the hadith from the Companion. This is an example of how
the need for the verification of each isnad arose; Imam Malik (d. 179) said, "The first one to utilise the
isnad was Ibn Shihab al- Zuhri" (d. 124).3
.
The other more important reason was the deliberate fabrication of ahadith by various sects which
appeared amongst the Muslims, in order to support their views (see later, under discussion of maudu'
ahadith). Ibn Sirin (d. 110), a Successor, said, "They would not ask about the isnad. But when the fitnah
(trouble, turmoil, esp. civil war) happened, they said: Name to us your men. So the narrations of the Ahl
al-Sunnah (Adherents to the Sunnah) would be accepted, while those of the Ahl al-Bid'ah (Adherents to
Innovation) would not be accepted."4.
A brief history of Mustalah al-Hadith (Classification of Hadith)
As time passed, more reporters were involved in each isnad, and so the situation demanded strict
discipline in the acceptance of ahadith; the rules regulating this discipline are known as Mustalah alHadith
(the
Classification
of
Hadith).
Amongst the early traditionists (muhaddithin, scholars of Hadith), the rules and criteria governing their
study of Hadith were meticulous but some of their terminology varied from person to person, and their
principles began to be systematically written down, but scattered amongst various books, e.g. in AlRisalah
of
al-
Shafi'i
(d.
204),
the
Introduction
to
the
Sahih
of
Muslim
(d.
261)
and
the
Jami'
of
alTirmidhi
(d.
279);
many
of
the
criteria
of
early
traditionists,
e.g.
al-Bukhari,
were
deduced
by
later
scholars
from
a
careful
study
of
which
reporters
or
isnads
were
accepted
and
rejected
by
them.
One of the earliest writings to attempt to cover Mustalah comprehensively, using standard (i.e.
generally-accepted) terminology, was the work by al-Ramahurmuzi (d. 360). The next major
contribution was Ma'rifah 'Ulum al-Hadith by al- Hakim (d. 405), which covered fifty classifications of
Hadith, but still left some points untouched; Abu Nu'aim al-Isbahani (d. 430) completed some of the
missing parts to this work. After that came Al-Kifayah fi 'Ilm al- Riwayah of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d.
463) and another work on the manner of teaching and studying Hadith; later scholars were considered to
be greatly indebted to al-Khatib's work.
After further contributions by Qadi 'Iyad al- Yahsubi (d. 544) and Abu Hafs al-Mayanji (d. 580) among
others, came the work which, although modest in size, was so comprehensive in its excellent treatment
of the subject that it came to be the standard reference for thousands of scholars and students of Hadith
to come, over many centuries until the present day: 'Ulum al- Hadith of Abu 'Amr 'Uthman Ibn al-Salah
(d. 643), commonly known as Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salah, compiled while he taught in the Dar al-Hadith
of several cities in Syria. Some of the numerous later works based on that of Ibn al-Salah are:
l An abridgement of Muqaddimah, Al-Irshad by al- Nawawi (d. 676), which he later summarised in
his Taqrib; al-Suyuti (d. 911) compiled a valuable commentary on the latter entitled Tadrib alRawi.
l Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith of Ibn Kathir (d. 774), Al-Khulasah of al-Tibi (d. 743), Al- Minhal of
Badr al-Din b. Jama'ah (d. 733), Al- Muqni' of Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 802) and Mahasin al-Istilah of
al-Balqini (d. 805), all of which are abridgements of Muqaddimah Ibn al- Salah.
l Al-Nukat of al-Zarkashi (d. 794), Al-Taqyid wa 'l-Idah of al-'Iraqi (d. 806) and Al-Nukat of Ibn
Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852), all of which are further notes on the points made by Ibn al- Salah.
l Alfiyyah al-Hadith of al-'Iraqi, a rewriting of Muqaddimah in the form of a lengthy poem, which
became the subject of several commentaries, including two (one long, one short) by the author
himself, Fath al-Mughith of al-Sakhawi (d. 903), Qatar al-Durar of al- Suyuti and Fath al-Baqi of
Shaykh Zakariyyah al-Ansari (d. 928).
Other notable treatises on Mustalah include:
l Al-Iqtirah of Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702). Tanqih al-Anzar of Muhammad b. Ibrahim al- Wazir (d.
840), the subject of a commentary by al-Amir al-San'ani (d. 1182).
l Nukhbah al-Fikr of Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, again the subject of several commentaries, including
one by the author himself, one by his son Muhammad, and those of 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014), 'Abd alRa'uf
al-Munawi (d.1031) and Muhammad b.'Abd al-Hadi al-Sindi (d.1138).Among those who rephrased
the Nukhbah in poetic form are al-Tufi (d.893) and al-Amir al-San'ani.
l Alfiyyah al-Hadith of al-Suyuti, the most comprehensive poetic work in the field. Al-Manzumah
Some commonly-quoted ahadith [Be sure to look at the appendix below! -Ed. note]
SECTION A
l Introduction
A brief history of Mustalah al Hadith
l Mustalah al-Hadith (the Classification of Hadith)
l Rijal al-Hadith (the study of the reporters of Hadith)
SECTION B
l THE CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH
¡ According to the reference to a particular authority
¡ According to the links in the isnad
¡ According to the number of reporters in each stage of the isnad
¡ According to the manner in which the hadith is reported
¡ According to the nature of the text and isnad
¡ According to a hidden defect found in the isnad or text of a hadith
¡ According to the reliability and memory of the reporters
SECTION C
l Further branches of Mustalah and Rijal
APPENDIX
l Verdicts on the ahadith mentioned in the Foreword
SECTION A
INTRODUCTION
The Muslims are agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) is the second of the two revealed fundamental sources of Islam, after the Glorious Qur'an. The
authentic Sunnah is contained within the vast body of Hadith literature.1
.
A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnad (chain of reporters)
.
A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnad with reliable reporters to be
acceptable; 'Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers of Imam al-Bukhari,
said, "The isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished to would have said
whatever he liked."2.
During the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and after his death, his
Companions (Sahabah) used to refer to him directly, when quoting his sayings. The Successors
(Tabi'un) followed suit; some of them used to quote the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) through the Companions while others would omit the intermediate authority - such a hadith was
later known as mursal. It was found that the missing link between the Successor and the Prophet (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace) might be one person, i.e. a Companion, or two people, the extra
person being an older Successor who heard the hadith from the Companion. This is an example of how
the need for the verification of each isnad arose; Imam Malik (d. 179) said, "The first one to utilise the
isnad was Ibn Shihab al- Zuhri" (d. 124).3
.
The other more important reason was the deliberate fabrication of ahadith by various sects which
appeared amongst the Muslims, in order to support their views (see later, under discussion of maudu'
ahadith). Ibn Sirin (d. 110), a Successor, said, "They would not ask about the isnad. But when the fitnah
(trouble, turmoil, esp. civil war) happened, they said: Name to us your men. So the narrations of the Ahl
al-Sunnah (Adherents to the Sunnah) would be accepted, while those of the Ahl al-Bid'ah (Adherents to
Innovation) would not be accepted."4.
A brief history of Mustalah al-Hadith (Classification of Hadith)
As time passed, more reporters were involved in each isnad, and so the situation demanded strict
discipline in the acceptance of ahadith; the rules regulating this discipline are known as Mustalah alHadith
(the
Classification
of
Hadith).
Amongst the early traditionists (muhaddithin, scholars of Hadith), the rules and criteria governing their
study of Hadith were meticulous but some of their terminology varied from person to person, and their
principles began to be systematically written down, but scattered amongst various books, e.g. in AlRisalah
of
al-
Shafi'i
(d.
204),
the
Introduction
to
the
Sahih
of
Muslim
(d.
261)
and
the
Jami'
of
alTirmidhi
(d.
279);
many
of
the
criteria
of
early
traditionists,
e.g.
al-Bukhari,
were
deduced
by
later
scholars
from
a
careful
study
of
which
reporters
or
isnads
were
accepted
and
rejected
by
them.
One of the earliest writings to attempt to cover Mustalah comprehensively, using standard (i.e.
generally-accepted) terminology, was the work by al-Ramahurmuzi (d. 360). The next major
contribution was Ma'rifah 'Ulum al-Hadith by al- Hakim (d. 405), which covered fifty classifications of
Hadith, but still left some points untouched; Abu Nu'aim al-Isbahani (d. 430) completed some of the
missing parts to this work. After that came Al-Kifayah fi 'Ilm al- Riwayah of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d.
463) and another work on the manner of teaching and studying Hadith; later scholars were considered to
be greatly indebted to al-Khatib's work.
After further contributions by Qadi 'Iyad al- Yahsubi (d. 544) and Abu Hafs al-Mayanji (d. 580) among
others, came the work which, although modest in size, was so comprehensive in its excellent treatment
of the subject that it came to be the standard reference for thousands of scholars and students of Hadith
to come, over many centuries until the present day: 'Ulum al- Hadith of Abu 'Amr 'Uthman Ibn al-Salah
(d. 643), commonly known as Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salah, compiled while he taught in the Dar al-Hadith
of several cities in Syria. Some of the numerous later works based on that of Ibn al-Salah are:
l An abridgement of Muqaddimah, Al-Irshad by al- Nawawi (d. 676), which he later summarised in
his Taqrib; al-Suyuti (d. 911) compiled a valuable commentary on the latter entitled Tadrib alRawi.
l Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith of Ibn Kathir (d. 774), Al-Khulasah of al-Tibi (d. 743), Al- Minhal of
Badr al-Din b. Jama'ah (d. 733), Al- Muqni' of Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 802) and Mahasin al-Istilah of
al-Balqini (d. 805), all of which are abridgements of Muqaddimah Ibn al- Salah.
l Al-Nukat of al-Zarkashi (d. 794), Al-Taqyid wa 'l-Idah of al-'Iraqi (d. 806) and Al-Nukat of Ibn
Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852), all of which are further notes on the points made by Ibn al- Salah.
l Alfiyyah al-Hadith of al-'Iraqi, a rewriting of Muqaddimah in the form of a lengthy poem, which
became the subject of several commentaries, including two (one long, one short) by the author
himself, Fath al-Mughith of al-Sakhawi (d. 903), Qatar al-Durar of al- Suyuti and Fath al-Baqi of
Shaykh Zakariyyah al-Ansari (d. 928).
Other notable treatises on Mustalah include:
l Al-Iqtirah of Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702). Tanqih al-Anzar of Muhammad b. Ibrahim al- Wazir (d.
840), the subject of a commentary by al-Amir al-San'ani (d. 1182).
l Nukhbah al-Fikr of Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, again the subject of several commentaries, including
one by the author himself, one by his son Muhammad, and those of 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014), 'Abd alRa'uf
al-Munawi (d.1031) and Muhammad b.'Abd al-Hadi al-Sindi (d.1138).Among those who rephrased
the Nukhbah in poetic form are al-Tufi (d.893) and al-Amir al-San'ani.
l Alfiyyah al-Hadith of al-Suyuti, the most comprehensive poetic work in the field. Al-Manzumah
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