THE CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH: According to the nature of the text and isnad
Shadhdh & Munkar
According to al-Shafi'i, a shadhdh ("irregular") hadith is one which is reported by a trustworthy person
but goes against 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.43
In the light of this definition, the wellknown
hadith,
"Actions
are
(judged)
according
to
their
intentions",
is
not
considered
shadhdh
since
it
has
been
narrated
by
Yahya
b.
Sa'id
al-Ansari
from
Muhammad
b.
Ibrahim
al-Taimi
from
'Alqamah
from
'Umar,
all
of
whom
are
trustworthy
authorities,
although
each
one
of
them
is
the
only
reporter
at
that
stage.44
An example of a shadhdh hadith according to some scholars is one which Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi
transmit, through the following isnad:
'Abdul Wahid b. Ziyad --- al-A'mash --- Abu Salih --- Abu Hurairah === the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace): "When one of you offers the two rak'ahs before the Dawn Prayer, he should
lie down on his right side."
Regarding it, al-Baihaqi said,
"'Abdul Wahid has gone against a large number of people with this narration, for they have reported the
above as an act of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and not as his saying; 'Abdul
Wahid is alone amongst the trustworthy students of al-A'mash in narrating these words."45
According to Ibn Hajar, if a narration which goes against another authentic hadith is reported by a weak
narrator, it is known as munkar (denounced).46 Traditionists as late as Ahmad used to simply label any
hadith of a weak reporter as munkar.47 Sometimes, a hadith is labelled as munkar because of its
contents being contrary to general sayings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
Al-Khatib (d. 463) quotes al-Rabi' b. Khaitham (d. 63) as saying,
"Some ahadith have a light like that of day, which we recognise; others have a darkness like that of night
which makes us reject them."
He also quotes al-Auza'i (d. 157) as saying,
"We used to listen to ahadith and present them to fellow traditionalists, just as we present forged coins to
moneychangers:
whatever they recognise of them,we accept,and whatever they reject of them,we also reject."48
Ibn Kathir quotes the following two ahadith in his Tafsir, the first of which is acceptable, whereas the
second contradicts it and is unreliable:
1.Ahmad === Abu Mu'awiyah === Hisham b. 'Urwah --- Fatimah bint al-Mundhir --- Asma' bint
Abi Bakr, who said, "My mother came (to Madinah) during the treaty Quraish had made, while
she was still a polytheist. So I came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and
said to him, 'O Messenger of Allah, my mother has come willingly: should I treat her with
kindness?' He replied, 'Yes! Treat her with kindness'."
2.Al-Bazzar === 'Abdullah b. Shabib === Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaibah === Abu Qatadah al- 'Adawi --
the nephew of al-Zuhri al-Zuhri 'Urwah' A'ishah And Asma',both of whom said,"Our mother came to us in Madinah while she was a polytheist, during the peace treaty between the Quraish and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).So we said,'O Messenger of Allah,our mother has come to Madinah willingly:do we treat her kindly?' He said, 'Yes! Treat her kindly'."Ibn Kathir then remarks:
"This (latter) hadith, to our knowledge is reported only through this route of al- Zuhri --- 'Urwah ---
'A'ishah. It is a munkar hadith with this text because the mother of 'A'ishah is Umm Ruman, who was
already a Muslim emigrant, while the mother of Asma' was another woman, as mentioned by name in
other ahadith."49
In contrast to a munkar hadith, if a reliable reporter is found to add something which is not narrated by
other authentic sources, the addition is accepted as long as it does not contradict them; and is known as
ziyadatu thiqah (an addition by one trustworthy).50
An example is the hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim
on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace), 'Which action is the most virtuous?' He said, 'The Prayer at its due time'." Two reporters, AlHasan
b.Makdam and Bindar, reported it with the addition,"at the beginning of its time";both Al Hakim and Ibn Hibban declared this addition to be sahih.51
Mudraj
An addition by a reporter to the text of the saying being narrated is termed mudraj (interpolated).52
For
example, al-Khatib relates via Abu Qattan and Shababah --- Shu'bah --- Muhammad b. Ziyad --- Abu
Hurairah --- The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said,
"Perform the ablution fully; woe to the heels from the Fire!"
Al-Khatib then remarks,
"The statement, 'Perform the ablution fully' is made by Abu Hurairah, while the statement afterwards,
'Woe to the heels from the Fire!', is that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The
distinction between the two is understood from the narration of al- Bukhari, who transmits the same
hadith and quotes Abu Hurairah as saying, "Complete the ablution, for Abu 'l-Qasim (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) said: Woe to the heels from the Fire!"."53
Such an addition may be found in the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, often in explanation of a
term used. Idraj (interpolation) is mostly found in the text, although a few examples show that such
additions are found in the isnad as well, where the reporter grafts a part of one isnad into another.
A reporter found to be in the habit of intentional idraj is generally unacceptable and considered a liar.54
However, the traditionalists are more lenient towards those reporters who may do so forgetfully or in
order to explain a difficult word. THE CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH: According to a hidden defect found in the
isnad or text of a hadith
Before discussing ma'lul (defective) ahadith, a brief note on mudtarib (shaky) and maqlub (reversed)
ahadith would help in understanding ma'lul.
Mudtarib
According to Ibn Kathir, if reporters disagree about a particular shaikh, or about some other points in the
isnad or the text, in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there
is uncertainty about the isnad or text, such a hadith is called mudtarib (shaky).55
For example with regard to idtirab in the isnad, it is reported on the authority of Abu Bakr that he said,
"O Messenger of Allah! I see you getting older?" He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied,
"What made me old are Surah Hud and its sister surahs." Al-Daraqutni says,
"This is an example of a mudtarib hadith. It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different
opinions are held about this isnad: some report it as mursal, others as muttasil; some take it as musnad of
Abu Bakr, others as musnad 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."56
As an example of idtirab in the text, Rafi' b. Khadij said that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) forbade the renting of land. The reporters narrating from Rafi' give different
statements, as follows:
1.Hanzalah asked Rafi', "What about renting for gold and silver?" He replied, "It does not matter if
it is rent for gold and silver."
2.Rifa'ah --- Rafi' --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said, "Whoever
owns a piece of land should cultivate it, give it to his brother to cultivate, or abandon it."
3.Salim --- Rafi' --- his two uncles --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who
forbade the renting of farming land.
4.The son of Rafi' --- Rafi' --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who forbade
the renting of land.
5.A different narration by Rafi' from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who
said, "Whoever owns a piece of land should either cultivate it or give it to his brother to cultivate.
He must not rent it for a third or a quarter of the produce, nor for a given quantity of the produce."
6.Zaid b. Thabit said, "May Allah forgive Rafi'! I am more aware of the hadith than he; what
happened was that two of the Ansar (Helpers) had a dispute, so they came to the Prophet (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said after listening to their cases, 'If this is your
position, then do not rent the farms.' Rafi' has only heard the last phrase, i.e., 'Do not rent the
farms'."
Because of these various versions, Ahmad b. Hanbal said,
"The ahadith reported by Rafi' about the renting of land are mudtarib. They are not to be accepted,
especially when they go against the well-established hadith of Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave the land of Khaibar to the Jews on condition that they
work on it and take half of the produce."57
Maqlub A hadith is known as maqlub (changed, reversed) when its isnad is grafted to a different text or vice
versa, or if a reporter happens to reverse the order of a sentence in the text.
As an example relating to the text, in his transmission of the famous hadith describing the seven who
will be under the shelter of Allah on the Day of Judgment, Muslim reports one of the categories as, "a
man who conceals his act of charity to such an extent that his right hand does not know what his left
hand gives in charity." This sentence has clearly been reversed by a reporter, because the correct
wording is recorded in other narrations of both al-Bukhari and Muslim as follows: "... that his left hand
does not know what his right hand gives ..."58
The famous trial of al-Bukhari by the scholars of Baghdad provides a good example of a maqlub isnad.
The traditionists, in order to test their visitor, al-Bukhari, appointed ten men, each with ten ahadith.
Now, each hadith (text) of these ten people was prefixed with the isnad of another. Imam al-Bukhari
listened to each of the ten men as they narrated their ahadith and denied the correctness of every hadith.
When they had finished narrating these ahadith, he addressed each person in turn and recounted to him
each of his ahadith with its correct isnad. This trial earned him great honour among the scholars of
Baghdad.59
Other ways in which ahadith have been rendered maqlub are by replacement of the name of a reporter
with another, e.g. quoting Abu Hurairah as the reporter from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace) although the actual reporter was someone else, or by reversal of the name of the reporter, e.g.
mentioning Walid b. Muslim instead of Muslim b. Walid, or Ka'b b. Murrah instead of Murrah b.
Ka'b.60
Ma'lul or Mu'allal
Ibn al-Salah says, "A ma'lul (defective) hadith is one which appears to be sound, but thorough research
reveals a disparaging factor." Such factors can be:
1.declaring a hadith musnad when it is in fact mursal, or marfu' when it is in fact mauquf;
2.showing a reporter to narrate from his shaikh when in fact he did not meet the latter; or attributing
a hadith to one Companion when it in fact comes through another.61
Ibn al-Madini (d. 324) says that such a defect can only be revealed if all the isnads of a particular hadith
are collated. In his book al- 'Ilal, he gives thirty-four Successors and the names of those Companions
from whom each of them heard ahadith directly. For example, he says that al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110,
aged 88) did not see 'Ali (d. 40), although he adds that there is a slight possibility that he may have seen
him during his childhood in Madinah.62
Such information is very important, since for example, many
Sufi traditions go back to al- Hasan al-Basri, who is claimed to report directly from 'Ali.
Being a very delicate branch of Mustalah al- Hadith, only a few well-known traditionists such as Ibn alMadini
(d.234),Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (d.327),al-Khallal(d.311)and al-Daraqutni(d.385),have compiled books about it.Ibn Abi Hatim, in his Kitab al-'Ilal, has given 2840 examples of ma'mal ul hadith about a range of topics.
An example of a ma'lul hadith is one transmitted by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah, who
reports the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as saying,
"Allah created the land on Saturday; He created the mountains on Sunday; He created the trees on
Monday; He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday; He created the light (or fish) on
Wednesday; He scattered the beasts in it (the earth) on Thursday; and He created Adam after the afternoon of Friday, the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, between the afternoon and
night."63
Regarding it, Ibn Taimiyyah says,"Men more knowledgeable than Muslim, such as al-Bukhari and Yahya b. Ma'in, have criticised it. AlBukhari said,'This saying is not that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace),but one of Ka'bal-Ahbar'."64
Shadhdh & Munkar
According to al-Shafi'i, a shadhdh ("irregular") hadith is one which is reported by a trustworthy person
but goes against 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.43
In the light of this definition, the wellknown
hadith,
"Actions
are
(judged)
according
to
their
intentions",
is
not
considered
shadhdh
since
it
has
been
narrated
by
Yahya
b.
Sa'id
al-Ansari
from
Muhammad
b.
Ibrahim
al-Taimi
from
'Alqamah
from
'Umar,
all
of
whom
are
trustworthy
authorities,
although
each
one
of
them
is
the
only
reporter
at
that
stage.44
An example of a shadhdh hadith according to some scholars is one which Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi
transmit, through the following isnad:
'Abdul Wahid b. Ziyad --- al-A'mash --- Abu Salih --- Abu Hurairah === the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace): "When one of you offers the two rak'ahs before the Dawn Prayer, he should
lie down on his right side."
Regarding it, al-Baihaqi said,
"'Abdul Wahid has gone against a large number of people with this narration, for they have reported the
above as an act of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and not as his saying; 'Abdul
Wahid is alone amongst the trustworthy students of al-A'mash in narrating these words."45
According to Ibn Hajar, if a narration which goes against another authentic hadith is reported by a weak
narrator, it is known as munkar (denounced).46 Traditionists as late as Ahmad used to simply label any
hadith of a weak reporter as munkar.47 Sometimes, a hadith is labelled as munkar because of its
contents being contrary to general sayings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
Al-Khatib (d. 463) quotes al-Rabi' b. Khaitham (d. 63) as saying,
"Some ahadith have a light like that of day, which we recognise; others have a darkness like that of night
which makes us reject them."
He also quotes al-Auza'i (d. 157) as saying,
"We used to listen to ahadith and present them to fellow traditionalists, just as we present forged coins to
moneychangers:
whatever they recognise of them,we accept,and whatever they reject of them,we also reject."48
Ibn Kathir quotes the following two ahadith in his Tafsir, the first of which is acceptable, whereas the
second contradicts it and is unreliable:
1.Ahmad === Abu Mu'awiyah === Hisham b. 'Urwah --- Fatimah bint al-Mundhir --- Asma' bint
Abi Bakr, who said, "My mother came (to Madinah) during the treaty Quraish had made, while
she was still a polytheist. So I came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and
said to him, 'O Messenger of Allah, my mother has come willingly: should I treat her with
kindness?' He replied, 'Yes! Treat her with kindness'."
2.Al-Bazzar === 'Abdullah b. Shabib === Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaibah === Abu Qatadah al- 'Adawi --
the nephew of al-Zuhri al-Zuhri 'Urwah' A'ishah And Asma',both of whom said,"Our mother came to us in Madinah while she was a polytheist, during the peace treaty between the Quraish and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).So we said,'O Messenger of Allah,our mother has come to Madinah willingly:do we treat her kindly?' He said, 'Yes! Treat her kindly'."Ibn Kathir then remarks:
"This (latter) hadith, to our knowledge is reported only through this route of al- Zuhri --- 'Urwah ---
'A'ishah. It is a munkar hadith with this text because the mother of 'A'ishah is Umm Ruman, who was
already a Muslim emigrant, while the mother of Asma' was another woman, as mentioned by name in
other ahadith."49
In contrast to a munkar hadith, if a reliable reporter is found to add something which is not narrated by
other authentic sources, the addition is accepted as long as it does not contradict them; and is known as
ziyadatu thiqah (an addition by one trustworthy).50
An example is the hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim
on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace), 'Which action is the most virtuous?' He said, 'The Prayer at its due time'." Two reporters, AlHasan
b.Makdam and Bindar, reported it with the addition,"at the beginning of its time";both Al Hakim and Ibn Hibban declared this addition to be sahih.51
Mudraj
An addition by a reporter to the text of the saying being narrated is termed mudraj (interpolated).52
For
example, al-Khatib relates via Abu Qattan and Shababah --- Shu'bah --- Muhammad b. Ziyad --- Abu
Hurairah --- The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said,
"Perform the ablution fully; woe to the heels from the Fire!"
Al-Khatib then remarks,
"The statement, 'Perform the ablution fully' is made by Abu Hurairah, while the statement afterwards,
'Woe to the heels from the Fire!', is that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The
distinction between the two is understood from the narration of al- Bukhari, who transmits the same
hadith and quotes Abu Hurairah as saying, "Complete the ablution, for Abu 'l-Qasim (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) said: Woe to the heels from the Fire!"."53
Such an addition may be found in the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, often in explanation of a
term used. Idraj (interpolation) is mostly found in the text, although a few examples show that such
additions are found in the isnad as well, where the reporter grafts a part of one isnad into another.
A reporter found to be in the habit of intentional idraj is generally unacceptable and considered a liar.54
However, the traditionalists are more lenient towards those reporters who may do so forgetfully or in
order to explain a difficult word. THE CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH: According to a hidden defect found in the
isnad or text of a hadith
Before discussing ma'lul (defective) ahadith, a brief note on mudtarib (shaky) and maqlub (reversed)
ahadith would help in understanding ma'lul.
Mudtarib
According to Ibn Kathir, if reporters disagree about a particular shaikh, or about some other points in the
isnad or the text, in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there
is uncertainty about the isnad or text, such a hadith is called mudtarib (shaky).55
For example with regard to idtirab in the isnad, it is reported on the authority of Abu Bakr that he said,
"O Messenger of Allah! I see you getting older?" He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied,
"What made me old are Surah Hud and its sister surahs." Al-Daraqutni says,
"This is an example of a mudtarib hadith. It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different
opinions are held about this isnad: some report it as mursal, others as muttasil; some take it as musnad of
Abu Bakr, others as musnad 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."56
As an example of idtirab in the text, Rafi' b. Khadij said that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) forbade the renting of land. The reporters narrating from Rafi' give different
statements, as follows:
1.Hanzalah asked Rafi', "What about renting for gold and silver?" He replied, "It does not matter if
it is rent for gold and silver."
2.Rifa'ah --- Rafi' --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said, "Whoever
owns a piece of land should cultivate it, give it to his brother to cultivate, or abandon it."
3.Salim --- Rafi' --- his two uncles --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who
forbade the renting of farming land.
4.The son of Rafi' --- Rafi' --- the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who forbade
the renting of land.
5.A different narration by Rafi' from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who
said, "Whoever owns a piece of land should either cultivate it or give it to his brother to cultivate.
He must not rent it for a third or a quarter of the produce, nor for a given quantity of the produce."
6.Zaid b. Thabit said, "May Allah forgive Rafi'! I am more aware of the hadith than he; what
happened was that two of the Ansar (Helpers) had a dispute, so they came to the Prophet (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said after listening to their cases, 'If this is your
position, then do not rent the farms.' Rafi' has only heard the last phrase, i.e., 'Do not rent the
farms'."
Because of these various versions, Ahmad b. Hanbal said,
"The ahadith reported by Rafi' about the renting of land are mudtarib. They are not to be accepted,
especially when they go against the well-established hadith of Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave the land of Khaibar to the Jews on condition that they
work on it and take half of the produce."57
Maqlub A hadith is known as maqlub (changed, reversed) when its isnad is grafted to a different text or vice
versa, or if a reporter happens to reverse the order of a sentence in the text.
As an example relating to the text, in his transmission of the famous hadith describing the seven who
will be under the shelter of Allah on the Day of Judgment, Muslim reports one of the categories as, "a
man who conceals his act of charity to such an extent that his right hand does not know what his left
hand gives in charity." This sentence has clearly been reversed by a reporter, because the correct
wording is recorded in other narrations of both al-Bukhari and Muslim as follows: "... that his left hand
does not know what his right hand gives ..."58
The famous trial of al-Bukhari by the scholars of Baghdad provides a good example of a maqlub isnad.
The traditionists, in order to test their visitor, al-Bukhari, appointed ten men, each with ten ahadith.
Now, each hadith (text) of these ten people was prefixed with the isnad of another. Imam al-Bukhari
listened to each of the ten men as they narrated their ahadith and denied the correctness of every hadith.
When they had finished narrating these ahadith, he addressed each person in turn and recounted to him
each of his ahadith with its correct isnad. This trial earned him great honour among the scholars of
Baghdad.59
Other ways in which ahadith have been rendered maqlub are by replacement of the name of a reporter
with another, e.g. quoting Abu Hurairah as the reporter from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace) although the actual reporter was someone else, or by reversal of the name of the reporter, e.g.
mentioning Walid b. Muslim instead of Muslim b. Walid, or Ka'b b. Murrah instead of Murrah b.
Ka'b.60
Ma'lul or Mu'allal
Ibn al-Salah says, "A ma'lul (defective) hadith is one which appears to be sound, but thorough research
reveals a disparaging factor." Such factors can be:
1.declaring a hadith musnad when it is in fact mursal, or marfu' when it is in fact mauquf;
2.showing a reporter to narrate from his shaikh when in fact he did not meet the latter; or attributing
a hadith to one Companion when it in fact comes through another.61
Ibn al-Madini (d. 324) says that such a defect can only be revealed if all the isnads of a particular hadith
are collated. In his book al- 'Ilal, he gives thirty-four Successors and the names of those Companions
from whom each of them heard ahadith directly. For example, he says that al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110,
aged 88) did not see 'Ali (d. 40), although he adds that there is a slight possibility that he may have seen
him during his childhood in Madinah.62
Such information is very important, since for example, many
Sufi traditions go back to al- Hasan al-Basri, who is claimed to report directly from 'Ali.
Being a very delicate branch of Mustalah al- Hadith, only a few well-known traditionists such as Ibn alMadini
(d.234),Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (d.327),al-Khallal(d.311)and al-Daraqutni(d.385),have compiled books about it.Ibn Abi Hatim, in his Kitab al-'Ilal, has given 2840 examples of ma'mal ul hadith about a range of topics.
An example of a ma'lul hadith is one transmitted by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah, who
reports the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as saying,
"Allah created the land on Saturday; He created the mountains on Sunday; He created the trees on
Monday; He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday; He created the light (or fish) on
Wednesday; He scattered the beasts in it (the earth) on Thursday; and He created Adam after the afternoon of Friday, the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, between the afternoon and
night."63
Regarding it, Ibn Taimiyyah says,"Men more knowledgeable than Muslim, such as al-Bukhari and Yahya b. Ma'in, have criticised it. AlBukhari said,'This saying is not that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace),but one of Ka'bal-Ahbar'."64
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