Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying, act or tacit approval by the holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Hadith is considered to be unavoidable source of information towards understanding the Quran and the matters related to life.

In the religious literature of Islam, Prophetic Quotations (Hadith) and Prophetic Ways (Sunnah) are two terms which are considered synonymous with each other. There is however a slight difference between them. The word “Sunnah” means precedent and custom. The technical sense implies both the actions and practices of the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, only. Sunnah therefore is a concrete implementation of the Will of Allah in the form of the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s deeds.

The word “Hadith” means the report of the words and deeds, approval or disapproval of the Holy Prophet. It is comprised of two parts: the chain of transmission (Sanad) and the text (Matn).

The writing of the Prophetic Quotations (Hadith) actually started during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. Abdullah son of Amr, a companion, was the first to write down the Prophetic Quotations. He compiled a book called “As-Saadiqah” (Ibn Saad vol. 2, page 125) which contains the Ahadith that he himself had heard. Similarly, Imam Ali, may Allah honor his face, compiled a large number of Ahadith (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 2 page 1084), Abdullah son of Abbas, another companions, made a collection (Tirmithi Kitab Ul’ilal, page 691). Jafir, son of Abdullah’s collection was used by the ‘Tabai’ Wahab (Tahzeeb, vol. 1, page 316) and those of Abu Hurairah, by Hammam son of Munabbeh were later reproduced in the books of Prophetic Quotations (Hadith) of Sahifa of Hammam, may Allah be pleased with all the companions.

Many well known Islamic scholars such as Imam Bukhari (died 256 A.H.), Imam Muslim (died 261 A.H.), Imam Tirmithi (died 279 A.H.), Imam Ahmad son of Hanbal (died 241 A.H.), Imam Shafii (died 204 A.H.), Imam Abu Dawud (died 275 A.H.), Imam Nisai (died 303 A.H.), Imam Ibn Maja (died 273 A.H.), Darimy (died 255 A.H.), Darqutni (died 350 A.H.), Baihaqi (died 456 A.H.), and Razin (died 540 A.H.), as well as others, may Allah be pleased with them, organized the Prophetic Quotations (Hadith) into subject order at the same time recording their chains of deliverance. The methods employed were such that no scholar anywhere in the world, or in any period of history has ever attempted. The chain of transmitters of the Prophetic Quotations were verified even though in some cases it necessitated traveling to other countries. The piety, veracity, acumen, memory, and intelligence of the reporters was carefully examined.

If any link was found untrustworthy, then the Hadith was rejected, if a link was found to be missing but the Hadith stood up to the other testes it was described as being weak or poor. The result of theses laborious and painstaking investigations were that salient details of the lives of approximately 13,000 companions of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and transmitters’ names were recorded and handed down for posterity.

Alongside the verification of the transmitters, critical tests were applied to examine the veracity of the Hadith in the light of the Holy Koran and authentic Ahadith, together with intelligence. Those Ahadith which failed to meet the standard were rejected or put to one side. Later, these Hadith were recorded separately so that there would be no reason to doubt which were authentic and which were not. It was indeed a great task, coupled with religious zeal and fervor together with dedication and piety on the part of the scholars. Imam Bukhari alone devoted sixteen years of his life to compile his great work.

• Mutawatir (Continuous) – This is a tradition reported by a large number of people at different times, so as to make it impossible for any corruption to permeate.
• Sahih (Sound) – This title is given to the utterly flawless transmitted Hadith. There is neither weakness in regard to the chain of transmission (Sanad) nor in the text (Matn), nor is there any contradiction in the established belief in the Holy Koran.
• Hasan (Approved) – This is similar to Sahih tradition except for the fact that some of its narrators have been found to have a defective memory when compared to the narrators of Sahih Hadith.
• Ghareeb (Rare) – The Hadith in the chain of transmission for which the number of narrators is reduced to one at any stage is known as a Ghareeb Hadith. Imam Tirmithi used two special terms regarding both the Hasan and Gharib Ahadith expanding their categorization which are:
• Hasan Sahih – A Hasan Sahih Hadith is one which has a higher degree of authenticity than that of Hasan, but at the same time its degree of authenticity is somewhat lesser than that of Sahih.
• Hasan Sahih Gharib – A Hasan Sahih Hadith is at times qualified by the word Gharib when the link in transmission is joined to another at a certain point by one transmitter only. It is of course Hasan in respect to its soundness and Gharib only in regard to its chain of transmission.

1. Mashhur (Well Known) – This is a tradition which has been handed down by at least three different reliable authorities, or according to another definition, a tradition which, although widely spread later, was originally transmitted by one person in the first generation.

2. Muttasil or Mawsol (Joined) – This is a tradition which has successive narrators without any missing link, irrespective of the fact of whether it is traceable directly to the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, or to one of his companions, may Allah be pleased with them.

3. Marfu’ (Traced Directly) – This is a Hadith which is not as strong as the one in the previous classification and is traced directly to the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and has more characteristics.

4. Mursal (Forwarded) – If a companion of the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, is found to be missing from the chain of transmission and one of the Tabieen (successors of the companions) transmits it, then the Hadith is called Mursal.

5. Maukuf (Suspended) – Maukuf is a Hadith in which the companion does not make the fact explicitly clear that he is narrating the Hadith of the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. For example, the narrator says that Hadrat ‘Umar Ibn Khatab said such and such.

6. Qudsi (Divine) – The Prophetic Quotation receives its meaning from Allah but the words are from the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. In a Hadith Qudsi however, both the meaning and the words are from Allah such as those of the Holy Books given to Abraham, et cetera. The difference between the Hadith Qudsi and the Holy Koran is that the reading of the Holy Koran is used for worshipping and the Holy Koran contains the challenge from Allah for anyone to produce a verse like it. The following Hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Abu Dharr Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, in which the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, conveys the message of Allah in His very Name:

Hadith Qudsi:

7. Da’if (Weak) – A Hadith which is weak has a defect either in the chain of transmission or in the correct understanding of the transmitter, or its contents are not in perfect agreement with Islamic belief and practices. It is in fact a tradition of weak or less reliable authority.

8. Maktu’ (Broken) – This is a Hadith with a chain of transmission that cannot be traced beyond one of the successors (Tabieen).

9. Shadh (Isolated) – This is a Hadith in which a comparatively less authentic narrator of Hadith opposes one whose account is more authentic than his.

10. Munkati’ (Disjointed) – This is a Hadith in which either a link in the chain of transmission is found to be missing or an unknown narrator is found to join the chain.

11. Maudu’ (Forged) – This is a type of “Hadith” which a liar fabricates and then attributes it to the Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him.

12. Munkar (Disapproved) – This is a Hadith in which a weak transmitter of Hadith opposes one who is reliable and a proven authentic transmitter of Hadith.

13. Mudallas (Deceptive) – If the transmitter of the Hadith does not mention the name of his teacher and gives the name of one who is a degree higher than his teacher using the words “meaning from so and so”, this type of Hadith is called Mudallas and the act of concealing the name of the teacher is called Tadlees (deception).