_____________________________________________________________________________________
I begin by praising Allah and ask for His forgiveness and I take refuge with Allah from the evil of ourselves and the accursed Satan. Whom so ever Allah guides, there is none to misguide and who so ever Allah leaves to go astray, there is none to guide.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Acknowledgment
As promised, this is the 2nd part of the post concerning the classifications of hadith as requested by sister hlimh from the tagboard. Thanks for the request :D I'll try to make it short yet easy as possible to understand. May this post be a useful and hopefully it answers your request insyaAllah.
MUASTALAH AL-HADITH
(Classification of Hadith)
From the previous post (see part 1), we've discussed the components of hadith which is composed of 3 parts. The authenticity of the hadith depends on the reliability of its reporters, and the linkage among them.
A number of classifications of hadith have been made. Five of these classifications are shown in the figure (below), and are briefly described subsequently.
(click on the picture to have a larger view)
PLS REFER TO THE ABOVE TABLE AS YOU READ THE BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS BELOW!
[1] According to : The Reference to a particular Authority
Four types of hadith can be identified from this category:
(i) QUDSI - "sacred". The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as revealed to him by Allah. Hadith Qudsi (or Sacred Hadith) are so named because their authority (Sanad) is traced back not to the Prophet but to the Almighty. Divine; a revelation from Allah; conveyed with the words of the Prophet (pbuh).
(ii) MARFU' - "elevated". A narration from the Prophet (pbuh) e.g. a reporter (whether a Companion/Successor/other) says, "The Messenger of Allah said..."
To have a better picture, take the very 1st hadith from Sahih Bukhari as an example...
The Isnad is as follows : Al-Bukhari == Al-Humaidi 'Abdullah b. al-Zubair == Sufyan == Yahya b. Sa'id al-Ansari == Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Taymi == 'Alqamah b. Waqqas al-Laithi, who said: I heard 'Umar b. al- Khattab saying, while on the pulpit,
"I heard Allah's Messenger (pbuh) saying: The reward of deeds depends on the intentions, and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended; so whoever emigrated for wordly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he migrated."
[Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, book 1, Hadith no.1]
(iii) MAUQUF - "stopped". A narration from a Companion only, i.e. his own statement. e.g.
"We were commanded to..."
"We were forbidden from..."
"We used to do..."
"We used to say/do... while the Messenger of Allah was amongst us."
"We did not use to mind such-and-such..."
"It used to be said..."
"It is from the Sunnah to..."
(iv) MAQTU' - "severed". A narration from a Successor.
The authenticity of each of the above three types of hadith (excluding Qudsi depends on other factors such as the reliability of its reporters, the nature of the linkage amongst them, etc.
However, the above classification is extremely useful, since through it the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) can be distinguished at once from those of Companions or Successors; this is especially helpful in debate about matters of Fiqh.
[2] According to : The Links of Isnad - interrupted or uninterrupted
Six categories can be identified.
(i) MUSNAD - "supported". A hadith which is reported by a traditionalist, based on what he learned from his teacher at a time of life suitable for learning; similarly - in turn - for each teacher until the isnad reaches a well known companion, who in turn, reports from the Prophet (pbuh).
(ii) MUTTASIL - "continuous". A hadith with an uninterrupted link which goes back only to a Companion or Successor.
(iii) MURSAL - "hurried". If the isnad (link) between the Successor and the Prophet (pbuh) is missing, the hadith is mursal ("hurried"), e.g. when a Successor says, "The Prophet said ...".
(iv) MUNQATI' - "broken". A hadith whose isnad (link) anywhere before the Successor (i.e., closer to the traditionalist recording the hadith) is missing. Some scholars applied the term munqati' to a narration such as where a reporter says, "a man narrated to me..."
(v) MU'DAL - "perplexing". If the number of consecutive missing reporters in the isnad exceeds one, the isnad is mu'dal ("perplexing").
(vi) MU'ALLAQ - "hanging". A hadith whose reporter omits the whole isnad and quotes the Prophet (pbuh) directly (i.e., the link is missing at the beginning). e.g "It reached me that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said..."
[3] According to : The Number of Reporters involved in each stage of Isnad
Five categories of hadith can be identified.
(i) MUTAWATIR - "consecutive". A hadith which is reported by such a large number of people (in the isnad) that they cannot be expected to agree upon a lie, all of them together.
(ii) AHAD - "isolated". A hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of the mutawatir. Ahad is further classified into: Mashhur, Aziz, Gharib.
(iii) MASHHUR - "famous". A hadith reported by more than two reporters. According to some scholars, every narrative which comes to be known widely, whether or not it has an authentic origin, is called mashhur ("famous")
(iv) AZIZ - "rare". At any stage in the isnad, only 2 reporters are found to narrate the hadith.
(v) GHARIB - "strange". At some stage of the isnad, only 1 reporter is found relating to it. Most gharib ahadith are weak; Ahmad b. Hanbal said, "Do not write these gharib hadith because they are unacceptable, and most of them are weak."
[4] According to : The Nature of the Matn (text) and Isnad
(i) ZIYADATU THIQAH - "addition by a reliable reporter". 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.
(ii) MUNKAR - "denounced". In contrast to ziyadatu thiqah, munkar hadith is reported by a weak narrator, and whose narration goes against another authentic hadith.
(iii) MUDRAJ - "interpolated". An addition by a reporter to the text (matn) of the hadith being narrated. Such an addition may be found in the beginning/middle/end, often in explanation of a term used. A reporter found to be in the habit of intentional interpolation is generally unacceptable and considered a liar. However, the traditionists are more lenient towards those reporters who may do so forgetfully or in order to explain a difficult word.
[5] According to : The Reliability and Memory of the Reporters
This provides the final verdict on a hadith. We now examine in more detail these important classes of ahadith. - four categories can be identified:
(i) SAHIH - "sound". Ibn al-Salah defines a sahih hadith precisely by saying, "A sahih hadith is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of 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)."
By the above definition, no room is left for any weak hadith, whether, for example, it is munqati', mu'dal or munkar.
(ii) HASAN - "good". Al-Khattabi (d. 388) states a very concise definition, "It is the one where its source is known and its reporters are unambiguous (i.e. recognizable)"
Al-Dhahabi, after giving the various definitions, says, "A hasan hadith is one which excels the da'if but nevertheless does not reach the standard of a sahih hadith."
(iii) DA'IF - "weak". A hadith which fails to reach the status of hasan is da'if. Usually, the weakness is one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadith could be mursal (hurried), mu'allaq (hanging), munqati' (broken) or mu'dal (perplexing) according to the precise nature of the discontinuity, or one of a reporter having a despised character, such as due to his telling lies, excessive mistakes, opposition to the narration of more reliable sources, involvement in innovation, or ambiguity surrounding his person.
The smaller the number and importance of defects, the less severe the weakness. The more the defects in number and severity, the closer the hadith will be to being maudu' (fabricated).
(iv) MAUDU' - "fabricated/forged". A hadith whose text goes against the established norms of the Prophet's sayings, or its reporters include a liar. Fabricated hadith are also recognized by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident.
A number of traditionists have collected maudu' (fabricated) ahadith separately in order to distinguish them from other ahadith; among them are Ibn al-Jauzi in al-Maudu'at, al-Jauzaqani in Kitab al-Abatil, al-Suyuti in al-La'ali al- Masnu'ah fi 'l-Ahadith al-Maudu'ah, and 'Ali al- Qari in al-Maudu'at
EPILOGUE
Of all the collectors of hadith, al-Bukhari and Muslim were greatly admired because of their tireless attempts to collect sahih ahadith only. It is generally understood that the more trustworthy and of good memory the reporters, the more authentic the hadith.
Some traditionists prefer Sahih al-Bukhari to Sahih Muslim because al-Bukhari always looked for those reporters who had either accompanied or met each other, even if only once in their lifetime. On the other hand, Muslim would accept a reporter who is simply found to be contemporary to his immediate authority in reporting.
I hope this answers the request made by sister hlimh. Apologies if this post does not fulfill the request. Nevertheless, I recommend this website http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/ if you want to do a further study about the topic. Most of the borrowed materials were from that link.
I begin by praising Allah and ask for His forgiveness and I take refuge with Allah from the evil of ourselves and the accursed Satan. Whom so ever Allah guides, there is none to misguide and who so ever Allah leaves to go astray, there is none to guide.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Acknowledgment
As promised, this is the 2nd part of the post concerning the classifications of hadith as requested by sister hlimh from the tagboard. Thanks for the request :D I'll try to make it short yet easy as possible to understand. May this post be a useful and hopefully it answers your request insyaAllah.
MUASTALAH AL-HADITH
(Classification of Hadith)
From the previous post (see part 1), we've discussed the components of hadith which is composed of 3 parts. The authenticity of the hadith depends on the reliability of its reporters, and the linkage among them.
A number of classifications of hadith have been made. Five of these classifications are shown in the figure (below), and are briefly described subsequently.
(click on the picture to have a larger view)PLS REFER TO THE ABOVE TABLE AS YOU READ THE BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS BELOW!
[1] According to : The Reference to a particular Authority
Four types of hadith can be identified from this category:
(i) QUDSI - "sacred". The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as revealed to him by Allah. Hadith Qudsi (or Sacred Hadith) are so named because their authority (Sanad) is traced back not to the Prophet but to the Almighty. Divine; a revelation from Allah; conveyed with the words of the Prophet (pbuh).
(ii) MARFU' - "elevated". A narration from the Prophet (pbuh) e.g. a reporter (whether a Companion/Successor/other) says, "The Messenger of Allah said..."
To have a better picture, take the very 1st hadith from Sahih Bukhari as an example...
The Isnad is as follows : Al-Bukhari == Al-Humaidi 'Abdullah b. al-Zubair == Sufyan == Yahya b. Sa'id al-Ansari == Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Taymi == 'Alqamah b. Waqqas al-Laithi, who said: I heard 'Umar b. al- Khattab saying, while on the pulpit,
"I heard Allah's Messenger (pbuh) saying: The reward of deeds depends on the intentions, and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended; so whoever emigrated for wordly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he migrated."
[Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, book 1, Hadith no.1]
(iii) MAUQUF - "stopped". A narration from a Companion only, i.e. his own statement. e.g.
"We were commanded to..."
"We were forbidden from..."
"We used to do..."
"We used to say/do... while the Messenger of Allah was amongst us."
"We did not use to mind such-and-such..."
"It used to be said..."
"It is from the Sunnah to..."
(iv) MAQTU' - "severed". A narration from a Successor.
The authenticity of each of the above three types of hadith (excluding Qudsi depends on other factors such as the reliability of its reporters, the nature of the linkage amongst them, etc.
However, the above classification is extremely useful, since through it the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) can be distinguished at once from those of Companions or Successors; this is especially helpful in debate about matters of Fiqh.
[2] According to : The Links of Isnad - interrupted or uninterrupted
Six categories can be identified.
(i) MUSNAD - "supported". A hadith which is reported by a traditionalist, based on what he learned from his teacher at a time of life suitable for learning; similarly - in turn - for each teacher until the isnad reaches a well known companion, who in turn, reports from the Prophet (pbuh).
(ii) MUTTASIL - "continuous". A hadith with an uninterrupted link which goes back only to a Companion or Successor.
(iii) MURSAL - "hurried". If the isnad (link) between the Successor and the Prophet (pbuh) is missing, the hadith is mursal ("hurried"), e.g. when a Successor says, "The Prophet said ...".
(iv) MUNQATI' - "broken". A hadith whose isnad (link) anywhere before the Successor (i.e., closer to the traditionalist recording the hadith) is missing. Some scholars applied the term munqati' to a narration such as where a reporter says, "a man narrated to me..."
(v) MU'DAL - "perplexing". If the number of consecutive missing reporters in the isnad exceeds one, the isnad is mu'dal ("perplexing").
(vi) MU'ALLAQ - "hanging". A hadith whose reporter omits the whole isnad and quotes the Prophet (pbuh) directly (i.e., the link is missing at the beginning). e.g "It reached me that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said..."
[3] According to : The Number of Reporters involved in each stage of Isnad
Five categories of hadith can be identified.
(i) MUTAWATIR - "consecutive". A hadith which is reported by such a large number of people (in the isnad) that they cannot be expected to agree upon a lie, all of them together.
(ii) AHAD - "isolated". A hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of the mutawatir. Ahad is further classified into: Mashhur, Aziz, Gharib.
(iii) MASHHUR - "famous". A hadith reported by more than two reporters. According to some scholars, every narrative which comes to be known widely, whether or not it has an authentic origin, is called mashhur ("famous")
(iv) AZIZ - "rare". At any stage in the isnad, only 2 reporters are found to narrate the hadith.
(v) GHARIB - "strange". At some stage of the isnad, only 1 reporter is found relating to it. Most gharib ahadith are weak; Ahmad b. Hanbal said, "Do not write these gharib hadith because they are unacceptable, and most of them are weak."
[4] According to : The Nature of the Matn (text) and Isnad
(i) ZIYADATU THIQAH - "addition by a reliable reporter". 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.
(ii) MUNKAR - "denounced". In contrast to ziyadatu thiqah, munkar hadith is reported by a weak narrator, and whose narration goes against another authentic hadith.
(iii) MUDRAJ - "interpolated". An addition by a reporter to the text (matn) of the hadith being narrated. Such an addition may be found in the beginning/middle/end, often in explanation of a term used. A reporter found to be in the habit of intentional interpolation is generally unacceptable and considered a liar. However, the traditionists are more lenient towards those reporters who may do so forgetfully or in order to explain a difficult word.
[5] According to : The Reliability and Memory of the Reporters
This provides the final verdict on a hadith. We now examine in more detail these important classes of ahadith. - four categories can be identified:
(i) SAHIH - "sound". Ibn al-Salah defines a sahih hadith precisely by saying, "A sahih hadith is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of 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)."
By the above definition, no room is left for any weak hadith, whether, for example, it is munqati', mu'dal or munkar.
(ii) HASAN - "good". Al-Khattabi (d. 388) states a very concise definition, "It is the one where its source is known and its reporters are unambiguous (i.e. recognizable)"
Al-Dhahabi, after giving the various definitions, says, "A hasan hadith is one which excels the da'if but nevertheless does not reach the standard of a sahih hadith."
(iii) DA'IF - "weak". A hadith which fails to reach the status of hasan is da'if. Usually, the weakness is one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadith could be mursal (hurried), mu'allaq (hanging), munqati' (broken) or mu'dal (perplexing) according to the precise nature of the discontinuity, or one of a reporter having a despised character, such as due to his telling lies, excessive mistakes, opposition to the narration of more reliable sources, involvement in innovation, or ambiguity surrounding his person.
The smaller the number and importance of defects, the less severe the weakness. The more the defects in number and severity, the closer the hadith will be to being maudu' (fabricated).
(iv) MAUDU' - "fabricated/forged". A hadith whose text goes against the established norms of the Prophet's sayings, or its reporters include a liar. Fabricated hadith are also recognized by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident.
A number of traditionists have collected maudu' (fabricated) ahadith separately in order to distinguish them from other ahadith; among them are Ibn al-Jauzi in al-Maudu'at, al-Jauzaqani in Kitab al-Abatil, al-Suyuti in al-La'ali al- Masnu'ah fi 'l-Ahadith al-Maudu'ah, and 'Ali al- Qari in al-Maudu'at
EPILOGUE
Of all the collectors of hadith, al-Bukhari and Muslim were greatly admired because of their tireless attempts to collect sahih ahadith only. It is generally understood that the more trustworthy and of good memory the reporters, the more authentic the hadith.
Some traditionists prefer Sahih al-Bukhari to Sahih Muslim because al-Bukhari always looked for those reporters who had either accompanied or met each other, even if only once in their lifetime. On the other hand, Muslim would accept a reporter who is simply found to be contemporary to his immediate authority in reporting.
I hope this answers the request made by sister hlimh. Apologies if this post does not fulfill the request. Nevertheless, I recommend this website http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/ if you want to do a further study about the topic. Most of the borrowed materials were from that link.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If there's any error, I'm open for rectification. None is perfect as perfection only belongs to Allah (God Almighty). All good things come from Allah and all the bad things are from my side and the side of Satan the accursed.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
0 comments:
Post a Comment