Introduction to Hadith

This article is a brief introduction to hadith and its sciences for a Muslim beginner. It will discuss the following topics:

1. Why is the Sunnah Necessary?

People who doubt the hadith and Sunnah are of different levels and types. This first section will respond to the beliefs of each of these different types. The following are six facts to prove to dispel all hadith-skepticism and quranism:

1. Allah commands us to obey the Prophet (SAW) in the Quran
2. The Prophet (SAW) did receive revelation outside the Quran
3. The sayings of the Prophet (SAW) are needed
4. The hadith sciences being ‘manmade’ does not make it especially unreliable
5. Most hadith being non-definitive does not mean we are not required to follow them
6. There is wisdom for Allah not putting everything in the Quran.

1.1 Allah Commands Obedience to the Prophet

Some people claim we do not need to obey anyone except Allah, and they claim the Prophet (SAW) is only a human who brought the Quran like a postman.

This belief is proven wrong in the Quran itself, which repeatedly teaches obeying and following the Prophet (SAW).

First of all, Allah says in the Quran ⟪Obey Allah and obey the Messenger⟫ at least five times in the Quran (4:59, 5:92, 24:54, 47:33, 64:12).

Note how Allah repeats the word “obey” for the Messenger. It is not one command, but two separate commands: 1) obey Allah (through the Quran) and 2) obey the Messenger (through his Sunnah). This goes against anyone who claims obeying the Messenger is only by following the Quran.

Secondly, Allah says ⟪Say, [O Muhammad], “If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.”⟫ (3:31)

Allah links His love to following the Messenger (SAW).

Thirdly, Allah says ⟪O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the leaders among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.⟫ (4:59)

In this verse, Allah explicitly says the final judges are always Allah and His Messenger. He does not say the final judge is Allah alone, so no one can claim that the final judge is always just the Quran because it is Allah’s speech.

Fourthly, Allah says ⟪But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.⟫ (4:65)

In this verse, Allah obligates everyone to take the Prophet (SAW) as the judge in all disputes. Today, we can only do so by referring back to his actions and sayings.

Fifthly, Allah says ⟪There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern⟫ (33:21)

In this verse, Allah praises the pattern of the Prophet (SAW), calling it “excellent” (hasanah), and invites us to follow it.

There are many more verses on this topic. See “Does Quran say to Follow the Sunnah?” for more verses with detailed explanations.

1.2 Prophet Received Other Revelation

Some people dispute the fact that the Prophet (SAW) received revelation in addition to the Quran, saying the Quran was the only revelation the Prophet (SAW) was given. This is plainly false according to the Quran itself.

Firstly, Allah says ⟪Your companion [Muhammad] has not strayed, nor has he erred, Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed,⟫ (53:2-4)

These verses indicate that the Prophet (SAW) did not speak simply from his desires in any part of his life. If he ever made a mistake, Allah would quickly correct him. So, if he says something and there is no correction, it is necessary to follow him.

Secondly, there are many instances in the Quran of Allah referencing revelation the Prophet received not in the Quran.

For example, Allah says ⟪And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed [another] of it and Allah showed it to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it, she said, “Who told you this?” He said, “I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted.”⟫ (66:3)

Here, Allah says the Prophet (SAW) was informed through revelation about something one of his wives said secretly to another. Obviously, nothing of this sort exists in the Quran itself. Rather, he was informed outside the Quran.

At this point, some people try to claim he may have received other revelation but it was only about personal or worldly matters, not about the religion. But, the Quran also alludes to instances of revelation outside the Quran about the religion, not just the world.

An example is when Allah says about the old direction of prayer to Jerusalem ⟪And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels.⟫ (2:143)

Here, Allah says He legislated the qiblah to Jerusalem, but no such verse exists in the Quran. So, it was something given to the Prophet (SAW) outside the Quran.

Another example is when Allah says ⟪And if you fear [an enemy, then pray] on foot or riding. But when you are secure, then remember Allah [in prayer], like He has taught you that which you did not [previously] know.⟫ (2:239)

Here, Allah says the way of prayer was ⟪taught⟫ by Allah. However, no verses in the Quran clearly teach the method of prayer. At most, some verses reference parts of prayer without ever teaching how to pray. So, this refers to the teachings given to the Prophet (SAW) outside the Quran.

In addition to this, Allah gives detailed instructions of how to perform wudhu in the Quran, and wudhu is only the preparation for prayer! It is impossible to imagine Allah wanted people to prepare for prayer in an extremely specific way but did not care about their way of prayer itself.

Another example is when Allah says about obligatory charity ⟪And those within whose wealth is a known right for the beggars and the deprived⟫ (70:24-25), referring to some known share of charity which is never mentioned in the Quran.

Another example is Allah saying about Hajj ⟪Hajj is [during] well-known months⟫ (2:197) without saying what months it is in.

1.3 Importance of the Sayings of the Prophet (SAW)

Some people claim we only need the practices of the Prophet (SAW) and they were transmitted by the practice of the Muslims, generation to generation, like how to pray and when to do Hajj. They claim we do not need individual or solitary narrations from the Prophet (SAW).

This claim is wrong because Allah never qualifies what type of transmission we are required to obey. Allah says ⟪Obey Allah and obey the Messenger⟫ without saying “only when it is proven through generational practice.” Additionally, the word ⟪obey⟫ itself is about sayings and commands, not actions. Actions are followed, not obeyed.

So, as long as the transmission is authentic and it is likely to be true, we are required to obey it. It is not possible to limit it to practices passed on generation to generation, but it is possible to say those practices are more strongly proven.

One question that arises when only relying on Muslim practice is what to do when their practice does not agree, like what dua to make before reciting Fatihah or whether to raise hands when doing ruku. Which practice will one follow?

The only way to know which one is correct is by investigating the hadith evidence of different views.

1.4 Are Ahadith Manmade?

Some people criticize the sciences of hadith as being manmade.

However, even the sciences of the Quran are manmade. After all, the Quran was written by men, compiled by men, carried to different lands by men, and memorized generation to generation by men.

Some hadith-skeptics use the verse ⟪Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder and indeed, We will be its guardian.⟫ (15:9) as evidence the Quran alone is protected. But, they have no evidence in this verse for their claim.

Although some scholars said ⟪Reminder⟫ here means Quran, the word itself is broad enough to include hadith. Allah protected both the reminder in the Quran and the Sunnah.

He protected the Sunnah by creating scholars who memorized the ahadith, created a science to classify them, authenticated the authentic and weakened the weak, and collected them into the many collections we have today.

So, both the Quran and Sunnah were preserved by the hands of men with Allah’s power guiding the process. The only difference is that the Quran is mostly definitive while the ahadith are usually non-definitive, but both must be followed.

1.5 Definitive and Non-Definitive

Knowledge is either definitive or non-definitive. Definitive knowledge is that knowledge which is known to be true with zero doubt. Non-definitive knowledge is knowledge that is known to be true but with the possibility of some doubt. It can still be strongly proven, but it has some room for doubt.

The Quran’s transmission is definitive and mutawatir. There are so many memorizers and transmitters in every generation that there remains no room for doubt that the Quran actually comes from the mouth of the Prophet (SAW).

Some ahadith are transmitted definitively, like mutawatir ahadith as will be mentioned later. However, most of the authentic hadith literature is non-definitive knowledge.

Someone might claim we do not need to follow non-definitive knowledge. However, this claim goes against the Quran, Sunnah, and rationality.

As for the Quran, Allah repeatedly mentions how the Christians and the Jews were given scriptures that they were required to follow, but their scriptures were not transmitted definitively as should be obvious from the fact of their corruption. So, they were required to follow scripture even though it was non-definitive.

Why would it be different for Muslims when God has commanded them to obey Allah and the Prophet (SAW)? They are required to obey even if some of the commands are transmitted to them non-definitively.

As for the Sunnah, the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have sent letters to the kings of different lands asking them to accept Islam and follow him. He also sent messengers to lands like Yemen to teach them Islam. Being told something through one or two messengers is non-definitive knowledge. If it was not binding to follow this knowledge, there would be no point in the Prophet sending those messengers to teach Islam.

As for rationality, humans follow non-definitive knowledge all the time in their daily life. Almost everything a person relies on everyday like the bus schedule is non-definitive. Why would he stop using his rationality in this case when it is most important?

1.6 Wisdom of Having the Sunnah

Firstly, having the details of everything in the Quran would lengthen it and make it almost like a legal textbook. However, the Quran was sent down as a concise book of guidance that points a person in the correct direction, like the Sunnah. It was not sent down to list every law one needs to know. Doing that would make it not concise.

Some people claim the Quran contains everything because Allah says ⟪And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.⟫ (16:89)

But, that is a misinterpretation of this verse, and ⟪clarification for all things⟫ means the Quran clarifies everything you need to know by mentioning some things explicitly and pointing to some things indirectly by mentioning where one needs to go for more details. So, when a person receives a command from the Prophet (SAW) and the Quran commands him to obey the Prophet (SAW), that is clarification from the Quran.

The interpretation that ⟪clarification for all things⟫ means the Quran explicitly mentions everything in the religion is proven wrong simply by the fact that the Quran does not teach the exact method of prayer.

Secondly, Allah loved the Prophet (SAW) and wished to give him a high status to the point that He said ⟪And raised high for you your mention.⟫ (94:4)

Obligating people to follow his sayings and actions is one way Allah raised the Prophet (SAW)’s mention and status.

Thirdly, creating the subject of the Sunnah and hadith gives people the opportunity to gain rewards by working hard for the sake of Allah and the Prophet (SAW), by collecting, classifying, learning, and analyzing ahadith. It is a chance to gain good deeds with Allah.

Fourthly, many actions, like prayer, are easier to show than tell. That is why the Prophet (SAW) taught prayer by showing how it is performed instead of Allah explaining exactly how to do it in words.

2. What is a Hadith? And Other Terminology

A hadith (pl. ahadith) or khabr refers to one narration about a saying, action, or approval of (usually) the Prophet (SAW).

Sometimes “hadith” can refer to the concept of narrations, not an individual hadith or all ahadith. [1]

A single hadith is made up of two parts: 1) the sanad (chain), and 2) the matn (content).

Today, a person will mostly get a hadith from a hadith collection, which is a collection of ahadith by a scholar.

An example of a full hadith taken from the collection Sahih Bukhari:

Musaddad narrated to us, saying: Yahya narrated to us from Shubah from Qatadah from Anas from the Prophet (SAW) […]: “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

Sahih Bukhari 13

2.1 Sanad (Chain)

The early hadith scholars were concerned about verifying the narrations of the Prophet (SAW), so they were not satisfied if Qatadah (who is a generation after the Prophet) said, “The Prophet said XYZ.”

They would ask, “Who told you that?”

So, Qatadah would instead say, “According to Anas (a companion of the Prophet), the Prophet said XYZ”

This became common practice. Then, Qatadah’s student Shubah would say, “According to Qatadah: According to Anas, the Prophet said XYZ.”

Then, in the next generation, more names were added.

This creates a chain of narrators for the hadith back to the Prophet (SAW).

In the hadith quoted above, the chain of narrators is, “Musaddad narrated to us, saying: Yahya narrated to us from Shubah from Qatadah from Anas.”

The speaker in “Musaddad narrated to us” is the collector of the collection the hadith is taken from, Bukhari.

So, the chain is the following: Bukhari ← Musaddad ← Yahya ← Shubah ← Qatadah ← Anas ← Prophet (SAW). In this particular chain, there are five people between Bukhari and the Prophet (SAW).

The significance of the chain is that it is used when determining the authenticity of a narration, as will be elaborated later.

2.2 Matn (Content)

The matn of a hadith refers to the actual content it conveys, which is either a saying, action, or approval of the Prophet (SAW).

In the above example, the matn is, “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

2.3 Related Subjects

Usul al-Hadith is the subject of studying what ahadith are and how to classify them. The following section on hadith classification will heavily draw from Usul al-Hadith.

Ilm ur-Rijaal is the subject of narrator biographies and gradings. Books of ilm ur-rijal often contain brief explanations about when a narrator lived, which teachers he narrated from, which students narrated from him, and what the hadith scholars thought about their reliability.

Ilal (عِلَل) is a genre of books that study the subtle problems in some ahadith.

Sunan and Musnad are common names for hadith collections. Musannaf is also an important collection name, but they often contain the statements of companions and tabi’een.

Shuruh al-Hadith is the genre of books that explain the meanings of the ahadith in a hadith collection. Sharh means “explanation” or “elaboration.”

3. Classification of Hadith

This section is basically a brief overview of Usul al-Hadith, which is the subject concerned with how ahadith are classified.

Hadith are classified in four ways that this article will discuss:

1. How definite its transmission is
2. Who is at the end of the chain
3. Is the chain connected
4. How authentic is the hadith

3.1 Mutawatir and Ahaad

The scholars divided narrations in terms of how definite their transmission is into two:

1. Mutawatir: There are so many different routes of transmission and so many different narrators who narrate it in every generation that it is impossible for them to have made the same mistake or lied the same lie.
2. Ahaad: Any hadith that is not mutawatir. It has one or more chains of transmission, but not enough to reach the level of mutawatir.

Mutawatir ahadith are definitive and true without doubt. An example is the Prophet (SAW) saying, “Whoever lies about me, let him take his seat in the fire.”

Another example of mutawatir is the attribution of many hadith collections to their authors, like Sahih Bukhari to Imam Bukhari. It is mutawatir up to Imam Bukhari because many students narrated and wrote from him and many students narrated from them and so on until today.

The sciences of hadith are less concerned with mutawatir than they are with ahaad because mutawatir does not need classification.

Ahaad hadith need classification from authentic to inauthentic. However, acting on authentic ahaad hadith is still necessary because it is knowledge, even if non-definitive, as mentioned in the first section of this article.

3.2 End of the Chain

The first thing to identify in any report is whether the report is from the Prophet or someone else. As a result, the scholars of hadith divided a hadith according to the end of its chain into three:

1. Marfū’: The doer or speaker at the end of the chain is the Prophet (SAW).
2. Mawqūf: The doer or speaker at the end of the chain is a companion, and he does not attribute it to the Prophet (SAW) explicitly.
3. Maqtū’: The doer or speaker at the end of the chain is someone lower than a companion.

When we say the word “hadith,” we usually mean marfū’ hadith. Marfu’ reports are what affect the beliefs and laws of the religion of Islam.

As for the opinions or statements of the companions, different scholars used them in different ways, but that is a topic for Usul al-Fiqh (Legal Theory). They are, however, not essential evidence in the religion by themselves.

3.3 Connectedness of the Chain

The most obvious way of determining the authenticity of a hadith is to determine whether there is a direct line of people back to the Prophet (SAW) without breaks in that chain. When there is a break, that means we do not know the source of the report at that point of the chain. Thus, we cannot easily declare it to be authentic.

As a result, the scholars then divided a hadith according to the connectedness of its chain into some types:

1. Mawsūl or Muttasil: The chain is connected with no breaks in it.
2. Munqati’: The chain is broken, with some people missing in the middle.
3. Mursal (a subcategory of Munqati’): When someone from the second generation (that did not meet the Prophet but met his companions) reports something about the Prophet without mentioning a source.

The extent to which mursal and munqati’ reports can be used in law is a topic the scholars of legal theory discussed. As for the scholars of hadith, they did not consider any disconnected report authentic.

The reason some of the legal scholars allowed the use of mursal reports is how close the second generation was to the time of the Prophet (SAW) and how they could have been narrating from the companions of the Prophet (SAW).

The reason the hadith scholars did not consider these reports authentic is because someone from the second generation could have narrated the report from an unreliable person also from the second generation instead of from a companion. So, this doubt makes the hadith inauthentic.

3.4 Authenticity

The hadith scholars divided a hadith in terms of its authenticity into three overarching categories: sahih (authentic), hasan (fair), and da’eef (weak).

A sahih hadith (also called “sahih in itself”) is a hadith that fulfills five conditions:

1. The chain is muttasil (connected)
2. Every narrator in the chain has ‘adalah (moral uprightness and honesty)
3. Every narrator in the chain has dabt (reliability and accuracy in transmission)
4. The hadith is not shaaz (anomalous). Meaning, it does not contradict the narration of someone more authentic.
5. The hadith has no ilal (singular: illah) i.e. subtle defects in the above four conditions. An illah is something which requires analysis and research to identify.

Understanding these conditions is the essence of the hadith sciences. These conditions will be explained further in the coming sections.

Sahih can have multiple levels. For example, a narration through multiple narrators would be higher in level than through one narrator, even if both are reliable.

The term sahih al-isnad (meaning: Sahih in chain) is used by some scholars to describe a hadith fulfilling the conditions of sahih related to chain (the first, second, and third conditions) without saying anything about whether it is completely sahih by fulfilling the last two conditions.

A hasan hadith (or “hasan in itself”) is a report that does not reach the level of sahih for some reason without falling to the level of being inauthentic or weak. It may have a slight problem in the first, third, fourth, or fifth conditions. A common reason for a report being hasan is that one narrator in the chain has slightly deficient memory. There are other definitions for hasan as well.

Hasan sahih is a term used by Tirmidhi in his collection, and the most correct explanation is that it is synonymous with sahih. There are other views.

Sahih li-ghairihi (meaning: sahih but not in itself) is when there are multiple hasan chains for a narration that add up to making the narration sahih.

A da’eef hadith is a hadith that is below the level of hasan. Usually, this means that there is some disconnect in the chain, one of the narrators has heavy problems in memory, one of the narrators has doubts in his honesty, or the hadith contradicts stronger narrations. In short, it has a strong problem in one of the five conditions of sahih.

Hasan li-ghairihi (meaning: hasan but not in itself) is when there are multiple da’eef chains for a narration that add up to making it hasan.

An extremely da’eef (or matrūh) hadith is when a hadith is even lower than normal da’eef with major problems in the five conditions. A hadith becomes extremely da’eef when it contradicts the Quran or Sunnah very strongly, when it has no chain or large disconnects in its chain, when it has suspected liars in its chain, when it is solely narrated by someone with terrible memory. All of these are examples of major problems which inform us the hadith is almost certainly not from the Prophet (SAW).

A mawdhū’ hadith is a hadith that is considered fabricated. This would be when a hadith has a known liar in the chain along with being unique and contradicting the other sources of Islam. There are other ways people defined it.

3.5 Detailed Discussions in Classification

3.5.1 Narrators

The second and third conditions of Sahih is that the narrators are honest and reliable. To understand that further, we will discuss narrators and their division.

What are the types of narrators?

The narrators of hadith are divided into different levels according to their strength and reliability: 1) Narrators who are used as proof in themselves, 2) Narrators who can be used in corroboration, and 3) Narrators who are abandoned.

In the first type, some narrators are Thiqah Hafiz, meaning they have the gold standard of reliability and trustworthiness. Some are a bit below that but are still Thiqah, meaning they are strongly honest and reliable. The narrators in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim mostly meet one of these two categories. Some narrators are Saduq, meaning honest and reliable but make mistakes, so their narrations are only to the level of hasan.

Then, narrators that are unknown or make more mistakes would fall into the second level, so they can only be used when corroborated.

Then, narrators that are known for too many mistakes or for lying in hadith fall into the third category. They mostly cannot be used for anything.

How do we classify narrators?

The way we know the reliability and honesty of narrators can be divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.

The primary way the scholars found the reliability and honesty of narrators is:

1. Their reputation among their people. This would be for major narrators like Malik ibn Anas and Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj.
2. Reports about their life and times. This is common for many narrators.
3. Comparing their narrations to the narrations of other (stronger or well-known) narrators. This would be used for most narrators.
   • Do they usually match other narrators? That indicates they have good memory. Do they usually have slight mistakes? That indicates deficiency in memory. Do they have huge deviations? That indicates large deficiency in memory or problems in honesty. Are they rarely corroborated? That places doubt in their honesty or shows huge problems in memory. All of these are used to decide the reliability of that narrator.
4. Testing them directly and seeing if they have good memory in hadith. This is rare.

The early scholars of narrator classification (Jarh wat-Ta’deel i.e. “praise and criticism”) studied the narrators and made judgements about them. The judgements of these major scholars like Imam Ahmad, Yahya ibn Ma’een, Bukhari, and Abu Hatim ar-Razi are the secondary source of determining the reliability of a narrator.

Then, tertiary sources like the book Tahzeeb ul-Kamal by al-Mizzi collect the views of the early scholars along with primary sources about their lives and qualities. Tahzeeb ul-Kamal and books like it are what we would first refer to when determining the strength of a narrator.

3.5.2 Reception and Words Describing It

The first condition of Sahih is that a chain is fully connected. Hence, we must discuss the connection between narrators.

Different Ways of Receiving a Report

A narrator can receive a hadith from his source either 1) directly or 2) indirectly.

Receiving a hadith directly would include: hearing it directly, reading out the teacher’s book to him while he approves, or hearing it being read out to the teacher.

Receiving a hadith indirectly would include: hearing someone else tell you what the teacher said or reading notes (supposedly) written by the teacher.

For a hadith to be muttasil or fully connected, every narrator must have received the hadith from his teacher directly. Any break in the chain or indirect reception would cause the hadith to be munqati’.

Words Narrators Use To Describe How They Received the Hadith

A narrator can also use different words to describe reception. Words like haddathanā (he narrated to us), sami’tu (I heard), akhbarakanā (he informed us), and qaala lī (he said to me) all explicitly indicate direct reception.

If an honest narrator uses any of these words of reception, that proves direct reception of the hadith. If someone uses one of these words and it is proven he did not actually hear the hadith from his source, that narrator would be a liar.

Words like ‘an (according to) and qaala (he said) imply direct reception in some contexts but do not explicitly indicate direct reception. This type of wording to describe reception is called ‘an’anah. When the one being quoted is a teacher that the speaker heard other hadith from, these words imply direct reception.

When quoting someone whom it is obviously impossible to hear from (like a person today quoting the Prophet), these words do not imply direct reception.

If an honest and careful narrator uses any of these words for his contemporary or his known teacher, that is considered direct reception of the hadith in the absence of contrary evidence.

This is a thought experiment to explain why these words imply direct reception. If you said, “My brother said XYZ,” everyone would assume you heard your brother say that directly. But, if you said, “Salahuddin al-Ayyubi said XYZ,” everyone would know you did not hear that directly. So, one implies direct reception and the other does not imply that.

What is Tadlees?

Some narrators might not be careful despite being honest and might use words that imply direct reception even when they did not directly hear a hadith from their teacher. Someone who does this a lot is known as a mudallis (misleading narrator) and this action is called tadlees. Careful narrators would make it clear they received that information indirectly.

Mudallis narrators are not considered liars since these words do not indicate direct reception explicitly. But, they imply direct reception, so their usage is misleading.

Strong narrators can be known for tadlees. In those cases, his narrations are not trusted unless he explicitly says he heard a certain hadith from his teacher. Sometimes, a person is known for tadlees from one teacher but not from another teacher, and the narrations are graded accordingly.

3.5.3 Ghareeb

A ghareeb hadith is a narration that is only narrated by a singular branch of narrators at some part of the chain. A hadith is not inherently weak due to being ghareeb. As long as the narration fulfills the five conditions of sahih, it would be Sahih.

However, a hadith being ghareeb can be a reason for the hadith to be weak if the solitary chain is anomalous for some reason as we will discuss in the next section. An example is when only a weaker narrator narrates something from a teacher who has many prolific students.

The hadith “Actions are according to intention” is ghareeb until the fourth narrator.

The ghareeb part of the chain is: Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Ansari ← Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ← Alqamah ibn Waqqās ← Umar ibn al-Khattab ← Messenger of Allah (SAW).

Umar (RA) was the only companion to narrate this from the Prophet. Alqamah was the only one to narrate it from Umar. Muhammad was the only one to narrate it from Alqamah. Yahya was the only one to narrate it from Muhammad. But, they are all strong narrators and there is no reason to doubt their narration. So, it is a sahih hadith.

After Yahya, many of his students narrated the hadith from him.

3.5.4 Irregularities and Anomalies

The fourth condition of being Sahih is that a narration must be free of anomalies.

Reasons for Anomalies

A hadith can be anomalous for many reasons. Some major reason are:

1. An otherwise strong narrator contradicts a stronger narrator or a group of strong narrators (that are stronger than him when combined). In this case, the stronger side is preferred, and the hadith of the weaker side is called shaaz and it is considered inauthentic.
2. An acceptable but weaker narrator contradicts a strong narrator. In this case, the hadith is called munkar and inauthentic.
3. A narration is unexpectedly ghareeb. An example of that is when one relatively weaker student is the only to narrate a hadith from a narrator with many more prolific students.
4. A narration clearly contradicts verses of the Quran or authentic Sunnah. The conditions for determining this contradiction are mentioned in the section on Mushkil Hadith.

All of these reasons can lead a narration to reduce or lose its status of authenticity.

How to Determine Whether a Narration is Anomalous

There are primary and secondary ways to determine whether a narration is anomalous.

The main primary way is to collect the different versions of a narration as transmitted by different narrators in different books, then to compare which version originates from which narrator. Through this method, the scholars of hadith determined when one narrator made a mistake.

The secondary way is to refer to books that investigate narrations like this. Books in the genre of Ilal are useful here. The Ilal of Daruqutni, the Ilal of Tirmidhi, and the different questions people asked scholars like Imam Ahmad and Abu Hatim ar-Razi include information about anomalies in narrations. You can also find discussion about whether a narration is anomalous in the gradings of Tirmidhi in his collection and Abu Dawud in his collection.

Question

Someone might ask: How is it possible for a strong narrator’s hadith to be rejected but we accept his other hadith? Shouldn’t we either accept all his hadith or none of his hadith?

The answer is that a narrator being deemed strong does not remove the small possibility of him making a mistake. Likewise, a narration being graded authentic does not remove the small possibility of mistakes in it. They are considered strong because mistakes are unlikely, not because they are impossible.

When a strong narrator is contradicted by those stronger than him, the possibility of mistakes is proven more likely in that instance due to other people’s narrations.

But, when that strong narrator is alone (in a plausible way), the narration is authentic because a mistake is unlikely despite being possible and there is no reason to increase the likelihood of a mistake.

For example, you might trust a doctor because you know he is reliable. When he gives you advice, you generally listen to him even without needing others to corroborate. That does not mean the doctor cannot make mistakes, just that mistakes are unlikely. So, if he gives one advice which you already received an alternate opinion from stronger sources about, that increases the likelihood of a mistake and that specific advice becomes anomalous. However, that does not entail rejecting his other advice if you have no other source to look up for that case.

3.5.5 Narration By Meaning

Riwayah bil-Ma’na refers to when someone narrates a hadith according to meaning rather than exact wording. This can be by changing the sentence structure slightly, using synonyms, summarizing, or changing the order of things.

The vast majority of hadith scholars allow narrating by meaning if the doer is knowledgeable enough to know what the Prophet (SAW) actually meant, but it is not preferred. It is always preferred to narrate exactly or almost exactly as was transmitted, and this is what the most accurate scholars of hadith did.

Reasons for Narration By Meaning

Narration by meaning can be done intentionally, partially intentionally, or unintentionally. It can be done due to the narrator forgetting or despite him remembering.

For example, someone might misremember the exact words of a hadith but know its meaning. Meaning is usually easier to remember than wording. Another example is if someone forgets the exact wording of a hadith and knows he forgot, so he intentionally narrates the meaning he does remember with synonymous wording.

Many of the more diligent hadith scholars in the later generations are careful to note the exact word they do not remember accurately when they narrate something they do not fully remember.

An example of riwayah bil-ma’na which is entirely intentional is a narrator summarizing a long hadith. Likewise, sometimes narrators might narrate part of a hadith instead of the whole.

Consequence of Narration By Meaning

Multiple versions of the same hadith can exist because of riwayah bil-ma’na by different narrators, and the differences are usually slight. When there are important differences between versions, the mistaken version is considered anomalous and is investigated accordingly. For example, the stronger narrator’s version is preferred over a weaker narrator’s version.

3.5.6 Differences in Grading

Although there are many common principles of classifying ahadith, there is also some room for difference in the rules and, when there is agreement about the rules, there can be difference in the specific application.

Because of this, it is not uncommon to find scholars differing about the exact authenticity of a particular hadith. There are some ahadith that the vast majority agree are sahih, there are some the vast majority agree are weak, then there are some where there is no vast majority for either side.

Another source of differences in grading is what different scholars intended to grade. For example, a long hadith could be mostly corroborated by other narrators but a part is unique to it. In that case, some scholars might grade it sahih, looking at the broader hadith, and others might grade it weak, looking at the unique part.

Do not assume, then, that the grading you see on a site like sunnah.com is the only possible grading. Instead, investigate for different people’s gradings to get a full picture of the hadith.

4. Stages of Hadith

The subject of hadith has gone through various stages since the time of the Prophet (SAW). A lot of people have a misconception that hadith collections suddenly appeared 200 years after the Prophet, and they doubt hadith because of this false understanding. Understanding the different stages will get rid of this misconception In sha Allah.

4.1 Stage 1: Lifetime of the Prophet

In the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW), the companions used to narrate the statements of the Prophet to each other. Initially, he told them not to write anything from him because he did not want the Quran to be confused.

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Do not write from me. Whoever wrote from me other than the Quran should erase it. But, narrate from me, there is no harm in that. And whoever lies about me (deliberately), let him take his seat in the fire.” (Sahih Muslim)

The companions understood that the Prophet (SAW) was given revelation in addition to the Quran, so they treated his statements like revelation.

Later on, when the risk of confusion with the Quran was gone, the Prophet (SAW) lifted this ban on writing, and many companions started writing his ahadith.

Among the companions that wrote from the Prophet (SAW) include Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas [2], Jabir ibn Abdullah, Sa’d ibn Ubadah, etc.

Abdullah ibn Amr said, “I used to write everything I heard from the Messenger of Allah, intending to memorize it. (Some of) the (Muslims of) Quraysh prohibited me saying, ‘Do you write everything that you hear from him while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is a human being who can speak in anger and pleasure?’ So, I stopped writing, and mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah. He signaled with his finger to his mouth and said: ‘Write. By Allah, nothing comes out of it except truth.'” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Sahih)

Other companions like Abu Hurairah (RA) mostly spent their time with the Prophet memorizing rather than writing, but they wrote after the Prophet (SAW)’s death. [3] Abu Hurairah said, “No one has more hadith from the Prophet (SAW) than me except Abdullah ibn Amr because he used to write while I did not write.” (Sunan Tirmidhi, Sahih)

Most of the writings of the companions were subsumed into later works and combined with them. The closest we have of a fully independent work from a companion today is the Sahifah of Hammam who wrote his book from his teacher Abu Hurairah in his lifetime. [4]

4.2 Stage 2: Khulafa Rashidun

In the time of the first four Caliphs, the state of hadith was not much different from the state of hadith in the life of the Prophet (SAW).

There was much concern about the Quran, since the Quran was compiled in the reign of Abu Bakr then in the reign of Uthman (RA), so many of the senior companions were still concerned about confusion of hadith with the Quran.

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi says: “Those who disliked writing (hadith) in the first generation only disliked it because they did not want anything to overshadow the Book of Allah or that people become more involved in the Quran over hadith.”

The companions saw how the previous nations did not pay much attention to their books and more to their extra writings, and they did not want that to happen to the Quran.

Their concern is what led the Quran today to be an extremely mass-transmitted text with thousands of memorizers in every generation.

However, they still narrated and learned from hadith and did not dispute the fact that the Prophet’s teachings hold weight. In this stage, many of the companions narrated hadith to their students. If a problem arose which needed an answer from the Prophet (SAW), they would narrate from him to respond to the problem.

In this stage, the students of companions were usually people close to them, like their family, servants, and friends. For example, from Ibn Umar narrates his servant Nafi and from Aisha (RA) narrates her nephew Urwah ibn Zubair.

4.3 Stage 3: Second Generation

The earlier tabi’i scholars were also hesitant to write for similar reasons as the Sahabah. [5] But, by the time of the intermediate and later tabi’i scholars, writing became common to help remember the ahadith.

The students and gatherings of ahadith began to grow larger in this time period, so one tabi’i would have many students but usually from the same area.

Saeed ibn Musayyab and Zuhri are major hadith scholars of the second generation.

4.4 Stage 4: Third and Fourth Generations

In the third and fourth generations, the gatherings of hadith grew larger such that one scholar would have many students from different lands. People started travelling to different places to get hadith.

Imam Malik wrote his Muwatta, collecting narrations from many of the scholars of Madinah, and other collections were written in this time like the Musannaf of Abdur-Razzaq.

Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, Shubah, and Yahya ibn Saeed are other major hadith scholars in this generation.

4.5 Stage 5: Era of Hadith Criticism and Musnads

After that came scholars like Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibn al-Madini, Ibn Ma’een, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Ishaq ibn Rahawaih, who narrated hadith and were experts in the classification of narrators.

Often, when you wish to figure out the reliability of a narrator, you would listen to the criticism or praise of some of these scholars.

Imam Ahmad wrote his Musnad, and many other Musnads were written at this time collecting ahadith from different lands into single collections. Musnad is a collection that organizes ahadith according to narrators.

4.6 Stage 6: Era of Sunans

Afterwards came scholars like Bukhari, Abu Hatim, Abu Dawud, Muslim, then Nasai and Ibn Khuzaimah. They learned from many different hadith narrators and wrote down collections of hadith.

There were many collections written in this time, intending not just to collect but to have some level of reliability for the hadith collected and to divide the ahadith by topic. Sunan refers to a collection that organizes ahadith according to topic.

Scholars like Bukhari, Muslim, and Ibn Khuzaimah wrote Sahih collections, meaning collections that only intended to include authentic narrations.

5. Hadith Collections

5.1 Collections with Chains

The following are some of the major collections of ahadith that were written with the author’s chain to the Prophet (SAW) for every hadith.

The Muwatta of Imam Malik (d. 179) is one of the major collections from the third generation. It records authentic narrations from the Prophet (SAW), but also records opinions of the companions and tabi’īn. It also contains brief commentary about fiqh from Imam Malik.

The Musannaf of Abdur-Razzaq (d. 211) is one of the earliest collections that we have containing many opinions from the companions and tabi’īn and also some ahadith. The Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaibah (d. 235) is similar.

The Musnad of Imam Ahmad (d. 241) is a large collection of ahadith of the Prophet (SAW) containing almost 30,000 ahadith. A lot of those are repetitions and different narrations of the same thing.

The collection is organized by narrator, not by topic. Imam Ahmad did not condition complete authenticity in his collection, but he intended to compile every narration that was known to the hadith scholars. So, if a hadith is not found in the Musnad, that does not bode well for the reliability of the hadith.

The Sunan of Darimi (d. 255) is a collection of about 3546 ahadith organized by topic.

The Sahih of Imam Bukhari (d. 256) is a collection of 7500 ahadith without excluding repetitions in which Imam Bukhari intended to only include sahih ahadith.

This book, Imam Bukhari being one of the greatest hadith scholars of his generation, became the most relied upon book after the Quran. The scholars of the ummah considered Bukhari’s collection to be like no one else’s.

The Sahih is organized by topic as are the rest of the collections.

Imam Bukhari also wrote Al-Adab al-Mufrad, a collection on the qualities and manners of the Prophet (SAW).

The Sahih of Imam Muslim (d. 261) is another collection written to solely consist of sahih ahadith. It has about 7500 ahadith.

Imam Muslim was also one of the greatest scholars of the generation, and his book is the most authentic overall after Sahih Bukhari and the Quran.

The Sahihayn is a term to refer to the two Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim respectively.

The Sunan of Abu Dawud (d. 275) is a short collection of about 5,200 ahadith. Abu Dawud wrote a letter explaining the methodology of his book. He said he included in his collection ahadith that were not extremely weak, and he pointed out extreme weakness if there was any. But, that does not mean every hadith he included is sahih or hasan.

The Sunan of Ibn Majah (d. 273) is a collection of about 4,300 ahadith. His collection is the weakest of the Sunan as-Sittah, and a hadith that is only Sunan Ibn Majah without being in the other collections is usually very weak.

The Sunan of Tirmidhi (d. 279) is a collection of about 4,400 ahadith. Tirmidhi includes his grading for each hadith after narrating it, and he sometimes comments about the fiqh rulings related to a hadith. Tirmidhi was a student of Imam Bukhari.

Tirmidhi also wrote Ash-Shama’il Al-Muhammadiyah, a small collection describing the Prophet (SAW)’s characteristics.

The Sunan of Nasa’i (d. 303) is a collection of about 5,700 ahadith. Imam Nasa’i was one of the major hadith scholars in the generation after Bukhari and Muslim. That is why his collection is highly regarded, and one of the most authentic collections after theirs.

The Sunan as-Sittah is a term to refer to the six collections Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan an-Nasai, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan at-Tirmidhi, and Sunan Ibn Majah. That is their general order of overall authenticity.

Ibn Majah’s collection is the weakest among them, and it contains some extremely weak (or even fabricated) ahadith. The other books generally do not contain extremely weak ahadith, but can contain weak or hasan ahadith.

Some scholars said Sunan ad-Darimi would have been a better choice as the sixth collection instead of Sunan Ibn Majah, not because there are no other more authentic collections but because Sunan ad-Darimi supplements ahadith the others do not contain.

The Sahih of Ibn Khuzaimah (d. 311) is a collection of ahadith that were sahih according to Ibn Khuzaimah. Much of the collection is lost and only the first quarter is left, and that contains around 3,000 ahadith.

The Sahih of Ibn Hibban (d. 354) is a collection of sahih ahadith according to Ibn Hibban. Ibn Hibban is however described by some as being lenient in his grading.

The Mustadrak of al-Hakim (d. 405) is a collection of ahadith where al-Hakim intended to add ahadith that are not in the Sahihayn but are still sahih according to their conditions. Many scholars criticized al-Hakim’s collection as not truly being filled with sahih ahadith. Some of the narrations in it are even graded by many scholars as fabricated!

5.2 Collections from Collections

The following are some collections that collected ahadith mentioned in preexisting collections.

So, they do not contain the author’s chain back to the Prophet (SAW) for every hadith, but they contain a reference to which collection the hadith was taken from. Usually, they include the companion who narrated the hadith as well.

Riyadh as-Saliheen of Nawawi (d. 676) is a famous collection about manners and ethics, and it derives its ahadith from the Sunan as-Sittah. It was written for non-specialists to read.

Mishkat al-Masabih of at-Tabrizi (d. 741) is a collection that encompasses most of fiqh. For every section, it first mentions ahadith in the Sahihayn, then ahadith that are hasan, then narrations that are related to the topic. He would also note which collection he got a hadith from.

Bulugh al-Maram of Ibn Hajr (d. 852) is a collection on fiqh written primarily to give evidence for the Shafi’i school but it often contains ahadith of different sides.

Arba’un is a genre of books that collect 40 ahadith on any given topic. There is a weak hadith to support this concept. The most famous Arba’un collection is the Arba’un of Nawawi which contains 40 ahadith that explain Islam in its entirety.

Mawdhū’āt of Ibn Jawzi (d. 597) is a collection of ahadith Ibn Jawzi considers fabricated, organized by topic. He mentions narrations then notes the criticism of its chains and the evidence of its fabrication.

6. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

6.1 Authenticity

The scholars agreed upon the authenticity of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim generally speaking, but some did criticize individual narrations from each of them.

As for Sahih Bukhari, a few scholars criticized a handful of ahadith in Sahih Bukhari, but these criticisms were themselves responded to by many other scholars. So, it is correct to say every hadith in Sahih Bukhari is considered sahih by the vast majority of scholars.

As for Sahih Muslim, there are more ahadith in it that have been criticized, but scholars generally consider the ahadith in it authentic.

There is much overlap between the narrations of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, but there are also many narrations that one of them mentions but the other does not. When both Bukhari and Muslim narrate a hadith in their Sahih, that hadith is called Muttafaqun Alaih (agreed upon), and that is considered the highest status of sahih. Next in status is what Bukhari alone narrates then what Muslim alone narrates.

6.2 Their Methodology

Imam Bukhari did not write an introduction or explanation about the methodology of his classification. However, Imam Muslim did write an introduction explaining his methodology, and this introduction of Muslim is studied in classes of Usul al-Hadith. Some of the topics discussed in it were mentioned in the section of Hadith Classification.

The most correct opinion is that there was not much difference in the actual principles of how to classify hadith between the two of them. The difference was on the exact application of those principles.

Some people claim Bukhari and Muslim differed about ‘an‘anah and that Bukhari had the condition that there be proof of actual meeting between two narrators if the transmission was only ‘an‘anah but Muslim did not have this condition.

‘An‘anah, as mentioned before, is when a narrator narrates from someone by saying “عن”. It would be like saying “from XYZ” in English.

However, this claim that Bukhari and Muslim differed about ‘an‘anah is problematic and incorrect. None of the hadith scholars had the condition that there be proof every narrator met the narrator before him. They only required this proof if a narrator was known for being a mudallis. Otherwise, a trustworthy narrator is accepted even if he narrates through عن.

6.3 Organization

Both Bukhari and Muslim organized their collections predominantly according to topics of Islam. They are first divided into “books” for general subjects, then “chapters” (baabs) for specific topics under that subject. Each chapter has one or more ahadith.

The books are largely ordered by fiqh, even though the topics in them might be more than just fiqh. For example, both of them have Books on Wudhu, Salah, Hajj, and Fasting.

They also both have Books on Iman, Qadr, Knowledge, Heart-Melting (Riqaq), Manners, Tafsir, Virtues of the Companions, and Fitan (prophecies of future events).

Bukhari has Books on Tawheed (Aqidah) and the Beginning of Revelation.

Muslim also has Books on Dreams, Piety, Repentance, Qualities of the Hypocrites, Descriptions of Qiyamah and Hell, and Descriptions of Paradise.

Bukhari wrote his own chapter titles. Muslim did not write chapter titles in his book, but the titles were most likely written by Nawawi in his Sharh of Muslim.

6.4 Asl and Shawahid

Imam Bukhari, in each chapter, might bring one or more ahadith. The first hadith he writes in every chapter is usually extremely strong and is called asl (pl. usul).

The supporting ahadith he brings after the first hadith are called shawahid (sing. shahid). Although the shawahid are weaker than the usul, they never reach the level of weak. Even sahih has levels.

Imam Muslim has the habit of writing different versions of the same ahadith to show the exact wording of different routes of transmission. The first version he quotes is the strongest, then the ones after are a bit weaker, and the last is the weakest (but not necessarily weak).

Sometimes, Muslim will quote a chain and say “He narrated the same as the previous narration” and sometimes he will say “He narrated the same as the previous narration except he changed XYZ to ABC.” He was extremely careful with different wordings.

6.5 Who Reads the Sahihayn?

The Sahihayn do not give full benefit to a casual reader for three reasons.

Firstly, something people in those days might have been familiar with can be unfamiliar today, and something people today are familiar with may have been completely unfamiliar in that time.

An example of the first is many fiqh debates might have been famous in those times which are not as famous today. So, Imam Bukhari or Muslim might subtly reference one of them but a reader today would not understand.

An example of the second is some scientific knowledge which was discovered today might require a proper interpretation of a particular hadith.

Secondly, being familiar with Arabic is important if one wishes to fully understand any hadith. An Arabic word might have multiple meanings while a translation only conveys one.

Thirdly, being familiar with Usul al-Fiqh is important if one is to properly use a hadith to derive fiqh rulings. It is possible someone does not know abrogation or how to properly interpret some words of the Prophet (SAW).

That is why it is recommended to read through the Sahihayn with the aid of a teacher who is familiar with Fiqh, Arabic, and Usul al-Fiqh. The Sahihayn, like the Quran, are complex books with many things that would fly over a casual reader’s head.

However, like the Quran, it is acceptable for casual readers to read them if they approach them with humility and without intending to debate or argue with established scholars based on them. If someone approaches them with arrogance, thinking they can understand everything without learning the Islamic sciences or Arabic properly, they will fall into falsehood and misguidance.

Even the Quran itself, Allah says it misguides many people and guides many people. It only misguides sinful, arrogant people. This would apply more strongly to the books of hadith.

That said, some sections are good to read casually, like the Books of Heart-Tendering. It is also fine to reference specific ahadith for the purpose of a wisdom or non-legal issue.

But, to derive rulings or to contradict the schools of law, it is important to study with a teacher or reference a sharh of the book to properly understand it.

6.6 Mu’allaq and Mursal Narrations

The Mu’allaqaat of Bukhari are narrations in his book which he mentions without the full chain.

After mentioning his chapter title, Bukhari often mentions verses related to the chapter, mu’allaq statements by tabi’īn and sahabah about the topic, and sometimes, mu’allaq statements from the Prophet (SAW).

Because Bukhari mentions them without a chain, there is difference of opinion about whether Bukhari intended them to be sahih. Many times, he quotes the full narration with a chain in other parts of his collection. If he does not quote the full narration, it is possible he does not intend to declare it sahih in chain.

As mentioned before, mursal narrations are those narrations that a tabi’i directly attributes a statement to the Prophet (SAW) without mentioning who transmitted that information to him.

Both Bukhari and Muslim do not usually quote mursal narrations. However, they may sometimes mention a mursal narration after a connected hadith because the tabi’i narrator of that hadith mentioned it after narrating the hadith. [6] These portions of Sahih Bukhari are not necessarily sahih.

There are also some narrations in Bukhari’s book where he mentions the full chain but narrates from his teacher with “He said” or “From him” instead of “He narrated to us.” The hadith may still be sahih. As the section about ‘An‘anah mentions, if a reliable narrator narrates like this, it is considered reliable, and Bukhari is definitely a reliable narrator.

6.7 Shurooh

There are many commentaries and explanations on the Sahihayn.

The most famous commentary of Sahih Bukhari is Fath ul-Bari by Ibn Hajr (d. 852). Others include the commentaries of Khattabi (d. 388), Ibn Battal (d. 449), and Ibn Rajab (d. 795).

The most famous commentary of Sahih Muslim is the Sharh of Nawawi.

No full commentary of either of the books has been authored in English, however, the explanations of various ahadith in them can be found in other books, writings, and fatwas.

Some websites have English commentaries on various ahadith, like HadithEnc.com.

7. Manners of Learning Hadith

7.1 Manners of Knowledge

As with all knowledge, it is necessary to have a proper intention when learning hadith.

Whoever learns or memorizes hadith to compete with others, to get fame, to argue, or to be known as pious has an evil and sinful intention.

Whoever learns hadith to learn Allah’s religion and apply it in his life or out of love for Allah and the Prophet (SAW) has a good and rewarded intention.

Whoever learns hadith simply because he finds the subject interesting has a neutral intention. It is better for him to add a good intention to it.

7.2 Manners of Hadith

The early scholars used to treat hadith with a lot of respect because they are the words of the Prophet (SAW).

When Imam Malik was going to narrate hadith, he would first perform ghusl, wear perfume, and wear good clothes.

We should have respect for hadith in the same way.

When hearing a hadith, one should not respond to it aggressively or raise one’s voice over the narrator. Allah says:

O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not.

Indeed, those who lower their voices before the Messenger of Allah – they are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for righteousness. For them is forgiveness and great reward.

Quran 49:2-3

When one hears the name of the Prophet (SAW), he should regularly send salawaat on him. Allah says:

Indeed, Allah sends salawaat upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, send salawaat upon him and [send] peace.

Quran 33:56

7.3 Weak Hadith

It is not appropriate for someone to narrate a weak hadith without identifying it as weak. Some people said this is only necessary if the hadith is extremely weak.

You should not narrate hadith you heard from people not known for carefulness in hadith without verifying them.

It is reported that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “It is enough of a lie that a man narrates everything he hears.” (Introduction of Sahih Muslim)

When narrating a hadith you heard from someone, say “I heard someone say the Prophet said XYZ.” When narrating a hadith you do not remember well, say “I heard someone say, but I do not remember well, that the Prophet said XYZ” or something similar and not directly say “The Prophet said XYZ.”

When narrating a hadith that is not well-known to be sahih, you should say “It is reported that the Prophet said XYZ” or something similar.

If you narrate a hadith by meaning, make it clear. Say something like “It is reported that the Prophet said along the lines of XYZ.”

7.4 Deriving Fiqh

It is not appropriate for someone to derive law from ahadith, especially when they allow for multiple interpretations or abrogation without knowing all the ahadith on the topic and knowing the interpretation of the different scholars.

It is possible a hadith seems clear and it is abrogated by another hadith or is elaborated by another hadith or there is a verse in the Quran that affects it.

7.5 Who to Teach Hadith?

It is not appropriate for someone to narrate difficult to understand ahadith to someone with little knowledge and iman except in the proper context with a proper explanation. It is especially not appropriate to do so in debate and argument.

If one does not take care, he will misguide people or lead them to deny the Prophet (SAW).

Teach and narrate ahadith to people according to their level of knowledge. [7]

8. Difficult Ahadith

8.1 Meaning of Mushkil

Mushkil ahadith are those ahadith that are difficult to understand, seem apparently problematic, or astonish people.

Ishkal (being mushkil) can be due to several reasons:

1. Apparent contradiction with the Quran
2. Apparent contradiction with other (more authentic) ahadith
3. Apparent contradiction with other sources of knowledge like science and history
4. Apparent contradiction with a person’s preconceived ethics
5. Apparent contradiction with a person’s preconceived or cultural notions

8.2 Mushkil Due to Quran or Another Hadith

If there is a contradiction with the Quran or another authentic hadith, the contradiction is only apparent and never real.

You should first see if there is a possible interpretation of the two that can get rid of the ishkal. If there is an interpretation without difficulty, follow that interpretation.

Then, you should see if it is possible one abrogates the other. If it is possible, you should interpret it as abrogation and consider the earlier one abrogated.

If neither combination nor abrogation are possible, you should see if one of them is stronger than the other. If there is, you should follow the stronger one and consider the weaker one inauthentic.

If nothing is possible, you should stay silent on the matter until you find a way out.

8.3 Types of Hadith

The Prophet’s statements can be divided into two categories:

1. Statements about religion or when he clearly attributes something to revelation
2. Statements about the world when he does not attribute it to revelation

When the Prophet (SAW) talks about religion, it is definitely correct. When the Prophet (SAW) talks about the world without reference to revelation (like medicine), it is not necessary it is from revelation or that he is correct. He could be basing his statement on the general knowledge of the time.

The Prophet (SAW) said, “If it is something from the affairs of your world, you have your expertise with it. If it is something from the affairs of your religion, then [refer] to me.” (Sunan Ibn Majah)

There are some narrations where it is unclear whether it came from revelation or not. In that case, one should estimate to the best of his ability. [8]

8.4 Muskhil Due to Science

Science has theories which can be very strongly proven or weakly proven.

If a hadith of the first type is very strong and a theory has room for doubt, the hadith should be preferred.

If a hadith contradicts a strong theory of science, one should first see if there are possible interpretations of the words of the hadith that match the theory.

If the hadith does not allow any other interpretation, one should see if there is weakness in the hadith itself or that exact wording of the hadith. If there is another authentic wording of the hadith that does not contradict the scientific theory, that should be preferred.

If the hadith has some weakness in it and it contradicts a strong theory, it is possible to consider the hadith weak and accept the theory. If the hadith is very strong and the theory is also strong and there is no reconciliation possible, one should stay silent on the matter but prefer the hadith until some evidence comes to light.

If a hadith is of the second type, only being about the world with no reference to revelation or religion, then there is not much problem in preferring science over it if it is difficult to combine the two. It may simply be something the Prophet (SAW) said based on the knowledge of the time rather than revelation. [9]

8.5 Mushkil Due to Custom or Ethics

If an authentic hadith contradicts people’s customs or ethics, their customs and ethics are rejected in favor of the hadith.

For example, the narration of Aisha (RA) being nine when she married the Prophet (SAW) contradicts modern ethics. However, the narration is completely authentic and one cannot reject it because of ethics.

Another example is the narration of Musa (AS) taking a bath then a rock running away with his clothes. This narration surprises some people and goes against their customs so they reject it. But, their customs are rejected in favor of the hadith.

That is because Allah and the Prophet (SAW) are not limited by the customs and ethics made up by human minds. They are the deciders of true ethics.

8.6 Sources to Resolve Ishkal

The resolution of mushkil narrations relative to Quran and other ahadith has many books. The first source is to see the books of commentary. Some scholars wrote books specifically on this topic like Imam Tahawi wrote Sharh Mushkil al-Athar.

There are usually many online articles and fatwas resolving mushkil narrations relative to science. Be careful to read only those written by people who have a proper methodology and not by hadith-skeptics or hadith-deniers who reject ahadith at the slightest whim or give weak interpretations of science or hadith.

Footnotes

1. For example, see the title of this article.
2. Abdullah ibn Amr’s book is said to have contained up to a thousand ahadith, and most of it is included in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.
3. Abu Hurairah (RA) wrote after the Prophet (SAW), and some of his collection still exists in the Sahifah of Hammam, Hammam being one of his students who copied the narrations into his book. It is one of the only full collections directly from a companion to reach us without being subsumed by other collections. It has 137 narrations, most of which are also included in Sahih Bukhari.
4. See previous footnote.
5. There was an additional reason. People also started writing the opinions of scholars, and they did not want people to write their opinions down.
6. An example is the hadith about the beginning of revelation in Sahih Bukhari. At the end of it, Zuhri (a tabi’i and one of the narrators) adds a story about the Prophet (SAW) becoming so sad when the revelation stopped that he considered suicide. Zuhri says, “The revelation stopped for some time until the Prophet (SAW) became so sad according to the information that reached us [that he did this or that].” However, Zuhri is not a companion and thus cannot be the direct source of this information, and Zuhri is also notoriously unreliable when he does not mention his sources. So, this part does not have much authentic basis. And Allah knows best.
7. For example, do not narrate the hadith about cure being in both wings of a fly to someone who has doubts about Islam’s relationship to science without reason.
8. For example, when the Prophet (SAW) says something that is extraordinary or almost miraculous about the world even to the Arabs at the time, then it should most likely be understood as being from revelation.
9. For example, many ahadith related to medicine have no reference to revelation.