Narrators of Hadith

To trust a narration or report, we need to know that the narrator or reporter is 1) honest, and 2) remembers well. These two are called ‘adalah and dabt.

All companions are considered reliable by default unless proven otherwise in a particular hadith. As for other narrators, they need to be studied and classified.

1. Companions

Someone being a companion is proven in two ways:

1. History
2. Hadith

A companion can be:

1. Prolific in Hadith
2. Not Prolific
3. Somewhere in Between

Historically proven companions were Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Aisha, Umm Salamah, Abu Hurairah, Ibn Umar, and many others.

Abu Hurairah, Aisha, and Ibn Umar and others were prolific in hadith. Abu Bakr and others were not prolific in hadith. Umm Salamah and others were in between.

Some people are not proven historically and only narrated a few hadith from the Prophet (SAW) so there can be doubt about their status as companions.

Another type of doubt is doubt in the identity of a companion. It is of two types:

1. Doubt Between Names
2. Unnamed

Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanam al-Ashari said: Abu Amir or Abu Malik al-Ashari said he heard the Prophet (SAW) say: There will be people from my ummah who legalize zina, silk, wine, and musical instruments. (Sahih Bukhari)

Sulaim ibn al-Aswad narrated from a man from Banu Yarbu who said: I came to the Prophet (SAW) and heard him speaking to people and saying: The giving hand is higher. Your mother and father, then your brother and sister, then lower then lower. (Musnad Ahmad)

Yahya ibn Ya’mar said: A man from among the companions of the Prophet (SAW) said: The Prophet (SAW) said: The first thing a person will be accounted for will be his prayer. If he fulfilled them, they will be written for him fully. If he did not fulfill them, Allah will say, “See if you can find optional prayers from my servant that can complete his obligations.” Then, Zakah will be in the same way. Then, all deeds will be taken like this. (Musnad Ahmad)

Some versions say Yahya ibn Ya’mar narrated it from Abu Hurairah (RA). (Sunan Nasai)

2. Narrators

2.1 Theory

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

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.

Many early scholars of hadith specialized in the field of narrator-classification (Jarh wat-Ta’deel i.e. “praise and criticism”) by studying narrators and their narrators then making judgements about them. The judgements of these major scholars like Imam Ahmad, Yahya ibn Maeen, 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 character. Tahzeeb ul-Kamal and books like it are what we would first refer to when determining the strength of a narrator. Taqreeb ul-Tahzeeb by Ibn Hajr is one summary of Tahzeeb.

The secondary and tertiary sources will be discussed in more detail in a later section.

2.2 Unknown Narrators

Narrators are either known or unknown. Unknown narrators, those who only appear in one hadith or one chain and the scholars of hadith do not know anything about them, are called majhul. If the scholars know who he is but do not know his status in hadith, he is called majhul al-haal.

Salim ibn Abi Ja’d narrated from Yazid ibn Bishr: Ibn Umar said, “Islam is built on five: 1) testimony that there is no god except Allah, 2) establishing prayer, 3) giving Zakah, 4) Hajj, and 5) fasting Ramadan.” A man asked, “What about Jihad in the path of Allah?” He said, “Jihad is good, but this is what the Prophet (SAW) told us.” (Musnad Ahmad)

Yazid ibn Bishr is only known for this hadith of the Prophet (SAW). Salim ibn Abi Ja’d was the only person to narrate from him, and Salim narrated one non-hadith narration from him. Ibn Abi Hatim said: I heard my father say, “He is majhul.” (Jarh wal-Ta’deel)

Walid ibn Jamee’ narrated from his grandmother from Umm Waraqah: When the Prophet (SAW) was about to go for Badr, I said to him, “Allow me to come with you so that I can treat the sick. Perhaps Allah will grant me shahadah.” He said, “Stay in your home. Allah will grant you shahadah.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)

This is the only narration by Walid’s grandmother. Ibn Hajr said, “His grandmother was Laila bint Malik who is not known.” (Taqreeb)

2.3 Known Narrators

Known narrators are classified into many categories and given many descriptions. However, we can summarize these into three levels.

2.3.1 Level 1

The highest level can be two types:

1. Thiqah Hujjah: Extremely trustworthy and reliable. Like Imam Malik.
2. Thiqah: Trustworthy and reliable. Most narrators of the Sahihayn.

In the absence of other problems, a hadith of this level of narrators is called Sahih (authentic).

A person rises to the level of Thiqah Hujjah if he is famous in his reliability or his narrations match his peers very closely. He is known to be Thiqah Hujjah if he is described to that level by the scholars.

A person is known to be Thiqah if he was considered reliable by the major scholars while not being weakened by anyone important. Making a few mistakes does not disqualify someone from being Thiqah or even Thiqah Hujjah. No one is free of mistakes.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said, “The imams of our time are four: 1) Sufyan al-Thawri in Kufa, 2) Malik in Hijaz, 3) Awza’i in Sham, and 4) Hammad ibn Zaid in Basrah.” (Jarh wal-Ta’deel)

Hadith: Hanzalah ibn Abi Sufyan > Ikrimah ibn Khalid > Ibn Umar: The Prophet (SAW) said, “Islam is built on five (pillars).”

Hazalah ibn Abi Sufyan: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Whenever Wakee’ came to a hadith of Hanzalah, he would say, ‘Hazalah ibn Abi Sufyan narrated, and he was thiqah thiqah.'” Ibn Maeen said, “He was thiqah hujjah.” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Ikrimah ibn Khalid: According to Tahzeeb, Ishaq ibn Mansur, Ibn Maeen, Abu Zur’ah, and Nasa’i considered him thiqah. No one accused him of mistakes. (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

2.3.2 Level 2

The middle level can be three types:

1. Saduq Hasan ul-Hadith: Trustworthy but not as reliable in his memory as the first level.
2. Saduq Mukhti’: Honest but known to make many mistakes.
3. Maqbul: Narrated only a few hadith and there is no reason to reject them.

In the absence of other problems, a hadith of this level of narrators is called Hasan (fair).

There are different kinds of narrators in the middle level. Some are directly described as honest or hasan ul-hadith by the scholars. Some are strengthened by a group and weakened by a group. The numbers on each side decide the narrator’s classification. Some are only strengthened by a few scholars that do not allow them to rise to the first level.

Hadith: Su’air ibn al-Khims > Habib ibn Abi Thabit > Ibn Umar: The Prophet (SAW) said, “Islam is built on five (pillars).”

Su’air ibn al-Khims: Ali ibn al-Madini said, “He had roughly 10 narrations.” Ibn Maeen said, “He was thiqah.” Abu Hatim said, “He was salih ul-hadith. His hadith are written, but he is not used as (independent) evidence.” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Habib ibn Abi Thabit: Ali ibn al-Madini said, “He had roughly 200 hadith.” Ibn Maeen said, “He is thiqah hujjah.” Someone asked, “Is he thabt?” Ibn Maeen said, “Yes, he only narrated two mistaken hadith.” Sufyan al-Thawri said, “Habib narrated to us, and he was a pillar.” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Hadith: A’mash > Abu Sa’d > Abdullah ibn Amr: The Prophet (SAW) said, “The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hands (other) Muslims are safe.”

Abu Sa’d al-Azdi: Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Thiqaat. But, no one else praised or criticized him. Ibn Hajr called him Maqbul. (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Sulaiman al-A’mash: Ibn Uyaynah said, “A’mash surpassed his companions in four qualities: he was the most proficient of them in reciting the Qur’an, the most memorizing of hadith, the most knowledgeable of them regarding the laws of inheritance,” and he mentioned one other trait. Al-Mawsuli said, “None of the muhadditheen were more reliable than A’mash.” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Musayyab ibn Wadhih: Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Thiqaat and said, “He used to make mistakes.” (Thiqaat) Ibn Abi Hatim said, “My father and Abu Zur’ah used to narrate from him.” Abu Hatim was asked about him and said, “He was saduq, but he used to make a lot of mistakes and would not accept correction.” (Jarh wal-Ta’deel) Ibn Adi listed many narrations where Musayyab made a mistake and said, “Musayyab had many hadith from his teachers, and most of the narrations he opposed people in are what I mentioned to you and he did not do it intentionally. Rather, he got confused in them. So, there’s no harm in using him.” (Al-Kamil)

2.3.3 Level 3

The last level can be three types:

1. Daeef (Weak): Makes too many mistakes to be reliable, even if he is honest. Can be used for corroboration.
2. Matruk (Abandoned): Makes too many mistakes to be used at all.
3. Kazzab (Liar): Proven to fabricate or accused of fabricating hadith.

In the absence of other problems, a hadith of this level of narrators is called Daeef (weak) or Matruh (very weak) or Mawdhu’ (fabricated).

There are many descriptions given to weak narrators, including “weak in hadith” or “munkar in hadith” or “not used as evidence.” Weakness is also derived from the decision of major scholars to leave the hadith of a narrator. The severity of the descriptions decides a narrator’s level.

A weak narrator can be pious or honest. As a result, Daeef narrators can be used for corroboration. But, Matruk narrators are generally not used even for corroboration.

The reason for a narrator’s weakness can range from his bad memory to his dishonesty to his skipping of weak narrators.

Ibn Lahee’ah: Humaidi said, “Yahya ibn Saeed did not use to think he was anything (reliable).” Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna said, “I never heard Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrate anything from Ibn Lahee’ah.” Imam Ahmad said, “The hadith of Ibn Lahee’ah are not hujjah. But, I write a lot of what I write so that I can use them for corroboration. Some of them strengthen others.” Sufyan al-Thawri said “I went on many pilgrimages just to meet Ibn Lahee’ah.” Ibn Wahb said, “Ibn Lahee’ah narrated to me, and he was by Allah pious and honest.” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

Kharijah ibn Mus’ab: Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “My father forbade me from writing down any hadith from Kharijah ibn Mus’ab.” Ibn Maeen said, “He is not thiqah.” Once, he said, “He is a liar.” Once, he said, “He is weak.” Bukhari said, “Ibn al-Mubarak and Wakee’ abandoned him.” Nasa’i said, “Matruk in hadith.” Yahya ibn Yahya said, “Kharijah according to us is sound in hadith. We only criticized the hadith he narrated from Ghiyath with tadlees (not mentioning Ghiyath).” (Tahzeeb ul-Kamal)

3. Important Narrators

3.1 Narrators of Hadith

Isnad revolves around six people:

1. Al-Zuhri Ibn Shihab in Madinah (d. 124 AH)
2. Amr ibn Dinar in Makkah (d. 126 AH)
3. Qatadah ibn Diamah in Basrah (d. 117 AH)
4. Yahya ibn Abi Kathir in Yamamah (d. 132 AH)
5. Abu Ishaq al-Sabee’i in Kufa (d. 129 AH)
6. Al-A’mash Sulaiman ibn Mihran in Kufa (d. 148 AH)

Then, the knowledge of these people went to major scholars and writers of the next generation:

In Madinah:

1. Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH)
   • Learned from Zuhri
2. Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 152 AH)
   • Learned from Zuhri and A’mash

In Makkah:

3. Ibn Juraij (d. 151 AH)
4. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah (d. 198 AH)
   • Learned from Zuhri, Amr ibn Dinar, Abu Ishaq, and A’mash

In Basrah:

5. Saeed ibn Abi Arubah (d. 159 AH)
6. Hammad ibn Salamah (d. 168 AH)
7. Abu Awanah (d. 175 AH)
8. Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 160 AH)
9. Ma’mar ibn Rashid (d. 154 AH)
   • Learned from Zuhri, Amr ibn Dinar, Qatadah, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, and Abu Ishaq

In Kufa:

10. Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161 AH)

In Sham:

11. Al-Awza’i Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr (d. 151 AH)

In Wasit:

12. Hushaim ibn Bashir (d. 183 AH)

Then, the knowledge of these twelve spread but was concentrated heavily in six:

1. Yahya ibn Saeed al-Qattan (d. 198 AH)
2. Yahya ibn Zakariyyah ibn Abi Zaa’idah (d. 182 AH)
3. Wakee’ ibn Jarrah (d. 199 AH)
4. Abdullah ibn Mubarak (d. 181 AH)
5. Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi (d. 198 AH)
6. Yahya ibn Adam (d. 203 AH)

3.2 Scholars of Fiqh

There were six major judges among the Sahabah:

1. Umar ibn al-Khattab
2. Ali ibn Abi Talib
3. Abdullah ibn Masud
4. Zaid ibn Thabit
5. Abu Musa al-Ashari
6. Ubay ibn Ka’b

Three of the companions had many students around them who followed their methodology: 1) Ibn Masud, 2) Zaid ibn Thabit, and 3) Ibn Abbas.

Ibn Masud settled in Kufa, and his major students were: 1) Ubaidah, 2) Harith, 3) Masruq, 4) Alqamah, and 5) Shuraih. Ibrahim al-Nakha’i was the most learned from them. A’mash and Abu Ishaq were the most learned after his generation. Sufyan al-Thawri was the most learned in the generation after them.

Ibn Abbas settled in Makkah, and his major students were: 1) Ata, 2) Tawus, 3) Mujahid, 4) Jabir ibn Zaid, 5) Ikrimah, and 6) Saeed ibn Jubair. Amr ibn Dinar was the most learned from them. Ibn Uyaynah and Ibn Juraij were from the generation after them.

Zaid ibn Thabit settled in Madinah, and the scholars who followed his methodology were many: 1) Saeed ibn al-Musayyab, 2) Urwah ibn Zubair, 3) Qabisah, 4) Kharijah ibn Zaid ibn Thabit, 5) Sulaiman ibn Yasar, 6) Aban ibn Uthman, 7) Ubaidullah ibn Abdullah, 8) Qasim ibn Muhammad, 9) Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar, 10) Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Rahman, 11) Abu Salamah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and 12) Talhah ibn Abdullah. Only Saeed, Urwah, Qabisah, Kharijah, Aban, and Sulaiman met Zaid, but the rest followed his methodology. After them, no one was more knowledgeable in Madinah than Zuhri, Yahya ibn Saeed al-Ansari, Abu al-Zinad, and Bukair ibn Abdullah. After them, no one was more knowledgeable than Malik ibn Anas.

4. Scholars of Narrator Classification

The scholars of Jarh and Ta’deel were around the generation of Imam Ahmad. Some were before him, and many were after him.

4.1 Difference of Classification

When the scholars differ about the grading of a narrator, that can be for three reasons:

1. Difference in Information
2. Difference in Methodology or Judgement
3. Difference in Wording

The first is when a scholar has some information about a narrator that another scholar does not. As a result, the one who has more information is preferred in his judgement.

The second is when two scholars had the same information but came to different conclusions based on that information.

For example, if a narrator is known to make some mistakes, one might consider him still reliable because the mistakes are few and another might consider him weakened. Some scholars were known to be strict, some were known to be moderate, and some were known to be lenient.

Sometimes, a scholars weakened a narrator for something that is not a reason for weakness in reality, like mild bidah.

The third is when two scholars agree about the actual status of a narrator but word it differently.

For a reliable narrator, one might say, “He is thiqah,” and another might say, “There’s no problem with him.” For a hasan narrator, one might say, “He is not strong,” and one might say, “He is honest.” For a weak narrator, one might say, “He is weak,” and another might say, “He is honest.”

The same terms can apply to narrators of entirely different levels. As a result, it is important to understand how different scholars used terms and compare multiple gradings of the same narrator.

Some of the strict scholars were (in general order of strictest to least strict):

1. Abu Hatim
2. Ibn Maeen
3. Yahya al-Qattan
4. Ibn Kharrash

Some of the moderate scholars were (in general order of strictest to least strict):

1. Ahmad
2. Abu Zur’ah
3. Bukhari
4. Ali ibn al-Madini
5. Tirmidhi

Some of the lenient scholars were:

1. Daruqutni
2. Hakim in the Mustadrak

Ibn Hibban included in his book Thiqaat anyone whose hadith had the possibility of being accepted. It is not uncommon to find even majhul narrators in his book.

Gradings are also derived from whether major scholars like Shu’bah, Malik, or Sufyan al-Thawri avoided narrating from a narrator or chose to narrate from him.

Moderate scholars are generally preferred over strict or lenient ones in their grading. But, when there is widespread difference about the grading of a narrator, that indicates he is of the second level.

A good book to understand the wordings of the different scholars is Tahreer Ulum al-Hadith by Abdullah al-Judai’.

4.2 Sources of Narrator Criticism

The secondary sources of narrator criticism are divided into many books by different authors.

The early scholars like Yahya al-Qattan, Ahmad, Ibn Main, and Ali ibn al-Madini did not author books on the subject of narrators. However, their views are found by referring to the narrations of their students. Some of those have been turned into books.

One of the earliest works on the subject is Ibn Sa’d’s Tabaqat. However, Ibn Sa’d was not an expert in the subject.

Tarikh al-Kabir by Bukhari contains a list of narrators and brief notes about their teachers and students. Occasionally, Bukhari mentions grades. Bukhari also has the books Tarikh al-Awsat and Du’afa al-Sagheer. In the latter, he mentions weak narrators.

Ibn Hibban wrote two books: 1) Thiqaat and 2) Majruhin. He listed narrators of the first and second levels in Thiqaat in addition to majhul narrators that had no criticism against them. He listed narrators of the third category (weak and unusable) in Majruhin. Sometimes, he adds details on their reliability.

Jarh wal-Ta’deel by Ibn Abi Hatim contains Ibn Abi Hatim’s questions to his father Abu Hatim and Abu Zur’ah about many different narrators. It is the earliest work that attempts to be somewhat comprehensive.

There are other books in this genre including Du’afa of Ibn Adi and Thiqaat by al-Ijli.

There are also implicit secondary sources.

If Bukhari or Muslim use a narrator as evidence (rather than as corroboration), that is evidence they consider that narrator reliable. The same applies to Nasa’i.

If Tirmidhi declares a hadith with a narrator Hasan Sahih, that is evidence he considers him at least honest. If he declares a hadith Hasan, that is evidence he does not consider him Matruk. If he considers a hadith Ghareeb because of a narrator, that is evidence he considers him weak.

If Bukhari or Muslim stay away from using a narrator, that may indicate the narrator does not meet their standards of reliability.

Similar applies to scholars like Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibban that wrote Sahihs, but their judgement is weaker than the judgements of Bukhari and Muslim.

The tertiary sources are also divided into a few books.

The most important book on this subject is Tahzeeb ul-Kamal by al-Mizzi. It is largely limited to the narrators of the six books. Many people wrote books adding to or summarizing Tahzeeb ul-Kamal. Al-Mizzi’s student wrote Ikmal al-Tahzeeb to add information that al-Mizzi missed in his book. This was later used by Ibn Hajr to write the extremely summarized Taqreeb al-Tahzeeb. Another useful summary is Khulasat Tazheeb Tahzeeb ul-Kamal.

Another important book is Mizan ul-Itidal by Dhahabi. In this book, Dhahabi discussed narrators that were criticized in some way and compared the statements of different scholars on them.