Sources - Hadith

Lesson 22
Narration

Main Points

·       The purpose of the science of Hadith is the documentation of the Sunnah (The Prophet’s deeds and traditions) according to the narration and content, and judging the validity of the Hadiths.

·      In absolute terms, Hadith refers to all that pertains to the Prophet’s sayings, doings, tacit approval of a practice, or a description of the Prophet presented by one of the Companions. It is also known as a traceable Hadith.

·      Al-Qudsi Hadith is that in which Allah speaks through the Prophet who expressed the meaning with his own words.

·      Arrested (Mawquf) Hadith is that which is ascribed to the companions, not to the Prophet.

·      A discontinuous Hadith is one whose chain of transmission ends with a successor, rather than a Companion or the Prophet.

The chain of Hadith narration:

·      The method of chaining Hadith narration:[1] hearsay from a Hadith narrator, reading or showing (for approval) to the narrator, the narrator’s permission to assign another to narrate on his behalf, the narrator’s reference to the original of his writing, and the narrator’s assignment of another to write a copy of his writing.

·      The Hadith is divided, according to its number of channels, into: Mutawatir and Ahad.

·      Mutawatir Hadiths are those related by whole groups of trustworthy individuals (may be five, ten, or more) from whole groups, in multiple generations of transmission, leading back to the Prophet himself, such that the sheer number of separate channels, at each generation of transmission is too many to be possible for all to have conspired to fabricate the Hadith.

·      Ahad Hadith: it is that Hadith in which the conditions of the Mutawatir Hadith are not satisfied in one or more generations of transmission:

a) A Well-known Hadith is one whose channels of transmission came through only three people up to five at any point in its history.

b) A Rare Hadith (`Aziz) is one transmitted through just two for each generation of its transmission.

c) A Singular Hadith (Gharib) is one transmitted through just one individual at any stage in the history of its transmission.

·      A Hadith is also termed Well-known if it is well-known in the concerned circles, regardless of the terminological definition. A Well-known Hadith, in that sense, is not necessarily an authentic one.