Dear members of the list,
Assalamu Alaikum.I am forwarding to you a very
important article on classification of Hadith.Please also see 5 references
of other articles on the subject.It is very important to know the principles of
Hadith examination, bith of Isnad and Matn (text )
Shah Abdul Hannan
Classification of Hadith According to a Hidden Defect*
Note: While citing the isnads below, the terms haddathana (he narrated to us), akhbarana (he informed us) or sami`tu (I heard) will be represented by a double line thus (===), while a single broken line (---) will replace the term `an (on the authority of). Before discussing ma`lul (defective) hadiths, a brief note on mudtarib (shaky) and maqlub (reversed) hadiths would help in understanding ma`lul. Mudtarib (Shaky Hadiths) According to Ibn Kathir, if reporters disagree about a particular sheikh or about some other points in the isnad or the text in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there is uncertainty about the isnad or text, such a hadith is called mudtarib (shaky) (Ibn Kathir 72). For example, with regard to idtirab (shakiness) in the isnad, it is reported on the authority of Abu Bakr that he said, "O Messenger of Allah! I see you getting gray-headed?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "What made me gray-headed are Surat Hud and its sister surahs." Ad-Daraqutni commented:
As an example of idtirab in the text, Rafi` ibn Khadij said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the renting of land. The reporters narrating from Rafi` give different statements as follows:
Because of these various versions, Ahmad ibn Hanbal said,
Maqlub (Changed or Reversed) A hadith is known as maqlub (changed, reversed) when its isnad is grafted to a different text or vice versa, or if a reporter happens to reverse the order of a sentence in the text. As an example relating to the text, in his transmission of the famous hadith describing the seven types of people who will be under the shelter of Allah on the Day of Judgment, Muslim reports one of the categories as "a man who conceals his act of charity to such an extent that his right hand does not know what his left hand gives in charity." This sentence has clearly been reversed by a reporter because the correct wording is recorded in other narrations of both Al-Bukhari and Muslim as "... that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives ..." (Ibn Kathir 88). The famous trial of Al-Bukhari by the scholars of Baghdad provides a good example of a maqlub isnad. The traditionists, in order to test their visitor, Al-Bukhari, appointed 10 men, each with 10 hadiths. Each hadith (text) of these 10 people was prefixed with the isnad of another. Imam Al-Bukhari listened to each of the 10 men as they narrated their hadiths and denied the correctness of every hadith. When they had finished narrating these hadiths, he addressed each person in turn and recounted to him each of his hadiths with its correct isnad. This trial earned him great honor among the scholars of Baghdad (Ibn Kathir 87). Other ways in which hadiths have been rendered maqlub are by replacement of the name of a reporter with another, for example, by quoting Abu Hurairah as the reporter from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) although the actual reporter was someone else, or by reversal of the name of the reporter, for example, by mentioning Walid ibn Muslim instead of Muslim ibn Walid, or Ka`b ibn Murrah instead of Murrah ibn Ka`b (As-Sakhawi 1:278). Ma`lul or Mu`allal (Defective) Ibn As-Salah says, "A ma`lul (defective) hadith is one which appears to be sound, but thorough research reveals a disparaging factor." Such factors can be
Ibn Al-Madini (d. AH 324) says that such a defect can only be revealed if all the isnads of a particular hadith are collated. In his book Al-`Ilal, he gives 34 successors and the names of those Companions from whom each of the successors did not hear hadithsdirectly. For example, he says that Al-Hasan Al-Basri (d. AH 110, aged 88) did not see `Ali (d. AH 40), although he adds that there is a slight possibility that he may have seen him during his childhood in Madinah (Ibn Al-Madini 58).(1) Such information is very important, since for example, many Sufi traditions go back to Al-Hasan Al-Basri, who is claimed to report directly from `Ali. Being a very delicate branch of the Hadith methodology, only a few well-known traditionists, such as Ibn Al-Madini (d. AH 234), Ibn Abi Hatim Ar-Razi (d. AH 327), Al-Khallal (d. AH 311) and Ad-Daraqutni (d. AH 385), have compiled books about it. Ibn Abi Hatim, in his Kitab Al-Ilal, has given 2,840 examples of ma`lul hadiths on a range of topics. An example of a ma`lul hadith is one transmitted by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah, who reports the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as having said:
Regarding it, Ibn Taimiyah says
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* Based on the book An Introduction to the Science of Hadith, with the author's kind permission. Excerpted, with some modifications, from: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/scienceofhadith/asb6.html ** Sheikh Suhaib Hassan is a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research. (1) Ibn Hajar Al-`Asqalani mentions that the imams of Hadith have agreed that Al-Hasan Al-Basri did not hear a single word from `Ali. (2) Ibn Taimiyah mentions that Imam Muslim's authentication of this hadith is supported by Abu Bakr Al-Anbari and Ibn Al-Jawzi; whereas Al-Baihaqi supports those who disparaged it. Al-Albani says that it was Ibn Al-Madini who criticized it; whereas Ibn Ma`in did not (the latter was known to be very strict; both of them were sheikhs of Al-Bukhari). He further says that the hadith is sahih, and does not contradict the Qur'an, contrary to the probable view of the scholars who criticized the hadith, since what is mentioned in the Qur'an is the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days, each of which may be like a thousand years; whereas the hadith refers to the creation of the earth only, in days which are shorter than those referred to in the Qur'an (Al-Albani, Silsilat Al-Ahadith As-Sahihah, no. 1833). *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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