How to benefit by Sunan Ibn Mâjah
♦ Introduction: The Sunan of Ibn Mâjah is one of the basic reference works. It occupies a special position among the six canonical books of Ahâdîth (the Sound Six), next to the Sound Traditions of Bukhârî and Muslim. It has been arranged under subject-headings. Imâm Ibn Mâjah (209 AH-273 AH) divided his work into three parts according to the subject-matter: (1) chapters (2) subchapters (3) Ahâdîth. This type of division and arrangement is technically called the Fiqh classification. The Sunan of Ibn Mâjah consists of 37 books and 4341 Ahâdîth in all.
♦ Chapters: To begin with, titles have been given according to subject-matter, following the Fiqh classification (that is, the classification method followed in the books of Islamic jurisprudence), for example, chapters of Purity and its Sunan, chapters of Funerals. Following this pattern, Sunan Ibn Mâjah make 37 chapters, a separate list of which has been given on another page.
♦ Subchapters: These carry titles relating to each of the Fiqh subjects. For example, the chapter of Purity and its Sunan has 139 subchapters. The same method is followed in the chapters on Prayer-call (Adhân), Mosques, etc.
♦ Ahâdîth: The Ahâdîth quoted under each chapter and each title have been arranged with respect to their contents and follow a well-ordered sequence. The Ahâdîth quoted vary in numbers, more in some chapters and less in others. Readers should follow the same order in their search for a Hadîth relating to a particular subject.
♦ References: Readers will notice the word Al-Mu'jam in the beginning of each subchapter and the word At-Tuhfah at the end of it in the chapters of the Arabic part of Sunan Ibn Mâjah. The following explains the terms: a. Al-Mu'jam refers to Al-Mu'jam Al-Mufahras li Alfâthul-Hadîth, a 7-8 volume work prepared by the (non-Muslim) Orientalists over a period of 65 years stretching from 1922 to 1987. It is an alphabetical list of words occurring in the texts of Ahâdîth collected by nine traditionists in their compilations: Sahihul-Bukhârî, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dâwud, Jâmi' Tirmidhi, Sunan An-Nasa'i, Sunan Ibn Mâjah, Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta' Al-Imâm Mâlik, and Sunan Ad-Dârîmî. Its purpose is to help readers find the text of any Hadîth wherever it occurs among the foregoing nine Hadîth compilations.
b. At-Tuhfah refers to Tuhfatul-Ashrâf bi Ma'rifatil-Atrâf, a book prepared by Jamâluddin Abul-Hajjâj Yusuf Al-Mizzi in the course of 27 years, from 696 AH to 722 AH. It contains the texts of all the Ahâdîth of the Six canonical books plus As-Sunan Al-Kubra of Nasa'i and Shamâ'il of Tirmidhi along with the names, alphabetically arranged, of the Companions, their followers (Tâbi'in) and the followers of the followers (Taba' Tâbi'in), who narrated them. This arrangement is technically called Musnad. Numbers have also been given along with Al-Mu'jam and At-Tuhfah in the Arabic part of Ibn Mâjah. These numbers guide the reader to where those Ahâdîth are to be found in Al-Mu'jam Al-Mufahras and Tuhfatul-Ashrâf, thereby enabling him to get to other reference works relating to Ahâdîth. This arrangement has proved very helpful to research scholars in their search for a particular Hadîth.
• Numbering Ahâdîth: Muhammad Fuwâd 'Abdul-Bâqi introduced about 60 to 70 years ago the system of giving number to each Hadîth in the collections: Bukhârî, Muslim, and Sunan Ibn Mâjah to make it easy to find a particular Hadîth. It is called in Arabic Raqamul-Hadîth. Now it has become a normal practice in Hadîth books. This method of numbering Ahâdîth has made access to any Hadîth very easy. You can find a Hadîth now very quickly.
• Sanad (chain) of Hadîth: The traditionist transmits a Hadîth, beginning from his teacher (Shaikh) through each narrator up to the Companion of the Prophet ﷺ. This sequence of narrators is called chain (Sanad) of narration.
• Matn (text) of Hadîth: The words beginning at the end of the chain is called Matn (text).
• Comments: To further explain the meaning of each Hadîth and to recount all the rulings and the points of law that can possibly be deduced from a particular Hadîth, a new section, Comments, has been added in the English edition. While writing this section, quotations from Qur'ân and Hadîth books, along with their references, have also been given. Sometimes Hadîth numbers have also been given, the purpose being to help the reader gain more information if he so desires.
Readers will note in this English edition of Ibn Mâjah that at the end of each Hadîth, the quoted Hadîth has been investigated and traced. It is a technical thing normally useful for learned men and Hadîth scholars but a layman may also benefit by discovering whether a particular Hadîth is Weak or Sound.
Technical Terms used by Hadith Scholars
Definition of Hadith: Whatever has come down to us concerning Allâh's Messenger ﷺ through narrators is called Hadith. It is also sometimes called Sunnah (practice, usage, etc), Khabar (report) and Athar (track, trace, sign, impression, tradition).
Basic Kinds of Ahâdith:
— Qauli (Verbal): It records the utterances of the Prophet ﷺ.
— Fi'li (Practical): It records the deeds of the Prophet ﷺ.
— Taqrir (Tacit): It records the Prophet's tacit approval of some action, behavior, etc.
— Shamâ'il (physical characteristics): It records the physical characteristics, appearance, habits or behavior of the Prophet ﷺ.
Note: The main text of a Hadith is called Matn, which is preceded by Sanad (chain of narrators). If the chain is complete and no name of the narrator is missing from the chain, the Hadith is called Muttasil (Connected). Else, it is called Munqati' (Interrupted).
Kinds of Ahâdith with respect to Ascription (Nisbah):
— Qudsi (Sacred): It records the very Words of Allâh narrated by the Prophet ﷺ, transmitted through narrators, and not found in the Qur'ân.
— Marfu' (Traceable): A Hadith ascribing an utterance, deed, or tacit approval to the Prophet ﷺ.
— Mauquf (Discontinued): A Hadith ascribing an utterance, deed, or tacit approval to a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ.
— Maqtu' (Intersected): A Hadith ascribing an utterance or deed to Tâbi'i[1] or Tabi' Tâbi'i.[2]
[1] See the glossary.
[2] See the glossary.
Kinds of Ahâdith according to the Number of Narrators:
— Mutawâtir (Continuous): Hadith fulfilling the four conditions of continuity: 1. narrated by a large number of narrators; 2. human reason and usage cannot possibly rule it out as false; 3. occurring much in each chronological Level (Tabaqah) of narrators, right from the era of the Prophet ﷺ to the time of the compiler; 4. relates to human senses.
Note: Tabaqah (Era-Level) is a group of narrators hearing Ahâdith from one or more than one teacher.
— Khabar Wâhid (Isolated): A Hadith which does not meet the four conditions of Mutawâtir Hadith. It is of four kinds.
— Mashhur (Well-known): A Hadith with more than two narrators at each Level (Tabaqah) but not an equal number of narrators at any Level (e.g., three, four, five).
— Mustafid (Extensive): Hadith with a uniform number of narrators but more than two at each Level or a uniform number of them at the beginning or the end of the chain of narration.
— 'Aziz (Precious): Hadith with only two narrators at any Level.
— Gharib (Unfamiliar): Hadith with only one narrator at any Era-Level. If the narrator is a Companion or a Tâbi'i, it will be called Gharib Mutlaq (Absolutely Unfamiliar). In case the narrator is some other person, it will be called Gharib Nisabi (Relatively Unfamiliar).
Note: Of the foregoing kinds, the Mutawâtir Hadith gives you certainty or positive knowledge ('Ilmul-Yaqin). The other kinds may be Mardud (Rejected) or Maqbul (Accepted).
Kinds of Ahâdith according to Acceptance or Rejection:
— Maqbul (Accepted): The one that is obligatory to act by.
— Mardud (Rejected): Hadith that is not Accepted.
Kinds and grades of Maqbul Ahâdith according to the extent they meet the conditions of acceptability:
1. Sahih li-Dhâtihi
2. Sahih li-Ghairihi
3. Hasan li-Dhâtihi
4. Hasan li-Ghairihi
♦ Sahih li-Dhâtihi (Sound by itself): the Hadīth that fulfills the five conditions of soundness. a. Should have a connected chain of narration. That is, each narrator received the narration from his teacher. b. Each narrator should be upright (Ādil), commits no major sin, does not insist on minor sins, is good-tempered and of good moral conduct. c. Perfectly accurate (Kâmilud-Dabt), transmitting his narration orally from memory or in writing perfectly and accurately. d. The Hadīth should not be Shâdhdh, that is, it should not contradict other Ahâdīth. e. The Hadīth should not be Ma'lul (Defective).
(Detailed definition of Shâdhdh and Ma'lul will soon follow).
● Hasan li-Dhâtihi (Good by itself): A Hadīth, some narrators of which are less accurate, but it fulfills all the remaining conditions. (Note: Hasan li-Dhâtihi ranks after Sahih li-Ghairihi. We have changed the sequence to make definitions easier.
● Sahih li-Ghairihi (Sound owing to supporting narrations): If a Hasan Hadīth has more than one chain of narration, it is elevated to the grade of Sound (Sahih). It is called Sahih li-Ghairihi (Sound owing to supporting narrations) since it has become Sound by virtue of other supporting narrations.
● Hasan li-Ghairihi (Good owing to other supporting narrations): Hadīth having several chains of narrations, each chain being a little weak but the weakness offset by virtue of multiplicity of chains, and, hence, reaching the grade of Hasan li-Ghairihi.
Kinds and Grades of Sound Ahâdīth (as they occur in Hadīth books):
● Muttafiq Alaīh (Agreed upon): Hadīth occurring in both Sahih Bukhârī and Sahih Muslim. Such a Hadīth is sound to the highest degree.
● Afrâd Bukhârī: Hadīth occurring in Sahih Bukhârī but not in Sahih Muslim.
● Afrâd Muslim: Hadīth occurring in Sahih Muslim but not in Sahih Bukhârī.
● Sahih 'ala Shartihima: A Hadīth not found in Sahih Bukhârī or Sahih Muslim but meeting the conditions laid down by both.
● Sahih 'ala Shartil-Bukhârī: Hadīth not found in Sahih Bukhârī but meets
the conditions laid down by him for a Hadīth to be Sound.
• Sahīh 'ala Shartī- Muslim: Hadīth not found in Sahīh Muslim but meets the conditions laid down by Muslim for a Hadīth to be Sound.
• Sahīh 'ala Shartī-Ghairihīma: A Hadīth that meets the conditions laid down by Hadīth scholars other than Bukhārī and Muslim.
Kinds of Mardud (Rejected) Ahādīth due to Interrupted (Munqatī) chain:
• Mu'allaq (Suspended): A Hadīth with the initial part of its chain of narration or the whole chain deleted (deliberately).
• Mursal (Disconnected): A Hadīth narrated by a Tābi'i from the Prophet ﷺ without an intermediary.
• Mu'dal (Double Break): Refers to a Hadīth in which two or more consecutive narrators are deleted in the middle of the chain.
• Munqatī (Interrupted): This term is applied to a Hadīth in which one or more than one narrator has been deleted at random from the middle of the chain of narration.
• Mudallas (Truncated): The term is applied to a Hadīth in which the narrator hides the name of his teacher in a subtle way, such as calling him by an unknown or nickname, giving the impression that he did not do so. In this case, the chain is Muttasil (Connected) and the subnarrators are known to have met and heard directly from the relevant teachers but there is no proof that they heard the respective Hadīth directly from them.
• Mursal Khafī (Disconnected-hidden): A Hadīth in which the narrator narrates from a contemporary whom he could not have possibly heard from or seen, there being no proof of both having met each other.
• Ma'lul or Mu'allal (Defective): A technical term applied to a Hadīth that looks Maqbul (Accepted) externally but contains an inherent, hidden defect making it unacceptable. Only an expert and highly skilled in the Hadīth science can detect such a defect. It is impossible for others.
Kinds of Rejected Ahādīth, according to lack of integrity of narrators:
• Riwā'yatul-Mubtadi' (narration of innovator): A Hadīth from a narrator committing innovation (Bid'ah), by word or act, thereby reneging his faith. Anyhow, in case his sin of innovation does not warrant the charge of disbelief, his narration may be reliable providing he is a person of integrity ('Adl) and accurate (Dābit). It is to be noted that innovation reneging disbelief leads, of necessity, to apostasy.
• Riwā'yatul-Fāsiq (narration of dissolute): A Hadīth narrated by one committing major sins, short of disbelief.
• Matruk (Abandoned): A Hadith narrated by a known liar and whose narrations have been rejected by traditionists (Muhaddithin).
• Maudu' (Fabricated): A Hadith whose narrator attributed a false report to the Prophet ﷺ on some occasion. Any narration by such a person is called Forged or Fabricated.
Kinds of Rejected Ahâdith according to inaccuracy of narrator:
• Musahhaf (misrepresented): A Hadith containing a word that looks right apparently but is actually mispronounced or misread due to misspelling or misplaced diacritical marks.
• Maqlub (Inverted): A Hadith containing words put before or after their proper place by the narrator forgetfully or containing the name of a narrator in place of another.
• Mudraj (Interpolated): A Hadith containing, in part, intentionally or unintentionally, a narrator's own word or words that look like a part of the text of the Hadith itself.
• Al-Mazid fi Muttasilil-Asânid (Additional): Narration so named when two narrators, one trustworthy and another more trustworthy, transmit a tradition, the former adding one more subnarrator to the chain.
• Shâhdh (Contradicting): A Hadith transmitted by an accepted (trustworthy or truthful) narrator who contradicts another narrator more trustworthy than himself or several trustworthy narrators like himself. The antonym (opposite) of Shâhdh is Mahfuz (Conforming).
• Munkar (Denounced): A Hadith whose narrator is Weak (Da'if) and contradicts one or more than one trustworthy narrators. The antonym of Munkar is Ma'ruf (Conventional).
• Riwâyah Saiyyil Hifz (Poor): A Hadith narrated by one born with a poor memory.
• Riwâyah Kathirul-Ghaflah (Lax): Term applied to Hadith narrated by one who is very lax and negligent or commits errors very often.
• Riwâyah Fâhishul-Ghalat (Monstrous): Hadith narrated by one who commits monstrous errors.
• Riwâyatul-Mukhtalit (Muddled): A Hadith narrated by one who lost memory through senility, dotage or accident or whose written narrations were lost.
• Mudtarib (Confounding): A Hadith, the chain or text of which contains conflicting things impossible to be resolved.
Kinds of Rejected Ahâdith due to narrator being Unknown:
• Riwâyah Majhulil-'Ain (Unknown): The Hadith of a narrator who is quite unknown, there being no comment about him by a Hadith scholar and no knowledge as to whether he was trustworthy or Weak and there being only one subnarrator narrating from him. Such a narrator is called Unknown.
• Riwâyah Majhulil-Hâl: The Hadith of a narrator unknown, there being no comment about him by a Hadith scholar and no knowledge as to whether he was trustworthy or Weak and there being only two subnarrators reporting from him. Such a person is called Unknown (Majhul). He is also called Mastur (Concealed).
• Mubbham (Vague): A Hadith whose chain does not clearly state the name of any narrator.
Kinds of Hadith Compilations
• Kutub Sihah (Books of Sound Ahâdith): Any book, the compiler of which has committed himself to include only Sound (Sahih) narrations in his compilation and made the word Sahih a part of the title of his book. In the opinion of the compiler at least, the narrations of such a book are Sound. If he himself points out the defect in a Hadith he has recorded, it does not tarnish or detract from the soundness of his compilation.
• Sihah Sittah (the Sound Six): This term is applied to the sound six compilations—Sahih Bukhârî, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dâwud, Sunan An-Nasâ'î, Jâmî' Tirmidhî, and Sunan Ibn Mâjah. They are also known as Usul Sittah (the Six Majors or Basics) or Kutub Sittah (Six Books). The first two are called Sahihain and have earned universal acclaim. They are not considered Sound only by their compilers but by the whole Muslim nation. Anyone finding fault with the Twain is, in the words of Shah Waliullah, the renowned traditionist of Delhi, an innovator disputing the consensus of the nation. The last four books are called Sunan Arba'ah. These contain some Weak (Da'îf) narrations but, on the whole, most of them are Sound. Hence, learned scholars include them in the 'Sound Six'.
• Jâmî' (Comprehensive): The term is applied to a book that contains Ahâdith on all subjects relating to Islam like doctrines ('Aqâ'id), laws, and commandments (Ahkâm), exegesis (Tafsîr), the Paradise (Jannah), the Hell (Jahannam). Examples: Sahih Bukhârî, Jâmî' Tirmidhî, etc.
• Sunan: Books containing Ahâdith of a practical nature, legal and doctrinal, focusing on topics of relevance to a Muslim's daily life like Sunan Abu Dâwud.
• Musnad: A collection of Ahâdith narrated by a Companion or Companions, each collection arranged separately under the name of a Companion, like Musnad Ahmad, Musnad Humaidi.
• Mustakhraj: A genre of Hadith literature in which the compiler gathers narrations from other books and writes them with his chains of narration like Mustakhraj Ismâ'ili 'ala Sahihil-Bukhârî.
• Mustadrak: A compilation of Ahâdith not found in the book of a Hadith scholar but fulfilling the conditions laid down by him. Example: Mustadrak Hâkim.
• Mu'jam: A compilation listing the Ahâdith narrated by each of the compiler's teachers separately, arranged in a particular order.
• Arba'in: A book listing forty Ahâdith on one or more than one subject like Arba'in Nawawi, Arba'in Thunâ'i.
• Juz': A collection containing the narrations of a single narrator or on a single subject like Bukhârî's Juz' Raf'il Yadain and Juz' Al-Qirâ'ati Khalful-Imâm and Baihaqî's Kitâbul-Qirâ'ati Khalful-Imâm.
Era-Categories (Tabaqât) of Hadith Compilations
1. The first Tabaqah covers Sahihul-Bukhârî, Sahih Muslim and Muwatta' Al-Imâm Mâlik. The latter precedes the former two with respect to the time of compilation but ranks third in the order of value and importance. Imâm Mâlik and his group of scholars believe all the Ahâdîth in Al-Muwatta' to be Sound but other traditionists believe some narrations found therein to be Munqatî or Mursal although these are found in other books with Connected (Muttasil) chains. (But a Connected chain is not enough to establish the soundness of a Hadith).
2. The Four Sunans (Sunan Arba'ah) rank second. Some include Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Ad-Dârîmî also in this Rank. The compilers of these books had a thorough knowledge of the Hadith sciences. They were known for their trustworthiness, integrity and accuracy. They were never negligent or lax in achieving their objectives and fulfilling the conditions they had set for themselves. In every age their books were liked and acclaimed by traditionists and learned scholars.
3. The Masanid[1] Jawâmi'[2], and Musannafât[3], written before, during and after the Sound Six (Sihah Sittah) fall third in order of rank. The purpose of their writers was just to collect and compile Ahâdîth. This explains why their compilations contain all kinds of Ahâdîth. These books are not unknown to Hadith scholars but, nonetheless, they do not find favor with them. The Muslim jurists did not make much use of the Ahâdîth occurring in these compilations only but not in other books of the first two categories. Nor did Hadith scholars care much to investigate them as to their soundness or weakness, acceptance or rejection, exposition or elaboration. Under this category and rank come the works like Musannaf 'Abdur-Razzâq, Musannaf Ibn Abu Shaibah, Musnad At-Tayâlîsî, and the works of Baihaqî, Tahâwî, and Tabarânî.
4. To the fourth rank belong those books that were composed much later, containing Ahâdîth not found in the books of the top two ranks but rather in the compilations of little academic value. These books consist of arguments of preachers, proverbs of wise men and Israeli traditions that some weak transmitters mixed up, accidentally or purposely, with the Prophet's traditions. Or they are mere speculations or probabilities drawn from Qur'ân and Sunnah that ignorant mystics began
[1] Plural of Musnad. See the glossary.
[2] Plural of Jâmi'. See the glossary.
[3] Plural of Musannaf. See the glossary.
transmitting by meanings (not by words) down the ages till the common people took them as the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ himself. Or they pruned words and lines from a number of Ahâdîth, pieced them together, and coined a new Hadith altogether. Examples: Kitâbud-Du'afâ' (the Book of Weak narrations) of Ibn Hibbân, Al-Kâmil (The Complete) of Ibn 'Adi, and the books of Khatib Baghdadi, Abu Nu'aim Isfahani, Ibn 'Asâkir, Juzqâni, Ibn Najjâr, and Dailami. They all belong to this category. And so are Musnad Al-Khwârizmi and Al-Maudu'ât of Ibn Jawzi and Mulla 'Ali Qâri.
5. To this category belong the books containing the Ahâdîth that were widely current among the circles of jurists, mystics, historians and experts in various fields as well as the Ahâdîth fabricated by ungodly people with fluent tongues who embellished them with eloquent words and even forged chains of narration themselves. • The books of the first and the second category or Rank are fully trusted by Hadith scholars. They have always remained deeply attached to them. • The Ahâdîth of the third Rank can only be advanced for argument by those who are experts in the Hadith sciences and have profound knowledge of narrators and the degree of their reliability, and have a sharp insight into the hidden defects of Ahâdîth. In general, these Ahâdîth cannot be advanced for argument or evidence except, of course, as supporting evidence for Maqbul (Accepted) Ahâdîth. • To gather and advance the Ahâdîth belonging to the fourth category (Rank) as argument in support of the Ahâdîth of the top two Ranks is a mere forced, affected behavior of the later scholars. That is the way of the innovators in their bid to support their particular rite of Fiqh or their denomination or religious creed. But Hadith scholars consider it wrong to advance Ahâdîth from this category for evidence - (synopsis of Hujjatullâhil-Bâlighah).
Meanings of Masâdir (Sourcebooks) and Marâji' (Reference Works)
♦ Sources or sourcebooks: These refer to books, the compilers of which recorded Ahâdith with their own chains of narrations. In the foregoing classification of Ranks, Hadith books mean sourcebooks (Masâdir, plural of Masdar).
♦ Reference works: The books containing Ahâdith collected from different sourcebooks. These are of three kinds: a. Reference works containing only Sound Ahâdith like Al-lu'lu wal-Marjân fîma Ittafaqa 'Alaish-Shaikhân and 'Umdatul-Ahkâm. b. Reference works containing Ahâdith, both Sound and Weak, selected from sourcebooks like Mishkâtul-Masâbih, Riyâdus-Sâlihîn, At-Targhib wat-Tarhib, and Bulughul-Marâm, etc. c. Reference works containing Ahâdith from both authentic and inauthentic sourcebooks without inquiry or criterion of selection like Kanzul-'Ummâl.
Note: It is not right to advance as argument a Hadith from the second and third types of reference works (b and c) without inquiry.
How to deal with Accepted (Maqbul) but Contradictory (Shâhdh) Ahâdith
There are different ways to overcome this difficulty:
1. Reconciling between those two Ahâdith, and taking a common meaning, making it possible to act by both. In this case, preference shall be given to the meaning found in the third Hadith or the one stated by the scholars of Hadith sciences.
2. In case, this is not possible, we shall investigate which of the two has been abrogated. If it is established that one of the two has been abrogated, we shall take the abrogater and leave the abrogated.
3. In case there is no proof of abrogation, the Hadith that has a greater right to preference on technical grounds shall be taken, with no regard for the rite of Fiqh of any school (Madhhab) whatsoever, and the other Hadith abandoned. That is, the Hadith possessing the highest degree of soundness or occurring in a book of superior rank shall be given preference.
Note: In case of conflict between Maqbul and Mardud Ahâdith, the former shall prevail.
Technical Arabic Terms
We have already described some basic technical terms in the preceding pages. A revision of them to refresh memory will be hopefully useful:
Technical Arabic terms in short with their English equivalents are given in alphabetical order from the right – the Arabic Terms.
Isolated أحاد Biographies of narrators أسماء الرجال Persons who met/accompanyed a Companion; second generation of Muslims تابعون Person who met a Tabi'i تابع تابعي Authentic ثابت Trustworthy ثقة Comprehensive Hadith compilation جامع (ج. جوامع) Perfect جيد Perfect-Good جيد حسن Perfect-Strong جيد قوي Tradition; Hadith حديث Legal Hadith حديث فقه Good حسن Good-Sound حسن صحيح Good-Unfamiliar حسن غريب Good-Sound-Unfamiliar حسن غريب صحيح Good-by-itself حسن لذاته Good-through-others حسن لغيره Good-Disconnected سن مرسل Good-Intersected حسن مقطوع Absolute certainty حق اليقين Specific خاص Isolated/narration of an individual خبر الواحد Poor رواية سيء الحفظ Monstrous رواية فاحش الغلط Narration of Dissolute رواية الفاسق Lax رواية كثير الغفلة Narration of Innovator رواية المبتدع Muddled رواية المختلط Zawa'id; supplements; additions زوائد
Righteous predecessors سلف Actual hearing from person from whom one is reporting سماع Chain of narration سند Contradicting شاذ Law شريعة Physical characteristics etc. شماثل Corroborating Ahâdîth شواهد The Sound Six الصحاح الستة Sound صحيح Sound-Unfamiliar صحيح غريب Sound-by-itself صحيح لذاته Sound owing to supporting narrations صحيح لغيره Sound-Continuous صحيح متواتر Sound-Traceable صحيح مرفوع Sound-Intersected صحيح مقطوع Sound-Discontinued صحيح موقوف Truthful صدق Truthful but less accurate صدق له أوهام Accuracy ضبط Accuracy of memory ضبط الصدر Written accuracy ضبط الكتابة Very weak ضعيف جداً Weak-Discontinued ضعيف موقوف Era-Level طبقة Speculative knowledge ظن Speculation (Zann) closer to certainty than to falsehood ظن راجح Rejected Zann ظن مرجوح General (text) عام Uprightness عدل Upright عدول Precious عزيز Certainty; positive knowledge علم اليقين Unfamiliar غريب Absolutely Unfamiliar غريب مطلق Conforming; conformity غير شاذ Unrecited غير متلو Obscure غير مشهور Not-Defective غير معلول
Unaccepted غير مقبول Unfamiliar فرد (= غريب) Minor matters فروع Jurisprudence; legalistic science فقه Jurist; legal scholar فقيه Sacred قدسي Variant readings of Qur'ân قراءات Strong قوي Strong-Good قوي حسن Biographies of narrators كتب الرجال The Six (canonical) Books الكتب الستة Implicit كنائية Pet name; surname, agnomen, nickname كنية Feeble لين Vague مبهم Follow-up Ahâdîth متابعات Abandoned متروك Lenient متساهل Connected متصل السند Agreed upon متفق عليه Text متن Continuous متواتر Unknown مجهول Traditionist; traditional محدث Conforming مخفوظ Interpolated مدرج Truncated مذلس Rejected مردود Disconnected مرسل Disconnected-Hidden مرسل خفي Disconnected-Sound مرسل صحيح Traceable مرفوع Additional المزيد في متصل الأسانيد Extensive مستفيض Concealed مستور Uninterrupted مسلسل Hadîth compilation according to Companions' names مسند Misrepresented مصحف
Hadith compilation according to subject-matter مصنف Confounding مضطرب Doubtful مضعف Hadith compilation according to names of Companions, regions, or names of teachers of compilers معجم Medium Mu'jam المعجم الأوسط Minor Mu'jam المعجم الصغير Major Mu'jam المعجم الكبير Conventional معروف Defective معلل Defective معلول Hadith in which narrator narrates using the Arabic word 'an (meaning 'from') معن Accounts of historical nature مغازي Accepted مقبول Intersected مقطوع Inverted مقلوب Reporters of many traditions مكترون Abrogated منسوخ Unique منفرد Interrupted مقطع Denounced منكر Trustworthy موثوق Hadith beginning with the Arabic word anna مؤنن Complete موصول Fabricated موضوع Discontinued موقوف Absurd واه / واهية Positive knowledge; certainty يقين