Chapter 2: Kinds of Hadith

In general, there are three basic kinds of hadith from the viewpoint of the Ahl al-Sunnah (al-Sahih, al-hasan, and al-da’if), and four basic kinds from the viewpoint of the Shi`ah (al-sahih, al-hasan, al-muwaththaq, and al-da’if). These are further classified both by the Shi`ah and the Ahl al-Sunnah. Following are some of these general classifications:

1. Al-sahih: It is a hadith free of any kind of fault related by several continuous chains of veracious transmitters with more than one first recorder (ruwat ‘adilun, dabitun ghayr shawadhdh).²⁰
2. Al-hasan: It is a hadith which is well-known, and with reputable source (makhraj) and transmitters (ruwat).²¹ It has been defined in these words in al-Jurjani’s al-Ta’rifat:
   Al-hasan is a hadith whose transmitters are reputed for their veracity and trustworthiness; however, it does not reach the station of al-hadith al-sahih.²²
3. Al-da’if: It is a hadith which does not have the qualities of either al-sahih or al-hasan.²³
4. Al-musnad: It is a hadith whose chain of transmission goes right up to the Holy Prophet (S).
5. Al-muttasil (mawsul): It is a hadith whose all links in transmission are mentioned by the later transmitters.
6. Al-marfu’: It is a hadith which reaches one of the Ma’sumun, regardless of continuity in the chain of transmitters.
7. Al-mawquf: It is a hadith which reaches the Sahabah, regardless of continuity in the chain of transmission.
8. Al-maqtu’: It is a hadith narrated from one of the Tabi’un.
9. al-munqati’: It is a hadith narrated from one of the Tabi’un.
10. Al-mursal: It is a hadith narrated by one of the prominent Tabi’un saying ‘The Prophet of God said….’ so on and so forth. There are many of this kind of narrations.
11. Al-mu’dal: It is a hadith whose two or more links in the chain of transmission are missing.
12. Al-mudallas (lit. forged): It is of two kinds: firstly, in text (matn); and secondly, in the chain of transmission (sanad).
13. Al-shadhdh: It is a tradition narrated by a veracious (thiqah) narrator that contradicts other traditions narrated by others.
14. Al-gharib: It is of three kinds: gharib al-‘alfaz (with uncommon words), gharib al-matn (uncommon in content), and gharib al-sanad (uncommon with respect to the chain of transmission).
    1. Gharib al-‘alfaz is a tradition containing problematic words.
    2. Gharib al-matn is a tradition narrated by a single narrator belonging to the earliest narrators.
    3. Gharib al-sanad is a tradition whose content is otherwise well-known.
15. Al-mu’an’an: It is a tradition in which all the links in the chain of transmission are connected by the preposition ‘an.
16. Al-mu’allaq: It is a tradition in which the names of one or more transmitters are missing at the beginning end of the chain of transmitters.
17. Al-mufrad or al-wahid: It is a tradition narrated by only one narrator, or by narrators belonging to only one location.
18. Al-mudarraj: It is a tradition whose narrator includes his own words or that of another narrator in the text of the hadith.
19. Al-mashhur: It is a tradition which is well-known amongst the muhaddithun.
20. Al-musahhaf: It is a tradition whose text or name of transmitter (sanad) has been partially altered on account of resemblance with another similar text or name of transmitter.
21. Al-‘ali: It is a hadith with a short chain of transmission.
22. Al-nazil: It is one opposite in character to the ‘ali.
23. Al-musalsal: It is a hadith all of whose narrators in the chain of transmission up to the Ma’sum fulfil the conditions of trustworthiness at the time of narration from the viewpoint of sound character and speech.
24. Al-ma’ruf: It is a hadith whose meaning is well-known among narrators.
25. Al-munkar: It is the opposite of al-ma’ruf.
26. Al-mazid: It is a hadith which either in text or sanad has something additional in comparison with a similar hadith.
27. Al-nasikh: Some ahadith, like the Qur’an, abrogate other ahadith. Al-nasikh is a prophetic hadith which abrogates a former hukm of the Shari’ah.
28. Al-mansukh: is a hadith whose hukm is abrogated by al-nasikh.
29. Al-maqbul: It is a tradition which is accepted and practised by the Islamic ‘ulama’.
30. Al-mushkil: It is a tradition containing difficult or problematic words or meanings.
31. Al-mushtarak: It is a tradition the name of one whose transmitters resembles that of a veracious and a non-veracious narrator. Study of such traditions calls for the study of `Ilm al-rijal.
32. Al-mu’talif: It is a hadith in whose chain of transmission the name of a person mentioned therein can be read variously, though it is written identically in all those cases.
33. al-mukhtalif: It is a hadith in whose chain of transmission the name of a person mentioned therein can be read variously, though it is written identically in all those cases.
34. Al-matruh: It is a tradition which contradicts definite evidence (dalil qat’i) and is also unamenable to explanation (ta’wil).
35. Al-matruk: It is a tradition in whose chain of transmission someone known to be a liar is mentioned.
36. Al-mu’awwal: It is a tradition which contradicts what is apparently true from the viewpoint of reason (aql), the Qur’an, and the Sunnah (naql).
37. Al-mubin: It is a tradition whose words in the text are used in their literal meaning.
38. Al-mujmal: It is the opposite of al-mubin.
39. Al-mu’allal: It is a tradition which gives the reason for a certain command (hukm) of the Shari’ah.
40. Al-mudtarib: It is a tradition that has been variously narrated either from the viewpoint of text or chain of transmission.
41. Al-muhmal: It is a tradition all of whose transmitters are not mentioned in books on `Ilm al-rijal.
42. Al-majhul: It is a tradition in which in spite of a continuous chain of transmission the sectarian affiliations of its transmitters are not known.
43. Al-mawdu’: It is a tradition forged by its narrator.
44. Al-maqlub: It is a well-known tradition containing something counterfeit invented with the benign purpose of spiritual encouragement.
45. Al-hadith al-ma’thur: It is a tradition narrated by later generations from their ancestors.
46. Al-hadith al-qudsi: It consists of Divine Word, whose revelation unlike that of the Qur’an is not aimed as a miracle. (This kind of tradition has been discussed before).
47. Al-‘aziz: It is one of the thirteen kinds of al-hadith al-sahih and al-hadith al-hasan.
48. Hadith za’id al-thiqah: It is another one of the various kinds of al-hadith al-hasan and al-hadith al-sahih. ²⁴
49. Al-muwaththaq: It is a hadith whose transmitters are reliable, although some of them may not have been Shi’ite.
50. Al-mutawatir: It is a tradition which has been transmitted from several narrators, so that it is impossible that it should have been forged. There are two kinds of this hadith: mutawatir in meaning, and mutawatir in words. However, if recurrence (tawatur) is in words, there may be chances of forgery.

Concluded; wal-hamdulillah.

Notes:

1. Ahmad Amin, Fajral ‘Islam, p 250.

2. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al rawi, “Introduction”.

3. Ahmad Amin, Fajr al-Islam p 268.

4. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al rawi, pp. 3, 14.

5. Ibn Khaldun, al-‘Ibar, pp. 796-797.

6. This tradition is considered dubitable by the Shi`ah.

7. Mawali (sing. mawla), or clients, is a term that was used to indicate inferior social standing. The term was originally used for freed slaves by Arab Muslims and after Muslim conquests it was extended to a variety of non Arab peoples (Tr).

8. The description of the fifty two disciplines of ulum al-hadith mentioned here is a brief adoption from Ma’rifat ‘ulum al-hadith by Hafiz al Nishaburi, Hakim Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah.

9. Al-Suyuti, al-‘Itqan p. 5.

10. Ibn al-Nadim, Kitab al-fihrist pp. 59-62.

11. Ibid., p.62.

12. Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr, Ta’sis al-Shi`ah, p.294.

13. Ibid., p.234.

14. Muhammad Muhammadi, al-‘Adab al-farisi, pp.115,116; Lebanon.

15. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi’, p.13.

16. Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr, Ta’sis al-Shi`ah, pp.232, 233.

17. Al-Najashi, Ma’rifat ahwal al-rijal, pp.3-6.

18. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi, p.102.

19. Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr, Ta’sis al-Shi`ah, p.295.

20. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi, p.22. See also Dehkhoda, Loghatnameh, vol. (ha’), p.399.

21. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi, p.86.

22. Dehkhuda, Loghatnameh, vol (ha’) p.399.

23. Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi, p.105.

24. About the classification of hadith see Al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-rawi, pp.21 ff.; Hafiz al-Nishaburi, Kitab Ma’rifat ‘ulum al-hadith, pp. 108-123; see also The Encyclopedia of Islam, pp.23-28, Dehkhuda, Loghatnameh, vol. (ha’) pp. 395-399; al-Shaykh al-Baha’i, Nihayat al-dirayah, pp.4 ff.