The Difference Between “ḥaddathanā” and “akhbaranā” in Ḥadīth Transmission

In the isnad of ahadith, we often see narrators say “حدّثنا” or “أخبرنا” when reporting what they heard from their teachers. But is there a difference between the two?

The View of Imām Muslim and the Scholars of the East

Imām al-Nawawī explains that Imām Muslim رحمه الله held a clear distinction between the two terms:

In other words, a technical distinction was made:

• The word حدّثنا  means the shaykh’s narrated to us.
• The word أخبرنا  means we read to the shaykh (while he listened and approved)

Imām Muslim’s strict caution in using the terms taḥdīth and ikhbār is one reason why many scholars recommend memorising the wording of a ḥadīth from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim—when the ḥadīth is muttafaq ʿalayh, meaning it is narrated by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim—due to Muslim’s greater precision in transmission.

The Clarification of Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

While some scholars upheld this distinction, others pointed out that it was a matter of technical convention (اصطلاح), not language, and thus came to be used interchangeably.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī in Sharḥ al-Nukhbah explains:

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[1] Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi-Sharḥ al-Nawawī, vol. 1, p. 22, Dār al-Ḥadīth

[2] Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Sharḥ Nukhbat al-Fikar, p. 124.