Hadith Terminology Summary

A hadith is of four types:

1. Mutawaatir
2. Mashoor
3. Azeez
4. Ghareeb

Conditions for mutawaatir:

1. There are several chains of narration
2. It is narrated by so many people that it can’t be a lie
3. There is a large number of narrators in every generation
4. The last raawi must clearly say that he personally heard / saw something directly from his teacher
5. The listener must gain the benefit of ilm-yaqeen. 

Mashoor – The Ahnaaf consider mashhoor as any narration which started as khabr wahid and then became mutawaatir by the third generation i.e. there are more than two narrators in every generation but it does not meet the conditions of being mutawaatir. According to Imam shafee it has three or more chains of narrations in a given generation. 

Mustafeedh – is a type of mashoor where there is the same number of narrators in each generation. 

Azeez – at any stage in the isnad there are a minimum of two narrators found to report the hadith

Ghareeb – at any stage in the isnad there is only one narrator found to report the hadith. This is also of two types:

1. Fard Mutlaq – gharabah in origin of sanad i.e. only one tabiee narrates
2. Fard Nisbee – gharabah lower down the sanad towards the end of the narrator

That which does not fulfil the conditions of mutawaatir i.e. Mashoor, azeez and ghareeb, are also known as aahaad / khabr waahid. This is the definition according to the the Shawafi’. Khabr wahid, as according to the Ahnaf, is a hadith which is either azeez or ghareeb. 

These khabr wahid are either: 

1. Maqbool – accepted i.e. has been narrated by truthful or acceptable narrators
2. Mardood – rejected i.e. has not been narrated by truthful or acceptable narrators  

A maqbool ahad is of four types: 

1. Saheeh li zaatihi – all narrators are aadil, kaamil dabt (precise in accuracy of relating hadith), sanad muttasil(connected chain of narrators), with no illah or shaaz
2. Saheeh li ghairihi – a combination of many narrations which are hasan li zaatihi raises it to this level
3. Hasan li zaatihi – it fulfills the same conditions as saheeh li zaatihi except that the dabt (memory) is weak
4. Hasan li ghairihi – daeef hadith where the conditions of saheeh li zaatihi or hasan lizaatihi are not found due to a deficiency in the raawi or sanad, however due to external factors e.g. multiple asaneed, it is raised to the level of hasan

A hadith is daeef if it does not meet the conditions of saheeh or hasan. 

To determine whether a hadith is maqbool (saheeh and in some cases hasan)  we look at five things:

1. Aadalat – the piety of the narrators
2. Dabt – the competence of the narrator in terms of their memory / narrating with precision
3. Whether the sanad is connected
4. Whether the narration is rare i.e. does it contradict the Quran or superior ahadith
5. Illah – whether the narration has a hidden defect which goes against our usool or established rule of shariah. 

Ziyaadah (adding) in narration:

1. Maqbool – the ziyaadah of a thiqah rawi which is not opposed to the riwayah of an awthaq (stronger) rawi
2. Shaaz – a thiqah rawi contradicts one stronger than him 
3. Mahfuz – is the opposite of shaaz where a awthaq rawi contradicts a relatively weaker yet also thiqah rawi
4. Maroof – the ziyaadah of a thiqah rawi goes against a daeef rawi
5. Munkar – opposite of maroof where the ziyaadah of a daeef narrator is contrary to a thiqah rawi

Mardood – There are two reasons for rejecting hadtih:

1. Saqt – omitting narrators, which is further divided:

   1. Waadih – apparent
   2. Khafi – hidden

2. Ta’n – weakness in narrators

Saqt waadih is the clear dropping of narrators when mentioning the isnad. This is of four types: 

1. Muallaq – the narrator is dropped at the beginning of the chain ie. mentioning the Prophet ﷺ said …
2. Mursal – the narrator is dropped at the end of the sanad after a tabiee i.e. Tabiee says the Prophet ﷺ said … (This is considered maqbool according to ahnaf)
3. Mudal – if two or more narrators are omitted consecutively anywhere in the chain, usually the middle
4. Munqathi – there is a break in the chain with a narrator missing i.e. one rawi is omitted from the middle, or more than rawi is omitted but not consecutively

Ta’n – criticism of a rawi can be split into two parts, their adalah (piety)  and their dabt (precision of narrating). 

Adaalah – righteousness. This has been sorted in order from worst to least worse:

1. Kizb – a lie against the prophet, something made up. This will be classed as mawdoo.
2. Tuhmat of kizb – a rawi is accused of lying, or narrating something which is highly unlikely and or contradicts the religion. This will be classed as matrook.
3. Fisq – the rawi is an open sinner. This will be classed as munkar.
4. Jahaalah – we do not know much about this person. Narrations from this rawi will be classed as munkar.
5. Bid’ah – a rawi who believes something is part of deen when it is not established in the first three generations. Narrations from this type of rawi will be classed as munkar.

Dabt is the competence of the rawi in relating hadith. The worst type in descend order is as follows:

1. Fuhsh al-ghalath – the rawi is highly incompetent. Narrations from this type of rawi will be classed as munkar.
2. Kathrathul ghaflat – the rawi is heedless and careless. Narrations from this type of wawi will also be classed as munkar.
3. Wahm – the rawi narrates ahadith with hidden defects which arises suspicion i.e. there is an illah in the hadith. Narrations from this type of rawi will be classed as Muallal (defective). 
4. Mukhtalaf thiqaat – someone awthaq narrates a contradicting hadith
5. Soo al-hifz – the rawi has poor memory

How do you know if a rawi is a liar?

1. They say they lied
2. Someone denounces them and says that they didn’t narrate to them
3. Something impossible is narrated e.g. narrated from a certain person when that person was either not alive at that time or a single meeting can not be proven.
4. Narrates something against the quran and sunnah e.g. Ali (ra) will be a prophet 

There are a number of descriptions which can be used for ahadith, some of which are mentioned below:

1. Mudtarib – there is ikhtilaf if the sanad is connected to the matn / swapping people in the sanad or matn
2. Maqloob – the order of the sanad or matn has been mixed 
3. Mudraj – raawi has inserted words into the hadith
4. Mudraj al-sanad – combining two sanad together
5. Musahhaf – changing a word in hadith to something which has not been reported i.e. when hearing or reading the hadith wrong e.g. the appearance of the word is the same in arabic i.e. when written without any harkat
6. Muharraf – change of letters

The chain of narration sometimes stops towards the end of the chain. 

• Marfoo – that which is attributed to the Prophet ﷺ  
• Mawqoof – the chain of narration which stops at the sahaba 
• Maqthu – the chain of narration which stops at the tabiee

Words used

1. حدثني / حدثنا
2. اخبرني / اخبرنا
3. سمعت / سمعنا
4. قرأت عليه
5. أنبأني / أنبأنا
6. قرى عليه وانا اسمع
7. عن
8. كتب اليّ
9. ناولني
10. شافهني

Other terminologies

• Kibaar sahaba – elderly, around 30 – 40H e.g. four khalifa 
• Awsat sahaba – middle, around 70 – 80H
• Sighaar sahaba – younger, roughly died around 90 – 101H
• Mukhadrameen – lived in the time of the prophet ﷺ but did not meet him e.g. Uwais Qarni
• Kibaar tabieen – elderly tabieen
• Awsat tabieen – middle, probably children of kibaar tabieen, would have met sighaar sahaba
• Sighaar tabieen – met sahaba but did not relate anything from them e.g. Abu Hanifa
• Tab’ tabieen – those who met the tabieen, they may have been around at the time of the sahaba but did not meet them e.g. Ibn Jurayj
• Kibar tab’ tabieen – around 90 – 130H e.g. Imam Malik bin Anas, Sufyan al-Thawree
• Awsat tab’ tabieen – 
• Sighaar tab’ tabieen – around 170 – 180H e.g.Imam Shafi 
• Kibar tab’ tab’ tabieen – Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal
• Awsat tab’ tab’ tabieen – Imam Bukhari
• Sighaar tab’ tab’ tabieen – Imam Tirmidhi