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:
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).
Al-hasan: It is a hadith which is
well-known, and with reputable source
(makhraj) and transmitters
(ruwat). 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.
Al-da'if: It is a hadith
which does not have the qualities of either
al-sahih or
al-hasan.
Al-musnad: It is a hadith whose chain of
transmission goes right up to the Holy Prophet
Al-muttasil
(mawsul): It is a hadith whose all links in transmission
are
mentioned by the later transmitters.
Al-marfu': It is a
hadith which reaches one of the Ma'sumun, regardless of continuity in
the chain of transmitters.
Al-mawquf: It is a hadith which
reaches the Sahabah, regardless of
continuity in the chain of
transmission.
Al-maqtu': It is a hadith narrated from one of
the Tabi'un.
al-munqati': It is a hadith narrated from one of
the Tabi'un.
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.
Al-mu'dal:
It is a hadith whose two or more links in the chain of
transmission
are missing.
Al-mudallas (lit. forged): It is of two kinds:
firstly, in text (matn); and secondly, in the chain of transmission
(sanad).
Al-shadhdh: It is a tradition narrated by a veracious
(thiqah) narrator that contradicts other traditions narrated by
others.
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).
a. Gharib al-'alfaz is a tradition containing problematic
words.
b. Gharib al-matn is a tradition narrated by a single
narrator belonging to the earliest narrators.
c. Gharib al-sanad
is a tradition whose content is otherwise well-known.
Al-mu'an'an:
It is a tradition in which all the links in the chain of
transmission
are connected by the preposition 'an.
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.
Al-mufrad
or al-wahid: It is a tradition narrated by only one narrator, or by
narrators belonging to only one location.
Al-mudarraj: It is a
tradition whose narrator includes his own words or that of another
narrator in the text of the hadith.
Al-mashhur: It is a
tradition which is well-known amongst the muhaddithun.
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.
Al-'ali: It is a hadith with a short
chain of transmission.
Al-nazil: It is one opposite in
character to the 'ali.
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.
Al-ma'ruf:
It is a hadith whose meaning is well-known among
narrators.
Al-munkar: It is the opposite of
al-ma'ruf.
Al-mazid: It is a hadith which either in text or
sanad has something
additional in comparison with a similar
hadith.
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.
Al-mansukh: is a hadith whose
hukm is abrogated by al-nasikh.
Al-maqbul: It is a tradition
which is accepted and practised by the Islamic 'ulama'.
Al-mushkil:
It is a tradition containing difficult or problematic words or
meanings.
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.
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.
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.
Al-matruh: It is a tradition which contradicts definite
evidence (dalil
qat'i) and is also unamenable to explanation
(ta'wil).
Al-matruk: It is a tradition in whose chain of
transmission someone known to be a liar is mentioned.
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).
Al-mubin: It is a tradition whose words in the text
are used in their
literal meaning.
Al-mujmal: It is the
opposite of al-mubin.
Al-mu'allal: It is a tradition which
gives the reason for a certain command(hukm) of the
Shari'ah.
Al-mudtarib: It is a tradition that has been
variously narrated either from the viewpoint of text or chain of
transmission.
Al-muhmal: It is a tradition all of whose
transmitters are not mentioned in books on `Ilm al-rijal.
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.
Al-mawdu': It is a tradition forged by its
narrator.
Al-maqlub: It is a well-known tradition containing
something counterfeit
invented with the benign purpose of
spiritual encouragement.
Al-hadith al-ma'thur: It is a
tradition narrated by later generations from their
ancestors.
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).
Al-'aziz:
It is one of the thirteen kinds of al-hadith al-sahih and
al-hadith
al-hasan.
Hadith za'id al-thiqah: It is another one of the
various kinds of al-hadith al-hasan and al-hadith al-sahih.
[24]
Al-muwaththaq: It is a hadith whose transmitters are
reliable, although some of them may not have been
Shi'ite.
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.
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