Hadith terminology

Hadith terminology(Arabic:مصطلح الحديث,romanized:muṣṭalaḥu l-ḥadīth) is the body of terminology inIslamwhich specifies the acceptability of the sayings (hadith) attributed to theIslamic prophetMuhammadby other early Islamic figures of significance such as the companions and followers/successors. Individual terms distinguish between thosehadithconsidered rightfully attributed to their source or detail the faults of those of dubiousprovenance.Formally, it has been defined byIbn Hajar al-Asqalanias: "knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined."This page comprises the primary terminology used withinhadith sciences.

Classification of Hadith

Distribution of Hadith

Pertaining to Narrator's Origin

Al-Qudsi(Sacred Hadith)

Al-Mawquf(Stopped)

Al-Marfu(Stopped)

Al-Maqtu'(Sectioned)

Al-Qawli

Al-Fa'li

At-Taqriri

Al-Wasfi

As-Sarih

Al-Hukmi

In Terms of number of Narrators in the isnad

Al-Mutawatir(Successive)

Ahaad(Singular)

Al-Mutawatirin meaning

Al-Mutawatirin wording

Al-Mashhur(Popular), alsoAl-Mustafidh

Al-Majhul

Al-Aziz(Rare, Sound)

Al-Gharib(Scarce, Strange)

Al-Mutlaq(Absolute)

An-Nasabi(Related)

In Terms of Authenticity and Weakness

Maqbul(Acceptable)

Mardud(Rejected)

Sahih

Sahih lizatih

At-Ta'aridh

Al-Dhaif

Sahih lighairih

Al-Hasan

Al-Jama' bain Al-Ahadith

Fall in the Chain ofIsnad

Slander in Narrator

Al-Hasan Lizatih

An-Naskh

Al-Hasan Lighairih

At-Tajrih

Visible fall

Slander in Justice

Slander in Confiscation

Al-Hakam

Al-Mu'laq

Al-Kadhib,hadith name -Al-Maudu'

Fahash Al-Ghalat,hadith name -Al-Munkar

Al-Mursal

Ittiham bil-Kadhib,hadith name -Al-Matruk

Kathrat Al-Ghaflah,hadith name -Al-Munkar

Al-Ma'dhil

Al-Bid'ah

Suw Al-Hifz

Al-Munqata'

Al-Jihalah

Tari

Hidden fall

Al-Mubham

Lazim

Al-Mudallis

Majhul Al-'In

Kathrat Al-'Awham,hadith name -Al-Mu'allal

At-Tadlees

Majhul Al-Hal

Mukhalafat Ath-Thaqat

'Am Tadlees

Al-Fisq, hadith name - Al-Munkar

Al-Mudarrij

At-Taswiyah

Al-Matlub

Al-Mursal Al-Khafi'

Al-Mudhtarib

Al-Musahaf wal-Mahrif

Al-Mazid fi Muttasil Al-Asanid

Terminology pertaining to a narration's origin

Different terms are used for the origin of a narration. These terms specify whether a narration is attributed to Muhammad, a companion, a successor or a latter historical figure.

Marfūʿ

Ibn al-Salahsaid: "Marfūʿ(Arabic:مرفوع,Marfūʿ) refers to a narration attributed specifically to the Prophet [Muhammad]. This term does not refer to other than him unless otherwise specified. The category ofmarfuʻis inclusive of narrations attributed to the Prophet regardless of their beingmuttasil,munqatiʻormursalamong other categories. "

Mawquf

According to Ibn al-Salah, "Mawquf(Arabic:موقوف,Mawqūf) refers to a narration attributed to a companion, whether a statement of that companion, an action or otherwise. "

Maqtu‘

Ibn al-Salah definedmaqtu‘(مقطوع,Maqṭūʿ) as a narration attributed to aTabi‘i(a successor of one of Muhammad's companions), whether it is a statement of that successor, an action or otherwise. In spite of the linguistic similarity, it is distinct frommunqatiʻ.

Terminology relating to the number of narrators in anisnad

Inhadithterminology, ahadithis divided into two categories based, essentially, upon the number of narrators mentioned at each level in a particularisnād(chain of narrators).

Inhadithterminology, ahadithis divided into two categories based, essentially, upon the number of narrators mentioned at each level in a particularisnād.Consideration is given to the fewest narrators at any level of the chain of narration; thus if ten narrators convey ahadithfrom two others who have conveyed it from ten, it is consideredʻaziz,notmashhur.

Mutawatir

The first category ismutawatir(متواتر,Mutawātir;meaning:successive) narration. A successive narration is one conveyed by narrators so numerous that it is not conceivable that they have agreed upon an untruth thus being accepted as unquestionable in its veracity. The number of narrators is unspecified in its maximum but in the minimum it is not less than 3 ( or 5 in some scholars opinions). Ahadithis said to bemutawatirif it was reported by a significant, though unspecified, number of narrators at each level in the chain of narration, thus reaching the succeeding generation through multiple chains of narration leading back to its source. This provides confirmation that thehadithis authentically attributed to its source at a level above reasonable doubt. This is due to its being beyond historical possibility that narrators could have conspired to forge a narration. In contrast, anahaad hadithis a narration the chain of which has not reached a number sufficient to qualify asmutawatir.

Types ofmutawatir

Hadithscan bemutawatirin both actual text and meaning:

Mutawatirin wording (Mutawatir al-Lafzi)

Ahadithwhose words are narrated by such a large number as is required for amutawatir,in a manner that all the narrators are unanimous in reporting it with the same words without any substantial discrepancy.

For example: "[Muhammad said:] Whoever intentionally attributes a lie against me, should prepare his seat in the Fire." This is amutawatir hadithin its wordings because it has a minimum of seventy-four narrators. In other words, seventy-four companions of Muhammad have reported thishadithat different occasions, all with the same words. The number of those who received thishadithfrom the Companions is many times greater, because each of the seventy four Companions has conveyed it to a number of his students. Thus the total number of narrators of thishadithhas been increasing in each successive generation and has never been less than seventy-four. All these narrators who now are hundreds in number, report it in the same words without even a minor change. Thishadithis therefore mutawatir in its wording, because it cannot be imagined reasonably that such a large number of people have colluded to coin a fallacious sentence in order to attribute it to Muhammad.

Mutwatirin meaning (Mutawatir al-Ma'Nawi)

Ahadithwhich is not reported bymultiple narratorsusing the same words. The words of the narrators are different. Sometimes even the reported events are not the same. But all the narrators are unanimous in reporting a basic concept, which is common in all reports. This common concept is also ranked as amutawatirconcept.

For example: It is reported by such a large number of narrators that Muhammad enjoined Muslims to perform twora'katinFajr,four ra'kat inDhuhr,AsrandIshaand three ra'kat in theMaghribprayer, yet the narrations of all the reporters who reported the number of ra'kat are not in the same words. Their words are different and even the events reported by them are different. But the common feature of all the reports is the same: the exact number of ra'kat. Thehadithis thus said to bemutawatirin meaning.

Ahaad

The second category,ahaad(آحاد,aahaad;meaning:singular) narration, refers to anyhadithnot classified asmutawatir.Linguistically,hadith ahadrefers to ahadithnarrated by only one narrator. Inhadithterminology, it refers to ahadithnot fulfilling all of the conditions necessary to be deemedmutawatir.Hadith ahadconsists of three sub-classifications also relating to the number of narrators in the chain or chains of narration:

Mashhur

The first category ismashhur(مشهور,Mashhūr;meaning:famous). This refers tohadithconveyed by three or more narrators but not consideredmutawatir.

ʻAziz

Anʻaziz(عزيز,‘azīz)hadithis anyhadithconveyed by two narrators at every point in itsisnād(chain of narrators).

Gharib

Agharib(غريب,ǧārib;meaning:strange)hadithis one conveyed by only one narrator.Al-Tirmidhi's understanding of agharib hadith,concurs to a certain extent with that of the other traditionists. According to him ahadithmay be classified asgharibfor one of the following three reasons:

1. Firstly, ahadithmay be classified asgharibsince it is narrated from one chain only. Al-Tirmidhi said an example is a tradition fromHammad ibn Salamahfrom Abu 'Usharai on the authority of his father who asked Muhammad whether the slaughtering of an animal is confined to the gullet and throat. Muhammad said that stabbing the thigh will also suffice.
2. Secondly, a tradition can be classified asgharibdue to an addition in the text, though it will be considered a sound tradition, if that addition is reported by a reliable reporter. The example cited by al-Tirmidhi is a tradition narrated through the chain ofMalik(died 179AH) from Nafi' (died 117 AH) on the authority of Ibn 'Umar (died 73 AH) who stated that Muhammad declared alms-giving at the end ofRamadanobligatory upon everyMuslim,male or female, whether a free person or slave from the Muslims. However, this tradition has also been narrated by Ayyub Sakhtiyani and'Ubaid Allah ibn 'Umar,without the addition "from the Muslims", hence the above-mentioned example due to the addition of "from the Muslims" in the text is classified asgharib.
3. Thirdly, a tradition may be declaredgharibsince it is narrated through various chains of transmitters but having within one of its chains an addition in theisnād.

Impact on Islamic law

See also:Punishment of the Grave § History of belief in the punishment of the grave

There are differing views as to the level of knowledge achieved by each of the two primary categoriesmutawatirandahaad.One view, expressed byIbn Hajarand others, is that ahadith mutawatirachieves certain knowledge, whileahad hadith,unless otherwise corroborated, yields speculative knowledge upon which action is not mandated.A second view, held byDawud al-Zahiri,Ibn Hazmand others – and, reportedly, the position ofMalik ibn Anas– is thathadith ahadachieves certain knowledge as well. According to Ibn Hazm,"[t]henarration conveyed by a single, upright narrator conveying from another of a similar description until reaching the Prophet mandates both knowledge and action. "

Terminology relating to the authenticity of ahadith

Ibn al-Salahsaid,"Hadith,in the view of scholars of this discipline, fall into the divisions of 'sound' (ṣaḥīḥ), 'fair' (ḥasan), and 'weak' (ḍaʻīf). "While these divisions are further broken down into sub-categories each with their own terminology, the final outcome is essentially to determine whether a particularhadithisṣaḥīḥorḍaʻīf.

The individual terms are numerous, withIbn al-Salahincluding sixty-five in hisIntroduction to the Science of Hadithand then commenting: "This is the end of them, but not the end of what is possible, as this is subject to further particularization to an innumerable extent." Al-Bulqini commented on this by saying, "We have added five more categories, making it seventy."Ibn al-Mulaqqin counted the various types as being "more than eighty"andal-Suyutiincluded ninety-three inTadrib al-Rawi.Muḥammad al-Ḥāzimī acknowledged the numerous terms, reaching almost 100 by his own count, saying: "Be aware that the science ofhadithconsists of numerous types reaching almost a hundred. Each type is an independent discipline in and of itself and were a student to devote his life to them he would not reach their end. "

Ṣaḥīḥ

Main article:Sahih hadith

Sahih(Arabic:صحيح,Ṣaḥīḥ) may be translated as "authentic"or "sound."Ibn Hajardefines ahadiththat isṣaḥīḥ lidhātihi( "ṣaḥīḥin and of itself ") as a singular narration (ahaad;seebelow) conveyed by a trustworthy, completely competent person, either in his ability to memorize or to preserve what he wrote, with amuttaṣil( "connected" )isnād( "chain of narration" ) that contains neither a serious concealed flaw (ʻillah,Arabic:علة) nor irregularity (shādhdh). He then defines ahadiththat isṣaḥīḥ lighairihi( "ṣaḥīḥdue to external factors ") as ahadith"with something, such as numerous chains of narration, strengthening it."

Ibn Hajar's definitions indicate that there are five conditions to be met for a particularhadithto be consideredṣaḥīḥ:

1. Each narrator in thechain of narrationmust be trustworthy;
2. Each narrator must be reliable in his ability topreservethat narration, be it in his ability to memorize to the extent that he can recall it as he heard it, or, that he has written it as he heard it and has preserved that written document unchanged;
3. Theisnādmust be connected (muttasil) insofar as it is at least possible for each narrator in the chain to have received thehadithfrom a predecessor;
4. Thehadith,including itsisnād,is free ofʻillah(hidden detrimental flaw or flaws, e.g. the establishment that two narrators, although contemporaries, could not have shared thehadith,thereby breaking theisnād.)
5. Thehadithis free of irregularity, meaning that it does not contradict anotherhadithalready established (accepted).

A number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion ofṣaḥīḥ hadithalone.

According toSunni Islam,which reflects the beliefs followed by 80–90% of adherents of Islam worldwide,this was only achieved by the first two books in the following list:

1. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.Considered the most authentic book after the Quran.
2. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.Considered the next most authentic book after Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
3. Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Khuzaymah.Al-Suyutiwas of the opinion thatṢaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymahwas at a higher level of authenticity thanṢaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān.
4. Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān.Al-Suyutialso concluded thatṢaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbānwas more authentic thanAl-Mustadrak alaa al-Ṣaḥīḥain.
5. al-Mustadrak ʻalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn,byHakim al-Nishaburi.
6. Al-Āhādith al-Jiyād al-Mukhtārah min mā laysa fī ṢaḥīḥainbyḌiyāʼ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī,authenticity considered.

Different branches of Islamrefer to different collections of hadiths or give preference to different ones.

Ḥasan

Ḥasan(حَسَنmeaning "good" ) is used to describehadithwhose authenticity is not as well-established as that ofṣaḥīḥ hadith,but sufficient for use as supporting evidence.

Ibn Hajardefines ahadiththat isḥasan lithatihi– "ḥasanin and of itself "– with the same definition aṣaḥīḥ hadithexcept that the competence of one of its narrators is less than complete; while ahadiththat isḥasan ligharihi( "ḥasan due to external factors" ) is determined to beḥasandue to corroborating factors such as numerous chains of narration. He states that it is then comparable to aṣaḥīḥ hadithin its religious authority. Aḥasan hadithmay rise to the level of beingṣaḥīḥif it is supported by numerousisnād(chains of narration); in this case thathadithwould beḥasan lithatihi( "ḥasanin and of itself ") but, once coupled with other supporting chains, becomesṣaḥīḥ ligharihi( "ṣaḥīḥdue to external factors ").

Related terms

Musnad

The early scholar ofhadith,Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hakim,defines amusnad(مسند,Musnad;meaning:supported)hadithas:

Ahadithwhich ascholar ofhadithreports from hisshaikhwhom he has apparently heardhadithfrom at an age conducive to that, and likewise eachshaikhhaving heard from hisshaikhuntil theisnādreaches a well knownCompanion,and then the Messenger of Allah. An example of that is:

Abu 'Amr 'Uthman ibn Ahmad al-Samak narrated to us inBaghdad:al-Ḥasan ibn Mukarram narrated to us: ʻUthman ibn 'Umar narrated to us: Yunus informed us fromal-Zuhrifrom ʻAbdullah ibn Kaʻb ibn Mālik from his fatherKa'b ibn Malikwho sought from ibn Abi Hadrad payment of a debt the latter owed the former while in the mosque. Their voices became raised to the extent that they were heard by the Messenger of Allah. He exited only by lifting the curtain of his apartment and said, "O Kaʻb! Relieve him of his debt," gesturing to him in way indicating by half. So he Kaʻb said, "Yes," and the man paid him.

To clarify this example I have given: my having heard from Ibn al-Samak is apparent, his having heard from al-Ḥasan ibn al-Mukarram is apparent, likewise Hasan having heard from 'Uthman ibn 'Umar and 'Uthman ibn 'Umar from Yunus ibn Yazid – this being anelevatedchain for 'Uthman. Yunus was known [for having heard from] al-Zuhri, as was al-Zuhri from the sons of Ka'b ibn Malik, and the sons of Ka'b ibn Malik from their father and Ka'b from the Messenger as he was known for being a Companion. This example I have made applies to thousands ofhadith,citing just this onehadithregarding the generality [of this category].

Musnadformat ofhadithcollection

Amusnad hadithshould not be confused with the type ofhadithcollection similarly termedmusannaf,which is arranged according to the name of the companion narrating eachhadith.For example, amusnadmight begin by listing a number of thehadith,complete with their respectivesanads,ofAbu Bakr,and then listing a number ofhadithfromUmar,and thenUthman ibn Affanand so on. Individual compilers of this type of collection may vary in their method of arranging those Companions whosehadiththey were collecting. An example of this type of book is theMusnad of Ahmad.

Muttaṣil

Muttasil(متصل,Muttaṣil) refers to acontinuouschain of narration in which each narrator has heard that narration from his teacher.

Ḍaʻīf

Da‘if(ضعيف,Ḍaʻīf) is the categorization of ahadithas "weak". Ibn Hajar described the cause of ahadithbeing classified as weak as "either due to discontinuity in the chain of narrators or due to somecriticism of a narrator."This discontinuity refers to the omission of a narrator occurring at different positions within theisnādand is referred to using specific terminology accordingly as discussed below.

Categories of discontinuity

Muʻallaq

Discontinuity in the beginning of theisnād,from the end of the collector of thathadith,is referred to asmuʻallaq(معلقmeaning "suspended" ).Muʻallaqrefers to the omission of one or more narrators. It also refers to the omission of the entireisnād,for example, (an author) saying only: "The Prophet said..." In addition, this includes the omission of theisnādexcept for the companion, or the companion and successor together.

Mursal

Mursal(مرسلmeaning "sent or transmitted" ): if the narrator between theSuccessorand Muhammad is omitted from a givenisnād,thehadithismursal,e.g., when a Successor says, "The Prophet said..."Since Ahlus-Sunnah (Sunnis) believe in theuprightness of allSahaba,they do not view it as a necessary problem if aSuccessordoes not mention whatSahabahe received thehadithfrom. This means that if ahadithhas an acceptable chain all the way to a Successor, and the successor attributes it to an unspecifiedcompanion,theisnādis considered acceptable. There are, however, different views in some cases: If the Successor is a young one and it is probable that he omitted an elder Successor who in turn reported from a companion. The opinion held byImam Malikand allMalikijurists is that themursalof a trustworthy person is valid, just like amusnad hadith.This view has been developed to such an extreme that to some of them, the mursal is even better than the musnad, based on the following reasoning: "The one who reports a musnadhadithleaves you with the names of the reporters for further investigation and scrutiny, whereas the one who narrates by way ofirsal(the absence of the link between the successor and the Prophet), being a knowledgeable and trustworthy person himself, has already done so and found thehadithto be sound. In fact, he saves you from further research. "Others reject themursalof a younger Successor.

Muʻḍal

Mu‘dal(معضل,Muʻḍal;meaning:problematic) describes the omission of two or more consecutive narrators from theisnād.

Munqaṭiʻ

Ahadithdescribed asmunqaṭiʻ(منقطع;meaning:disconnected) is one in which the chain of people reporting thehadith(theisnād) is disconnected at any point.Theisnādof ahadiththat appears to bemuttaṣilbut one of the reporters is known to have never heardhadithfrom his immediate authority, even though they lived at the same time, ismunqaṭiʻ.It is also applied when someone says "A man told me...".

Other types of weakness

Munkar

Munkar(منكرmeaning:denounced) – According toIbn Hajar,if a narration which goes against another authentichadithis reported by a weak narrator, it is known asmunkar.Traditionists as late as Ahmad used to simply label anyhadithof a weak reporter asmunkar.

Shādh

Shādh(شاذ;meaning:anomalous) — According toal-Shafi'i,ashādhdh hadithis one which is reported by a trustworthy person who contradicts the narration of a person more reliable than he is. It does not include ahadithwhich is unique in itsmatnand is not narrated by someone else.

Muḍṭarib

Mudtarib(مضطرب,Muḍṭarib;meaning:shaky) – According toIbn Kathir,if reporters disagree about a particular shaikh, or about some other points in theisnādor thematn,in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there is irreconcilable uncertainty, such ahadithis calledmuḍṭarib.

An example is the followinghadithattributed toAbu Bakr:

"O Messenger of Allah! I see you getting older?" He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "What made me old are SurahHudand its sister surahs. "

Thehadithscholar Al-Daraqutni commented: "This is an example of amuḍṭarib hadith.It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different opinions are held regarding thisisnād.Some report it asmursal,others asmuttasil;some take it as a narration of Abu Bakr, others as one of Sa'd or ʻA'ishah. Since all these reports are comparable in weight, it is difficult to prefer one above another. Hence, thehadithis termed asmuḍṭarib."

Mawḍūʻ

"Mawḍūʻ" redirects here. For the website, seeMawdoo3.

Ahadiththat ismawḍūʻ(موضوع) is one determined to be fabricated and cannot be attributed to its origin.Al-Dhahabidefinesmawḍūʻas ahadithof which the text contradicts established norms of Muhammad's sayings or of which the reporters include a liar.

Recognizing fabricatedhadith

1. Some of thesehadithwere known to be spurious by the confession of their inventors. For example, Muhammad ibn Sa`id al-Maslub used to say, "It is not wrong to fabricate anisnādfor a sound statement. "Another notorious inventor, ʻAbd al-Karim Abu 'l-Auja, who was killed and crucified by Muhammad ibn Sulaiman ibn ʻAli, governor ofBasra,admitted that he had fabricated four thousandhadithdeclaring lawful the prohibited and vice versa.
2. Mawḍūʻnarrations are also recognised by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident. For example, when the second caliph,Umaribn al-Khattab decided to expel theJewsfromKhaybar,some Jewish dignitaries brought a document to Umar attempting to prove that Muhammad had intended that they stay there by exempting them from thejizya(tax on non-Muslims under the rule of Muslims); the document carried the witness of two companions,Sa'd ibn Mua'dhandMu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.Umar rejected the document outright, knowing that it was fabricated because the conquest ofKhaybartook place in 6 AH, whereasSa'd ibn Mua'dhdied in 5 AH just after theBattle of the Trench,andMu'awiyahembracedIslamin 8 AH, after the conquest ofMecca.

Collections

A number ofhadithspecialists have collected fabricatedhadithseparately in order to distinguish them from otherhadith.Examples include:

• Al-Maudu`atbyAbul-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzi.
• Kitab al-Abatilby al-Jauraqany.
• Al-La'ali al- Masnu'ah fi 'l-Ahadith al-Mawduʻahbyal-Suyuti.
• Al-MawduʻatbyAli al-Qari.
• Al-Fawaid al-Majmu'ah fi al-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdu'ahbyMuhammad ash-Shawkani.

As in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points ofhadithsciences. Ibn Hajar provides a summation of this development with the following:

Works authored in the terminology of the people ofhadithhave become plentiful from theImams,both old and contemporary:

1. From the first of those who authored a work on this subject is the Judge,Abū Muḥammad al-Rāmahurmuzīin his book,al-Muhaddith al-Faasil,however, it was not comprehensive.
2. Andal-Hakim, Abū Abd Allah an-Naysaburi,authored a book, however, it was neither refined nor well arranged.
3. And following him, Aboo Nu’aym al-Asbahaanee, who wrote amustakhrajupon the book of the later, (compiling the same narrations al-Hakim cited using his ownisnād). However, some things remain in need of correction.
4. And then cameal-Khatib Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi,authoring works in the various disciplines of the science ofhaditha book entitledal-Kifaayahand in its etiquettes a book entitledal-Jamiʻ Li ʻAdab ash-Sheikh wa as-Saamiʻ.Scarce is the discipline from the disciplines of the science ofhadiththat he has not written an individual book regarding, as al-Hafith Abu Bakr ibn Nuqtah said: "Every objective person knows that the scholars ofhadithcoming after al-Khatib are indebted to his works. "After them came others, following al-Khateeb, taking their share from this science.
5. al-Qadi ‘Eyaadcompiled a concise book naming ital-ʻIlmaa'.
6. Abū Hafs al-Mayyaanajiyy authored a work giving it the titleMa Laa yasu al-Muhaddith JahluhuorThat Which a Hadith Scholar is Not Allowed Ignorance Of.There are numerous examples of this which have gained popularity and were expanded upon seeking to make plentiful the knowledge relating to these books and others abridged making easy their understanding.
7. This was prior to the coming of the memorizer and jurist Taqiyy ad-Deen Aboo ‘Amrin ‘Uthmaanibn al-Salah‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ash-Shahruzuuree, who settled inDamascus.He gathered, at the time he had become a teacher ofhadithat the Ashrafiyyah school, hiswell known book,editing the various disciplines mentioned in it. He dictated it piecemeal and, as a result, did not succeed in providing it with an appropriate order. He occupied himself with the various works ofal-Khatib,gathering his assorted studies, adding to them from other sources the essence of their benefits. So he combined in his book what had been spread throughout books other than it. It is due to this that people have focused their attention upon it, following its example. Innumerable are those who rendered his book into poetry, abridged it, sought to complete what had been left out of it or left out any extraneous information; as well as those who opposed him in some aspect of his work or supported him.

See also

• Biographical evaluation
• Criticism of Hadith
• Hadith
• List of hadith authors and commentators
• Oral Torah
• Prophetic biography

Further reading

• An Introduction to the Science of Hadith,by Ibn al-Salah, translated by Eerik Dickinson;ISBN1-85964-158-X
• Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature,byMuhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami;ISBN983-9154-27-3
• The Canonization of Al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith CanonArchived2012-01-02 at theWayback Machineby Jonathan Brown,BRILL,2007