Ibn al-Salah said, Ibn al-Mulaqqin counted the various types as being "more than eighty" and
al-Suyuti included ninety-three in
Tadrib al-Rawi. Muḥammad al-Ḥāzimī acknowledged the numerous terms, reaching almost 100 by his own count, saying: "Be aware that the science of
hadith consists 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." or "sound." Ibn Hajar's definitions indicate that there are five conditions to be met for a particular
hadith to be considered
ṣaḥīḥ: • Each narrator in the
chain of narration must be trustworthy; • Each narrator must be reliable in his ability to
preserve that 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; • The
isnād must be connected (
muttasil) insofar as it is at least possible for each narrator in the chain to have received the
hadith from a predecessor; • The
hadith, including its
isnād, is free of
ʻillah (hidden detrimental flaw or flaws, e.g. the establishment that two narrators, although contemporaries, could not have shared the
hadith, thereby breaking the
isnād.) • The
hadith is free of irregularity, meaning that it does not contradict another
hadith already established (accepted). A number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion of
ṣaḥīḥ hadith alone. According to
Sunni Islam, which reflects the beliefs followed by 80–90% of adherents of Islam worldwide, •
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Considered the next most authentic book after Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. •
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān.
Al-Suyuti also concluded that
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān was more authentic than
Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Ṣaḥīḥain.
Different branches of Islam refer to different collections of hadiths or give preference to different ones.
Ḥasan Ḥasan ( meaning "good") is used to describe
hadith whose authenticity is not as well-established as that of
ṣaḥīḥ hadith, but sufficient for use as supporting evidence.
Ibn Hajar defines a
hadith that is
ḥasan lidhatihi"
ḥasan in and of itself"with the same definition a
ṣaḥīḥ hadith except that the competence of one of its narrators is less than complete; while a
hadith that is
ḥasan lighairihi ("ḥasan due to external factors") is determined to be
ḥasan due to corroborating factors such as numerous chains of narration. He states that it is then comparable to a
ṣaḥīḥ hadith in its religious authority. A
ḥasan hadith may rise to the level of being
ṣaḥīḥ if it is supported by numerous
isnād (chains of narration); in this case that
hadith would be
ḥasan lidhatihi ("
ḥasan in and of itself") but, once coupled with other supporting chains, becomes
ṣaḥīḥ lighairihi ("
ṣaḥīḥ due to external factors").
Related terms Musnad The early scholar of
hadith,
Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hakim, defines a
musnad (, ; supported)
hadith as:
Musnad format of hadith collection A
musnad hadith should not be confused with the type of
hadith collection similarly termed
musannaf, which is arranged according to the name of the companion narrating each
hadith. For example, a
musnad might begin by listing a number of the
hadith, complete with their respective
sanads, of
Abu Bakr, and then listing a number of
hadith from
Umar, and then
Uthman ibn Affan and so on. Individual compilers of this type of collection may vary in their method of arranging those Companions whose
hadith they were collecting. An example of this type of book is the
Musnad of Ahmad.
Muttaṣil Muttasil (, ) refers to a
continuous chain of narration in which each narrator has heard that narration from his teacher.
Ḍaʻīf Da‘if (, ) is the categorization of a
hadith as "weak". Ibn Hajar described the cause of a
hadith being classified as weak as "either due to discontinuity in the chain of narrators or due to some
criticism of a narrator." This discontinuity refers to the omission of a narrator occurring at different positions within the
isnād and is referred to using specific terminology accordingly as discussed below.
Categories of discontinuity Muʻallaq Discontinuity in the beginning of the
isnād, from the end of the collector of that
hadith, is referred to as
muʻallaq ( meaning "suspended").
Muʻallaq refers to the omission of one or more narrators. It also refers to the omission of the entire
isnād, for example, (an author) saying only: "The Prophet said..." In addition, this includes the omission of the
isnād except for the companion, or the companion and successor together.
Munqaṭiʻ A
hadith described as
munqaṭiʻ (; disconnected) is one in which the chain of people reporting the
hadith (the
isnād) is disconnected at any point.
Shādh Shādh (; anomalous) — According to
al-Shafi'i, a
shādhdh hadith is one which is reported by a trustworthy person who contradicts the narration of a person more reliable than he is. It does not include a
hadith which is unique in its
matn and is not narrated by someone else. An example is the following
hadith attributed to
Abu 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 Surah
Hud and its sister surahs." The
hadith scholar Al-Daraqutni commented: "This is an example of a
muḍṭarib hadith. It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different opinions are held regarding this
isnād. Some report it as
mursal, others as
muttasil; 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, the
hadith is termed as
muḍṭarib." Examples include: •
Al-Maudu`at by
Abul-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzi. •
Kitab al-Abatil by al-Jauraqany. • ''Al-La'ali al- Masnu'ah fi 'l-Ahadith al-Mawduʻah'' by
al-Suyuti. •
Al-Mawduʻat by
Ali al-Qari. • ''Al-Fawaid al-Majmu'ah fi al-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdu'ah'' by
Muhammad ash-Shawkani. As in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points of
hadith sciences. Ibn Hajar provides a summation of this development with the following: ==See also==