Types of Hadiths: Difference between revisions

A mu'an'an (Arabic: {{ia|المُعَنعَن}}) hadith is one in the chain of narrators of which the word, “'an” (from), is mentioned, without words such as “akhbarani” (he reported to me), “haddathani” (he let me know) and “sami'tu” (I heard from), such as “[[Ahmad b. Idris]] 'an (from) Muhammad b. Hassan 'an (from) Abi Muhammad al-Razi 'an (from) Sayf b. 'Umayra 'an (from) Ishaq b. 'Ammar qal (who said), qal Abu 'Abd Allah (a) (Abu 'Abd Allah (a) said)…”.  

An 'ālī (Arabic: {{ia|العالی}}) hadith is one that has the least possible number of narrators between the book and the [[Imam (a)]]. A nāzil (Arabic:{{ia| النّازِل}}) hadith is one involving many narrators between the Imam (a) and the author of the book in which the hadith appears. Some [[Imamiyya]] scholars of hadiths have written books collecting 'ali hadiths under “qurb al-isnad” (Arabic: {{ia|قُرب الاسناد}}), that is, short chains of narrations; for example ''[[Qurb al-isnad]]'' by [['Abd Allah b. Ja'far al-Himyari]].

A muḍmar (Arabic: {{ia|المُضمَر}}) hadith is one in which the Infallible Imam (a) is not mentioned; instead there is a pronoun that apparently refers to him. For example, a hadith in which the following phrase appears: “sa'altuh 'alayh al-salam” (I asked ''him'', peace be upon him). It implies that the pronoun refers to an Infallible (a), but we do not know which Infallible.  

Al-muwaththaq hadith is one whose chain of narrators consists of reliable people in accordance with Shiite sources of [['ilm al-rijal]], though some of its narrators are not from Imamiyya, such as [['Ali b. Faddal]] and [[Aban b. 'Uthman]]. Sometimes al-muwaththaq hadiths are called al-qawi. Words such as “thiqa” (reliable), “'ayn” (trustable and well-known), “wajh” (well-reputed), “mashkur” (acknowledged), “shaykh al-ta'ifa” (head of the tribe) and “hujja” (reliable) in sources of 'ilm al-rijal imply the reliability of a narrator.

Al-hasan hadith is one all of whose narrators leading to the Infallible (a) are from Imamiyya and are praised, though their reliability, in the strict sense of the term, is not explicitly confirmed by the scholars of 'ilm al-rijal. The following words in sources of 'ilm al-rijal imply a person’s being praised: “mutqan” (accurate), “hafiz” (keeper), “dabit” (careful), “mashkur” (praised), “zahid” (pious), and “qarib al-amr”. Al-hasan (good) hadith is called so because scholars have a good opinion of its chain of narrators.

The term, “al-qawi hadith”, is used to refer to one of the three things:

Al-da'if hadith is a hadith that has none of the conditions for al-sahih, al-hasan and al-muwaththaq hadiths. That is, even if one of its narrators does not meet these conditions (where there is no body else in his class of narration), that hadith will count as da'if. Sometimes da'if hadiths are called “al-majrūḥ” (Arabic: {{ia|المَجروح}}). For [[Sunni]] scholars, a hadith is da'if when it is not sahih, nor hasan.

A hadith is called “al-munkar” (Arabic: {{ia|المُنکَر}}) when one of its narrators is accused of having made a great number of mistakes in reporting other people’s speeches.

A hadith is called “al-matrūk” (Arabic: {{ia|المَتروک}}) when one of its narrators is accused of telling lies or making heresies, whether or not in this specific hadith he told a lie.  

A hadith is called “al-maṭrūḥ” (Arabic: {{ia|المَطروح}}) when its content is contrary to decisive evidence and it cannot be interpreted away.

A hadith is called “al-mu'allal” (Arabic: {{ia|المُعَلَّل}}) when there is a problem with its chain of narrators or its content that questions its accuracy.

A hadith is called “al-muḍṭarib” (Arabic: {{ia|المضطرب}}, that is, confused) when it is narrated in two ways. For example, in one case, the narrator has narrated a hadith directly from a person, and in another case, he has narrated it from that person by narrating from another person in between. This is called iḍṭirāb (Arabic: {{ia|الاِضطِراب}}) or confusion in the chain of narrators. Sometimes a hadith involves a confusion in its content, that is, a narrator has narrated a hadith in two ways with two different meanings. Such hadiths are also called “mukhtalif al-nuskha” (Arabic: {{ia|مُختَلِف النُّسخَة}}, that is, involving different transcriptions).

A hadith is called “al-maqlūb” (Arabic: {{ia|المَقلوب}}) when there is a displacement (qalb) in its chain of narrators or content. An example of displacement in the chain of narrators is to write Muhammad b. al-Husayn as Husayn b. Muhammad, where it is not known which one is the correct one. And displacement in the content is a case in which words are reported in their wrong place.

A hadith is called “al-muṣaḥḥaf” (Arabic: {{ia|الـمُصَحَّف}}) when some dots in Arabic letters are displaced in it, although it does not constitute a problem for the hadith (since such mistakes happen when a hadith is transcribed throughout centuries). For example, “{{ia|ابن مراجم}}” (Ibn Murajim) where there is a dot in its “ج” (j) is mentioned in some manuscripts as “{{ia|ابن مزاحم}}” (Ibn Muzahim(, where there is no dot, turining it into “h” sound, and the dot appears instead on “ز”, turning “r” sound into “z” sound. Such hadiths can be trusted if they meet the criteria in 'ilm al-rjal and [[diraya]].

A hadith is called “al-mu'talif wa l-mukhtalif” (Arabic: {{ia|المُؤتَلِف والمُختَلِف}}) when the name of one of its narrators can be read in two ways, although they are written in the same way in Arabic alphabets. This is a type of al-musahhaf hadith.

A hadith is called “al-mudallas” (Arabic: {{ia|المُدَلَّس}}) when a flaw in its chain of narration was attempted to be concealed in order to make it look to be an acceptable hadith.

A hadith is called “al-mudarraj” (Arabic: {{ia|المُدَرَّج}}) when a narrator adds his comments to the content of the hadith where it is not possible to identify which part is the [[Imam (a)|Imam's (a)]] word and which one is the narrator’s word.

A hadith is called “al-naṣṣ” (Arabic: {{ia|النَّصّ}}) when its content has no more than one meaning.

A hadith is called “al-ẓāhir” (Arabic: {{ia|الظّاهِر}}) when it admits of different possibilities regarding its meaning, where one of these possible meanings is more probable (that is, is the apparent meaning) and is meant by the speaker.

A hadith is called “al-mu'awwal” (Arabic: {{ia|المُؤَوَّل}}) when there are different possibilities for its meaning and one of those possible meanings is more probable in itself, but there is evidence that the speaker has meant something other than the apparent meaning.

A hadith is called “al-mutashabih” (Arabic: {{ia|المُتَشابِه}}) or “al-mujmal” (Arabic: {{ia|المُجمَل}}) when there are different possibilities for its meaning, but none of them can be preferred to others, and so it is not known at all what the speaker means.

A hadith is called “al-mashhūr” (Arabic: {{ia|المَشهور}}) when it is well-known by Muslims, such as the hadith according to which actions are evaluated by the intentions.

A hadith is called “al-shādhdh wa l-nādir” (Arabic: {{ia|الشّاذّ والنّادِر}}) when its content is contrary to a mashhur or well-known hadith. A shadhdh hadith also refers to a hadith a narrator of which is accused by having a poor memory throughout his life.

A hadith is called “al-mukatab” (Arabic: {{ia|المُکاتَب}}) when the narrator who immediately reports the Imam's (s) speech reports it from the Imam’s handwriting, whether the Imam (a) had written it initially or in response to a question. According to some scholars, al-mukatab hadiths should be transcribed from the Imam's (a) handwriting.

A hadith is called “al-qudsī” (Arabic: {{ia|القُدسی}}) when its content is revealed to the [[Infallible (a)]] by God, although its woding is formed by the Infallible (a) himself, unlike the [[Holy Qur'an]] whose wording and meaning are both revealed by God to the [[Holy Prophet (s)]].

A hadith is called “maqbūl” (Arabic: {{ia|المَقبول}}, that is, acceptable) when its chain of narrators is not reliable, there is evidence on the basis of which scholars have accepted its content and acted upon it.

A hadith is called “al-mansūkh” (Arabic: {{ia|المَنسوخ}}, that is, abrogated) when its content is overriden by another hadith, which is called “al-nāsikh” (Arabic: {{ia|النّاسِخ}}, that is, abrogating).