Hadeeth Classification (Part 1) (Note sharing)

Assalamualaikum

sedikit dari buku hadith yg saya belajar

alhamdulillah atas nikmat ilmu sains hadith yg imam dulu2 buat, generasi dulu usahakan. orang tak dapat nak seleweng. tak macam bible n tawrah dah kena seleweng habis dah... orang tokok tambah. sebab tu bahaya bid'ah ni jadi kita ni mcm blur blur tak tau yg mana asalnya, yang mana sunatnya? sebab orang da tokok tambah. 

HADEETH CLASSIFICATION

Hadeeth Saheeh

Conditions of Sihhah

A hadith must meet the following five criteria in order to be accepted according to Islaamic law as a source of legal ordinance.

1. Ittisaal as-Sanad (Continuity of the chain of transmitters)

The chain of Rawwaah (narrators or transmitters) who are relating the Matn (text), has to be unbroken for the hadeeth to be considered. That is none of the transmittors must be missing from the chain and each narrator, Raawi, has to have met the transmitter directly preceding him as well as the one directly following him. Each Raawi has to be a known individual also, otherwisehe is classified as majhool (unknown) and the sanad is considered broken.

2. ‘Adaalah (integrity)

The integrity of the narrators is the second key condition for a hadeeth to be considered valid. By integrity we mean that the narrator was a practicing Muslim and was not known to have done any of the major (forbidden things) if he was a known liar he is classified as kaththaab and the hadeeth which he has transmitted is classified as da‘eef. These are the conditions verified through the biographical science of hadeeth Kutub ar-Rijaal.

3. Dabt (accuracy)

The accuracy of the text is determined by two factors either of which is sufficient by itself

(a) Dabt as-Sadr (Soundness of memory)

Each narrator must be known for his ability to memorize and repeat with a high degree of

accuracy if he had a tendency to repeat hadeeth in a number of different ways such a hadeeth in

classified as Mudtarib (confused) and any other hadeeth which he may narrate will be classified ad Da‘eef

(b) Dabt al-Kitaabah (Written accuracy)

Each narrator who does not fulfill precondition “a”, must be known for recording his haetth in books accurately and his narrations only be from his books, these two preconditions (a,b) are also verified by Kutub ar-Rijaal.

4. Ghayr Shaathth (conformity)

It is critical that the hadeeth confirmed with similar hadeeth narrated on the same topic whose

chains are stronger. If the test of a hadeeth contradicts that of other well-known texts whose

chain of narration is stronger, it is classified (exceptional) which is one of the categories of

hadith dae’ef.

5. Laa ‘Illah (absence of hidden defect)

The hidden defect is one that causes the hadeeth to appear to be sound and only become evident

after deep investigation. For a hadeeth to be considered sound (saheeh) it has to be free of hidden defects.

A hadeeth which fulfills all the five conditions of sihhah is referred to as a hadeeth Saheeh. Such a hadeeth can be used to establish points of Islaamic law and, if it isn’t abrogated, it must

be accepted and applied. The ruling of a hadeeth saheeh can only be superceded by that of another hadeeth saheeh stronger than it.

The hadeeth Saheeh may be further subdivided into Saheeh li Thaatih and Saheeh li Ghayrih. Hadeeths fulfilling the five conditions completely were also referred to as Saheeh liThaatih. That is, it is saheeh by itself, without any external considerations. The Saheeh liGhayrih is a hadeeth hasan which has been elevated to the status of saheeh due to supporting

narrations.

Hadeeth Hasan

A hadeeth is considered Hasan if it fulfills all the requirements of Sihhah except Dabt (accuracy). If the memory of a narrator was only considered fair (sadooq), that is, he was known to make a few mistakes. The hadeeth is lowered from the level of saheeh to the level of Hasan. In the early days, there was no distinction made between the hadeeth saheeh and the hadeeth

hasan. The hadeeth hasan is valid for establishing points of Islaamic law and should not be rejected unless abrogated or superseded by a hadeeth saheeh. This category is also called Hasan

li Thaatih as distinct from a second category of hasan hadeeths called Hasan li Ghayrih. Hadeeth Hasan li Ghayrih

If the narrator belonged to a lower grade (i.e. grades 5 or 6 rendering the hadeeth da‘eef) and there are other hadeeths supporting it in form or sense, it would be reclassified as hasan li

ghayrih. It should be noted that the overall acceptability of an isnaad is based on its weakest link. Consequently, if all of the narrators were highly reliable (thiqah) and one, anywhere in the

chain was classified as a liar (kaththaab), the hadeeth would be classified as fabricated, even if proved authentic by other isnaads.

Hadeeth Da‘eef

This is a hadeeth in which any one or more of the five conditions of Sihhah have not been met. It is also referred to in classical works as al-Khabar al-Mardood (Rejected Narrations). The inauthentic hadeeth is one in which the truth of the report is highly unlikely due to the loss of one or more of the conditions for the acceptance. Some da‘eef hadeeths may be reclassified due

to supportive factors while others are totally rejected. The inauthentic hadeeth may be further

subdivided into different categories based on which of the five criteria has not been met.

Causes of Rejection:

The factors which cause a hadeeth to be rejected all fall under two main headings: 1. A break in

the chain of narration or 2. A defect in the narrator himself

I. BREAKS IN THE CHAIN OF NARRATION

The breaks in the chain of narration can be classified according to appearance into two categories: Obvious breaks and Hidden breaks.

A. Obvious breaks refers to those isnaads in which a narrator did not come in contact with his teacher due either to the difference in generations, making it impossible for them to meet,or due to him not ever meeting with the teacher according to records. Because of that the researcher in the area of narrators needs to know the biographies of the narrators themselves since they contain the dates of birth and death, time period in which they

studied, their journeys etc. Hadeeth scholars have coined four names for these categories

according to the place where the break occurs or the number of narrators deleted: (i)

Mu’allaq, (ii) Mursal, (iii) Mu’dal and (iv) Munqati’.

B. Hidden breaks refers to isnaads in which a narrator is deleted or hidden in a subtle fashion

not readily visible from a study of the individual biographies. This category has two main

forms: (1) Mudallas and (2) Mursal Khafee.

to be continued...