Hadith Definition and Its Types

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he Definition of Hadith and its ypesAllama Maulana Imran Raza Khan Manani Mia

In the nomenclature of the majority of the Hadith specialists, a Hadith means:

It is the reported speech of the Messenger of Allah, whether this is: (a) explicit (sarih) or (b)

implicit (hukmi). It is also the action of the Messenger of Allah, also split into the two

categories, and also what someone did or said in front of the Messenger of Allah, but the

Messenger of Allah did not condemn that action or what was said, but, in fact remained

silent and established it through his action. This is also split into two categories, asmentioned above.

Sarihmeans that a companion of the Messenger of Allah clearly states that, I heard theMessenger of Allah state that / I saw the Messenger of Allah doing / such and such

a person or a person did such and such a thing or said such and such a thing, ut theMessenger of Allah ne!er disappro!ed of that " or a companion or their successor#s$ or

anyone reports, stating e%plicitly that: the Messenger of Allah has said that or statesthat: It has een transmitted from the Messenger of Allah that he said

Hu&mi means that any companion who does not transmit anything from the earlier oo&s

#such as from the 'eople of the (oo&$ informs of anything in which there is no room forijtihad ) e%ercising personal judgement* +or e%ample, the companion informs us aout

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e!ents aout the 'rophets" or informs aout e!ents that shall happen in the future such

as attles, wars and the trials and triulations that shall inflict the mmah" informingaout the fright of the -ay of .udgement" or inform aout a specific reward or

punishment for an action, as a companion cannot inform aout these things withoutha!ing heard it from the Messenger of Allah* Hu&mi also means that a companion does

something in which there is no room for ijtihad" they must ha!e seen the Messenger ofAllah do it, thus, following the Messenger of Allah the companions ha!e done it*

Moreo!er, a companion states that, In the lessed era of the Messenger of Allah, peopleused to do such and such** this is also Hu&mi as it is uite apparent that the Messenger of

Allah must ha!e &nown aout their action, as re!elation still continued* If that action wasimpermissile, then the Messenger of Allah must certainly ha!e een informed aout it

through re!elation, and thence, prohiited the companion#s$ from doing so*

Hadith can also e defined as to include the reported speech, action or tareer #tacit

appro!al 0 what was said or done in front of a companion, and the latter did not condemnit$* A companion is such a nole personality, who was lessed with eing in the company

of the Messenger of Allah, while the companion is in the state of Iman, and also passedaway in that state #of Iman$*

Hadith also means the reported speech, action or tareer of the successors to thecompanions of the Messenger of Allah ) the 1ai2un* A successor #1ai2i$ is such a nole

personality, who was lessed with eing in the company of a companion of theMessenger of Allah, in the state of Iman, and also passed away in the state of Iman*

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Fundamental Division of a Hadith

After &nowing the ao!e definitions as mentioned y Hadrat 3hai&h 4Ad al0HaMuhaddith0e0-ehlwi, Hadith can e categorised into three types:

1. 1he chain e%plicitly or implicitly goes to the Messenger of Allah* 1his is called

marfu2 ) 4the raised0chain2*

2. 1he chain e%plicitly or implicitly goes to a 5ompanion* 1his is called mawuf) the

4halted0chain2*

3. 1he chain e%plicitly or implicitly goes to a 3uccessor* 1his is called matu2 ) the

4ro&en0chain2*

+rom the point of !iew of authenticity #proof of genuineness or otherwise$ there aremany &inds of aHadith, ut we shall confine oursel!es to mention and e%amine only three

&inds of aHadith which are common among the masses, namely

#6$ Hadith0e03ahih or Accurate

#7$ Hadith0e0Hasan or good and reliale and

#8$ Hadith0e0-aeef or wea& and of doutful origin*

Hadith-e-Sahih is that which contains these four qualities

#a$ 1he authenticity of which is assured y the contiuance of the chain of 9eporters or

arrators #9a!is$ is unro&en or uninterrupted from the Holy 'rophet #'eace and(lessings e upon Him$ to the 5ompiler or ;ast 9eporter #9a!i$* 1his means that there

should e no gap in the chain of reporters, one connected with the following or ne%treporter till the last reporter*

#$


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of the e%ecllent le!el or which has een imparied on account of sic&ness, senility or some

accident*

-Aur2an that we are oliged to follow the Messenger

of Allah* 1his is ecause, without the Messenger of Allah it is merely impossile for

anyone to understand the >ur2an" its e%planations and meanings, and it is also impossileto learn the detailed rulings of each and e!ery oligation in Islam*

1herefore, the Ahadith of the Messenger of Allah certainly form the second source for the

3acred Islamic ;aw 0 the 3hari2ah, as these are the one and only means of gaininginformation as regards the Messenger of Allah" his commands" his sayings" his actions" his

e%planations and commentaries on the !erses of the Holy >ur2an, all of which arenecessary for us to &now in order for us to understand the Holy >ur2an*

ow, we uote a few of the many !erses from the Holy >ur2an, in which on innumeraleoccasions we ha!e een commanded to follow in the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah*

1hus, ma&ing it oligatory upon us to follow his teachings*

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One Fundamental Question

After ha!ing understood all of what has just een e%plained, we should contemplate and

ponder carefully upon a uestion that is posed: Is this command of following theMessenger of Allah as reiterated y many !erses of the Holy >ur2an #as mentioned ao!e$

only related to when the Messenger of Allah was physically ali!e in this mundane world,or does this apply till the -ay of .udgementN

If ) Allah forid@ ) this -i!ine command was specified only to the physical life of theMessenger of Allah, then this would uite simply, in other words, mean that acting upon

the >ur2an, following the teachings of Islam is also limited and specified to the lessed eraof the Messenger of Allah* 1his is ecause to follow the teachings and sayings of the

Messenger of Allah were made incument upon e!ery single Muslim, only for the fact thatwithout this, it is impossile for anyone to follow the teachings of Islam and the >ur2an*

1hus, when it has een commanded to follow Islam, >ur2an and its teachings till the -ayof .udgement, then it has een pro!en that to follow the Messenger of Allah and showing

oedience to him is also a command that shall not cease till the -ay of .udgement*

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One Great roof for the !uthentication of !hadith

hen it has een clearly understood that to follow Islam and the >ur2an is till the -ay of9esurrection, and that it is impossile for anyone to ha!e &nowledge and thus act upon

the laws and rulings of Islam and the Holy >ur2an without following and imitating theMessenger of Allah, then another fundamental uestion arises: According to rational

thin&ing, the language, the common law and the 3acred Islamic ;aw it is always thecommands and orders that are followed* 1hus, where are those commands and orders

enforced y the Messenger of Allah, whose oedience, imitation and following the >ur2anhas made oligatory upon usN 1his is ecause the demand to follow without ha!ing any

laws, commands and orders #to follow them$ is merely against logic and the 3acred ;awitself@

1herefore, when e!en today the >ur2an demands us to follow, imitate and oey theMessenger of Allah, it is necessary that the laws, orders and commands of the Messenger

of Allah are present efore us #so that we can 4follow2$* It is apparent that the laws andcommands of the Messenger of Allah are not those that ha!e een gi!en y Allah in His

(oo& ) the >ur2an, as it is uite sufficient as an oligation upon us to follow these -i!inecommands* 3o, we must elie!e after ha!ing stated all of this, that the laws and orders of

the Messenger of Allah, whose following and oeying has een made oligatory upon as,are separate to those -i!ine commands that are mentioned in the Holy >ur2an*

After this introduction, we need not say that the collection of the commands, laws,sayings, actions, e%planations to the >ur2anic !erses and 3acred laws that ha!e een

transmitted to us from the Messenger of Allah are called Ahadith*

+rom this we understand the importance of Ahadith, and its status in Islam* o one

would deny its importance, only such a foolish person who denies oedience to theMessenger of Allah ) Allah forid@

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Histor" on the #om$ilation of the !hadith

(efore we touch upon the merits and !irtues of the science of Hadith and what relates to

it, it is necessary to e%plain why the Ahadith were compiled from the lessed era of the5ompanions till this date and how was the process of compilationN

A !ery rief insight into this is that the lessed era of the Messenger of Allah was the timewhen the !erses of the Holy >ur2an were eing re!ealed* ecause the most important tas&

in this era was the collection of these !erses and preser!ing this -i!ine trust, this waswhy the Messenger of Allah emphasised o!er and o!er again that the 5ompanions

compile and write only the !erses of the Holy >ur2an ) nothing else* 1his was so that no

confusion e made if anything esides the Holy >ur2an would also e recorded*

Howe!er, permission was gi!en to memorise, record, preser!e and then transmit the

Ahadith y tongue* Imam Muslim narrates from Hadrat Au 3a2id al0Ohudri, who reportsthat the Messenger of Allah has stated, o one should write my speech* hosoe!er has

written anything eside the >ur2an should eliminate it" and transmit my Ahadith !erally"there is no harm in doing so* hosoe!er attriutes a lie to me, then he should prepare for

himself an aode in the fire of Hell* 3ahih MuslimE

on top of this, there were some 5ompanions ) who had full certainty not to confuse the

Cerses of the Holy >ur2an from the reported speech of the Messenger of Allah ) who

wrote the Ahadith*

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Imam al0(u&hari narrates on the authority of Hadrat Au Hurairah who states, 1here

was none from among the 5ompanions who narrated the most Ahadith e%cept for Hadrat4Adullah in 4Amr #in al04As$" as he used to record them y writing them down, and I

did not do that*

hen all of the !erses of the Holy >ur2an ) some that were written on separate pieces of

paper, some on lea!es, some on slates, some on deer s&in, some that were memorised inthe hearts ) were collected and compiled into one oo& form during the lessed era of

Hadrat 4mar al0+aru and Hadrat 4thman" and all of the copies of the Holy >ur2an weredistriuted far and wide to many different countries, y which there was no concern for

the !erses of the Holy >ur2an eing confused with the reported speech #Ahadith$ of theMessenger of Allah, the process of collecting, compiling and writing the Ahadith egan in

the era of the 9ighteous 5aliph 4mar in 4Ad al04Ai upon his suggestion*

1he editor of Imam .alal al0-in al03uyuti2s commentary on the Alfiyyah states in theintroduction that, when Hadrat 4mar in 4Ad al04Ai was gi!en the responsiility ofeing a 5aliph in the year JJ A*H* he wrote to Hadrat Au (a&r in Ham ) the 3hai&h of

the Imams Ma2mar, ;aith, Awa2i, Mali&, in Isha and In Ai -hi2 and also the !ice ofthe 5aliph in the 5ourt of .ustice of al0Madinah al0Munawwarah ) to collect and compile

all the Ahadith of the Messenger of Allah, as he feared #sacred$ &nowledge ecominge%tinct, and the demise of the possessors of this &nowledge ) the 4lema* Introduction

to the Alfiyyah ) 'g* E

ot only this, ut in fact, Hadrat 4mar in 4Ad al04Ai wrote to all those far and wide to

collect and compile any Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, they find* 1ari&h Isfahan ) Au

u2aimE

pon the moti!ation, encouragement, and relentless efforts of Hadrat 4mar in 4Adal04Ai, the first oo& on the science of Hadith was compiled y Hadrat Au (a&r in

Ham* 1hereafter, innumerale oo&s were written and compiled on different topics ofthis precious science of sacred &nowledge, y many elite 3huyu&h who came from many

different places*

Among those who compiled and wrote oo&s of Hadith at this !ery early age of itscompilation were in .uraij in Ma&&ah al0Mu&arramah" in Isha and Imam Mali& in al0

Madinah al0Munawwarah" 9ai2 in 3aih, 3a2id in 4rwah and Hammad in 3alimah in(asra" Imam 3ufyan al01hawri in Oufa" Imam al0Awa2i in 3yro0'alestine" Hisham in

asit" .arir in 4Adullah in 9ai, and in al0Muara& in Ohurasan* All of these men ofgreat &nowledge, were contemporary and of one category* Most of them were the

students of Hadrat Au (a&r in Ham and Imam in 3hiha al0Puhri*

Afterwards, the Ahadith were spread far and wide due to the compilation and writing of

oo&s on Ahadith" laying down the foundation principles for accepting or rejecting areport" collecting ac&ground information of the narrators and their eliefs" writing

oo&s on the etiuettes and manners essential for a student pursuing this sacred&nowledge of Hadith* All of these were compiled to form a su0suject of Hadith ) sul0e0

Hadith or the 'rinciples of Hadith*

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Ahadith were compiled using the rigorous of all criterions and rules to accept a report,

until the 3i% Authentic 5ollections of Ahadith ecame accepted and popular* 1hese are the3ahih of Imams (u&hari and Muslim, the .ami2 of Imam al01irmidhi, the 3unan of Imams

Au -awud, asa2i and In Majah*

e ha!e shed some light upon Ahadith, its History of 5ompilation, and its status in Islam*

1hose true and sincere Muslims who lo!e Islam and the >ur2an, and who recognisethemsel!es as indi!iduals of this mmah, which is flourishing with its long0lasting

heritage of o!er fourteen hundred years of an unro&en chain of transmission to ourliege lord the Messenger of Allah, are not in need of any e!idence to pro!e the !eracity of

Ahadith*

Qes, howe!er, for those hypocrites who deny the reliaility of Ahadith, yet name

themsel!es 'eople of the >ur2an, if I had much time, I would ma&e it apparent li&e the

certitude of the sun at midday with irrefutale proofs and e!idences that their denial ofthe Ahadith is in reality the denial of the words of Allah* 1hey are not doing this only toma&e way for themsel!es not to follow the >ur2an*

1heir main argument is that the translation and meaning of the !erses of the Holy >ur2anshould e left to their own will" howe!er they desire they e%tract the meanings of the

Holy >ur2an, so that, e!en after altering the correct meaning and translation of the>ur2anic !erses, they can falsely claim to e the followers of it*

e as& Allah the Most

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Hadith Definition and Its Types