The Classification of Hadith (Mustalah al-Hadith)
Hadith of the Week
“There are two blessings of which many people are wronged: health and free time.”
- Bukhari relates this hadith with two sanads.
- This hadith is related with two sanads (chains). One is through four people and the other is with three people. He mentions the shorter one first.
- This hadith is sahih.
Mustalah al-Hadith (continued)
The ultimate purpose of Mustalah al-Hadith is to see if a hadith is accepted or not accepted.
A hadith is classified based on the sanad. There are two types of sanad:
I. Mutawatir (consecutive) – a chain that has a large number of people in each tabaqah (stage) of that chain all relating the same hadith
Example: “Verily actions are judged by their intentions…”
i. This hadith has many, many narrations at every tabaqah. The tabi`in heard it from the sahabah. The tabi`in related it to their tabi`in. Therefore, this hadith will be narrated by several different people, but their sanad converges back to the same tabaqah of people.
ii. The Qur’an has come to us through such a process. The same Qur’an was transferred to a large number of people, which was then transferred to a larger number of people, to a larger number of people.
a. Tawatur lafDhi (literally) – everybody reported the same exact wording (ex. Qur'an)
b. Tawatur ma`nawiyy (in meaning) – different versions of the statement, but the meaning is the same.
i. Example: In one narration, “The example of the believer is like the example of the body…sleeplessness and fever.” And in another narration, “…fever and sleeplessness.”
II. AaHaad (plural of aHad) – anything other than mutawatir; it has only a few number of people at each level. There is a disagreement amongst scholars about how many are to be at each level in order for the hadith to be considered mutawatir. There are three types:
a. Mash-hur (common) – a hadith that is related by three to nine people and did not reach tawatur in any part of the chain
i. Example: “The Muslim is one whom Muslims are safe from his verbal and physical abuse.”
b. `Aziz (strong, rare, supported) – a hadith that was related by two people in any tabaqaha of the chain
i. Example: “None of you is a true believer until I am dearer to him than his children, his parents, and everybody else.”
c. Gharib (strange) – a hadith that was related by only one person at every tabaqah.
i. Example: “Verily actions are judged by their intentions…“ – `Umar ibn al-Khattab
Mainly, mustalah al-Hadith is not concerned with Mutawatir, simply because there is no need to study the chains of narration in this level of hadith. It is mainly concerned with ahadith that are aaHaad. It is divided into two categories:
I. Maqbul (accepted)
II. Mardud (rejected)
OR
I. Sahih (authentic)
a. Sahih li dhatihi (authentic in and of itself)
b. Sahih li ghayrihi (authentic by another hadith) – a hadith in this section consists of one weak hadith, and one strong hadith that supports it.
II. Hasan (sound)
a. Hasan li dhatihi (sound in and of itself)
b. Hasan li ghayrihi (sound by another hadith)
III. Da`if (weak)
MawDu` (fabricated) – this is NOT a hadith, it is abrogated3
Notes taken by Mohammad Mertaban
5 comments:
What to do/say/behave when we visit sick person according to Sunnah...?
First of all, visiting the sick person is one of the rights of a Muslim on his Muslim brother. The Prophet said: "Whosoever visits an ailing person or a brother in Faith seeking the Pleasure of Allaah, an announcer (angel) calls out: `May you be happy, may your walking be blessed, and may you be awarded a dignified position in Paradise". It was reported in At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah.
Furthermore, the Prophet said: "The rights of a Muslim on his Muslim brother are six, (and he mentioned) … if he gets sick, you should visit him." [Muslim].
Based on above Hadith, Our scholars defined some etiquette conerning the visit of sick person, as follows:
1- Choosing a suitable time for the visit.
2- Not sitting for a long time with the sick person.
3- Lowering one's gaze (whilst in his house).
4- Not asking the sick person too many questions.
5- Showing one's concern about the sick person.
6- Sincerely supplicating for the cure of the sick person. The Prophet said: “The one who visits a sick person who is not on the point of death and supplicates seven times: As'alu Allaah Al-'Atheem Rabbul 'Arsh Al-'Atheem an yashfiyaka (I beseech Allaah The Great, The Lord of the Great Throne, to heal you), except that Allaah will heal him from that sickness.” [Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi].
7- To boast his morale by speaking good words to him, as it is reported that the Prophet said to a sick person: "It (your sickness) will be a purification from your sins, Allaah willing].” [Al-Bukhaari]
8- Encouraging him to be patient as there is a great reward in being patient.
9- Warning him against being anxious and discontent, as one is sinful if he feels as such.
Allaah Knows best.
How many mutawatir ahadith are there? Keep in mind that when scholars classify ahadith, there is a matter of ijtihad (personal judgement). Therefore, some scholars will consider a hadith to be sahih, others might consider it to be Hasan....?
Ans: The were only less number of mutawatir hadiths transmitted and scholars esitmated it to be around 300.
One example of mutawatir hadith is given below:
'Ubadah bin Al-Samit, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: He who does not recite Fatihat Al-Kitab (The opening surah/chapter of the Qur'an) is not credited with having observed the Prayer.
It was reported in Sahihul Muslim
What to do/say/behave when we visit sick person according to Sunnah...?
First of all, visiting the sick person is one of the rights of a Muslim on his Muslim brother. The Prophet said: "Whosoever visits an ailing person or a brother in Faith seeking the Pleasure of Allaah, an announcer (angel) calls out: `May you be happy, may your walking be blessed, and may you be awarded a dignified position in Paradise". It was reported in At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah.
Furthermore, the Prophet said: "The rights of a Muslim on his Muslim brother are six, (and he mentioned) … if he gets sick, you should visit him." [Muslim].
Based on above Hadith, Our scholars defined some etiquette conerning the visit of sick person, as follows:
1- Choosing a suitable time for the visit.
2- Not sitting for a long time with the sick person.
3- Lowering one's gaze (whilst in his house).
4- Not asking the sick person too many questions.
5- Showing one's concern about the sick person.
6- Sincerely supplicating for the cure of the sick person. The Prophet said: “The one who visits a sick person who is not on the point of death and supplicates seven times: As'alu Allaah Al-'Atheem Rabbul 'Arsh Al-'Atheem an yashfiyaka (I beseech Allaah The Great, The Lord of the Great Throne, to heal you), except that Allaah will heal him from that sickness.” [Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi].
7- To boast his morale by speaking good words to him, as it is reported that the Prophet said to a sick person: "It (your sickness) will be a purification from your sins, Allaah willing].” [Al-Bukhaari]
8- Encouraging him to be patient as there is a great reward in being patient.
9- Warning him against being anxious and discontent, as one is sinful if he feels as such.
Allaah Knows best.
(wasn't sure where to post HW #2?)
1) According to Islam, what are you supposed to do/say for/to a sick person? Your response must have a dalil (proof).
a) Sahih Bukhari: Volume 9, Book 93, Number 562:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Allah's Apostle entered upon a sick bedouin in whom he went to visit and said to him, "Don't worry, Tahur (i.e., your illness will be a means of cleansing of your sins), if Allah Will." The bedouin said, "Tahur! No, but it is a fever that is burning in the body of an old man and it will make him visit his grave." The Prophet said, "Then it is so."
* When the Prophet (saaws) would enter upon a sick person, he would say:
“Nevermind, may it (the sickness) be a purification if Allah wills.”
(Source: Husn al-Muslim)
b) Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 70, Number 579:
Narrated 'Aisha: Whenever Allah's Apostle paid a visit to a patient, or a patient was brought to him, he used to invoke Allah, saying, "Take away the disease, O the Lord of the people! Cure him as You are the One Who cures. There is no cure but Yours, a cure that leaves no disease."
*Any Muslim servant who visits a sick person whose prescribed moment of death has not arrived and supplicates seven times, he (the sick person) will be cured.
“I ask Allah The Supreme, Lord of the Magnificent throne to cure you.”
(Source: Husn al-Muslim)
c) The rewards for visiting the sick are great in both number and magnitude. The Prophet Muhammad said:
Thawban (ra) reported that the Prohpet, peace be upon him, said: “Verily, when a Muslim visits his sick Muslim brother, he is, as it were, in one of the gardens of Paradise (enjoying ripe fruits) until he returns to his home.”
Ali (ra) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: ‘When a Muslim visits a sick Muslim in the morning, seventy thousand angels pray for him, and they continue praying for him until that evening. When one visits the sick in the evening, the angels pray for him and continue praying for him until the next morning. Moreover, he will be rewarded with the choicest of fruits of Paradise.”
*Al-Tirmidhi has reported it as a sound hadith
(Source: Fiqh us-Sunnah)
2) How many mutawatir ahadith are there?
324 – source: al-islam.com
310 – source: http://www.uga.edu/islam/hadith.html
are these all the notes for taysiir
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