علم الآثارHadith Transmission Criticism and Narrators

The Science of Reports

It is the discipline that investigates the statements, actions, and conduct, in religious and worldly affairs, of the firmly grounded scholars among the Companions, their Successors, and the rest of the early generations.

Its premises are matters heard from trustworthy authorities.

Its purpose is to know these matters so that they may be followed and one may attain what they attained. This discipline is what the science of admonition most needs. This is what Lutf Allaah said in his Topics, as quoted verbatim by Taashköprüzaada in Miftaah al-Sa'aada. He then said: Among the works composed in this discipline are al-Andar Sakanee's Biographies of the Companions, Successors, and Ascetics, al-Yaafi'ee's Rawdh al-Riyaaheen, and others. End.

As for al-Tahaawee's reports, his Explanation of Their Difficulties, and related works, the meaning of his aathaar differs from the definition of this discipline; in the books of the principles of hadeeth, it means a report.

Shaykh al-Islaam, the hadeeth master Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaanee, said in Nukhbat al-Fikar: If a term is used rarely, works composed to explain the uncommon vocabulary are needed; if it is used frequently but its signification is subtle, works composed

to explain the meanings of reports and clarify their difficulties are needed. The imams composed extensively on this subject, including al-Tahaawee, al-Khattaabee, Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, and others—may God Most High have mercy on them. End.

The Science of the Conditions of Hadeeth Transmitters: Their Deaths, Tribes, Homelands, Discrediting, and Accreditation

This discipline is, from one perspective, a branch of historiography and, from another, a branch of hadeeth. It has many works, as Aboo al-Khayr mentioned, and he counted it among the branches of hadeeth. It is clearly the science of the names of men in the terminology of the hadeeth scholars.

The Science of the Circumstances, Times, and Places of the Origination of Hadeeths

Its subject is evident from its name, and its benefit is evident to all. Aboo al-Khayr mentioned it among the branches of the science of hadeeth; it has innumerable works.

The Science of the Names of Men

That is, the men in the hadeeths; knowledge of them is half the science of hadeeth, as al-'Iraaqee explicitly stated in his commentary on the Alfiyya, quoting 'Alee ibn al-Madeenee: for hadeeth consists of a chain and a text.

The chain is an expression for the transmitters. Thus, knowledge of their conditions is half the science of hadeeth, as is evident. The works composed on it are of several kinds, including al-Mu'talif wa-l-Mukhtalif, by such scholars as al-Daaraqutnee, al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadee, Ibn Maakoolaa, and Ibn Nuqta, and among later scholars al-Dhahabee, al-Mizzee, Ibn Hajar, and others.

Some concern names stripped both of honorifics and teknonyms. Imaam Muslim, 'Alee ibn al-Madeenee, al-Nasaa'ee, Aboo Bishr al-Doolaabee, and Ibn 'Abd al-Barr composed works on this subject; the best arranged is Imaam Aboo 'Abd Allaah al-Haakim's book. al-Dhahabee wrote al-Muqtanaa on listing teknonyms.

Some concern honorifics. Aboo Bakr al-Sheeraazee and Aboo al-Fadhl al-Falakee wrote on this subject, the latter calling his work Muntahaa al-Kamaal. Ibn al-Jawzee also wrote on it. Some concern similar names: al-Khateeb composed a book called Talkhees al-Mutashaabih and then appended what he had omitted.

Others also composed works on names stripped of honorifics and teknonyms. Some collected biographies without restriction, such as Ibn Sa'd in al-Tabaqaat, Ibn Abee Khaythama Ahmad ibn Zuhayr, and Imaam Aboo 'Abd Allaah al-Bukhaaree in their histories; others collected trustworthy transmitters, such as Ibn Hibbaan and Ibn Shaaheen.

Some collected weak transmitters, such as Ibn 'Adee, while others collected both, treating discrediting and accreditation.

Others collected the transmitters of al-Bukhaaree and the other authors of the Six Books and Sunan, as explained in this section. We have listed books of the names of men in alphabetical order in our book Ithaaf al-Nubalaa' al-Muttaqeen bi-Ihyaa' Ma'aathir al-Fuqahaa' al-Muhadditheen.

The Science of the Isnaad

It is also called the principles of hadeeth. It is a science of principles by which the conditions of the hadeeth of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—are known with respect to the soundness or weakness of transmission, and to receiving and transmitting it, as stated in al-Jawaahir and the commentary on al-Nukhba.

It is a science that investigates the soundness and weakness of hadeeth so that it may be acted upon or abandoned, in terms of the qualities of transmitters and the formulas of transmission. End.

Al-Qushjee said in Kashshaaf Istilaahaat al-Funoon: Its subject is hadeeth in the aspect just mentioned. End.

The Science of the Principles of Hadeeth

It is also called the science of transmitting hadeeth; the former designation is more common, though the author of Kashf al-Dhunoon mentioned it under the letter daal on semantic grounds. Consider this carefully. It is a science that investigates the Prophet's Sunna, in chain, text, wording, and meaning, with respect to acceptance and rejection, together with the manner of receiving and transmitting hadeeth, controlling and writing it, and the etiquette of its transmitters and students.

It has also been defined more briefly as a science by which the conditions of the transmitter and the transmitted report are known with respect to acceptance and rejection.

Its subject is the transmitter and the transmitted report from this perspective.

Its end is to determine what of them is accepted and rejected.

Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar regards khabar and athar as synonymous, as indicated by his naming his book Nukhbat al-Fikar fee Mustalah Ahl al-Athar. This discipline is highly beneficial; no one entering the science of hadeeth can do without it. Its books are extremely numerous, both concise and extensive.

Among them is Isbaal al-Matar 'alaa Qasab al-Sukkar.

Also Tawdheeh al-Afkaar, a commentary on Tanqeeh al-Andhaar; both are by the eminent imam, mujtahid, and scholar Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Ameer al-Yamanee—may God have mercy on him.

Also al-Baa'ith al-Hatheeth by al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer.

Also Tadreeb al-Raawee by al-Suyootee.

And Minhaaj al-Wusool ilaa Istilaah Ahaadeeth al-Rasool, whose author wrote the book in Persian and listed therein what had been composed in this discipline in alphabetical order. God knows best.

The Science of Reconciling Hadeeths

It is a science that investigates reconciliation between hadeeths that apparently conflict, either by specifying the general on one occasion, restricting the absolute on another, interpreting them as referring to multiple events, or by other forms of interpretation. Commentators on hadeeth often present this in the course of their commentaries, but some scholars devoted special attention to it and recorded it separately. Aboo al-Khayr counted it among the branches of hadeeth; works in this discipline are few.

The Science of the Trustworthy and Weak Transmitters of Hadeeth

It is among the noblest and greatest branches of the science of names and men, for it is the ladder to knowing whether a hadeeth is sound or defective.

It also leads to caution in religious matters and to distinguishing sites of error and mistake at the very foundation of the supreme principle upon which Islam and the basis of the Law rest.

The hadeeth master composed many works on it. Some treat trustworthy transmitters separately, such as al-Thiqaat by Imaam al-Haafidh Aboo Haatim Muhammad ibn Hibbaan al-Bustee—who died in 354—and al-Thiqaat mimman lam yaqa' fee al-Kutub al-Sitta by Shaykh Zayn al-Deen Qaasim ibn Qutloobughaa al-Hanafee, who died in 879; it is a large work in four volumes. There are also al-Thiqaat by Khaleel ibn Shaaheen and al-Thiqaat by al-'Ijlee.

Some treat weak transmitters separately, such as al-Dhu'afaa' by al-Bukhaaree, al-Dhu'afaa' by al-Nasaa'ee, and al-Dhu'afaa' by Muhammad ibn 'Amr al-'Uqaylee, who died in 322.

Others combine both, such as al-Bukhaaree's Taareekh and Ibn Abee Khaythama's Taareekh. Ibn al-Salaah—may God have mercy on him—said: How abundant are its benefits! There is also al-Jarh wa-l-Ta'deel by Ibn Abee Haatim—may God have mercy on him.

The Science of Discrediting and Accrediting

It is a science that investigates discrediting and accrediting transmitters through specific expressions and the ranks of those expressions.

This discipline is a branch of the science of the men of hadeeth. None of the authors of topical classifications mentioned it, although it is a major branch. Discussion of men by discrediting and accrediting is established from God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—and then from many Companions, Successors, and those after them. They permitted it out of scrupulous caution and to protect the Law, not to disparage people. Just as discrediting witnesses is permitted, so it is permitted for transmitters; verification in religious matters is more important than verification in rights and property. For this reason they required themselves to speak on the matter. The first of the imams and hadeeth masters to attend to it was Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaaj, followed by Yahyaa ibn Sa'eed.

Al-Dhahabee said in Meezaan al-I'tidaal: The first to compile on this subject was Imaam Yahyaa ibn Sa'eed al-Qattaan. After him, his students spoke on it: Yahyaa ibn Ma'een, 'Alee ibn al-Madeenee, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, 'Amr ibn 'Alee al-Qalaanisee, and Aboo Khaythama Zuhayr; and their students, such as Aboo Zur'a, Aboo Haatim, al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, Aboo Ishaaq al-Joozajaanee, al-Nasaa'ee, Ibn Khuzayma, al-Tirmidhee, al-Doolaabee, al-'Uqaylee, Ibn 'Adee, Aboo al-Fath al-Azdee, al-Daaraqutnee, and al-Haakim, and others.

I say: Among the works composed on it is al-Jarh wa-l-Ta'deel by Aboo al-Hasan Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allaah al-'Ijlee al-Koofee, resident of Tripoli in the Maghrib, who died in 261.

Also al-Jarh wa-l-Ta'deel by Imaam al-Haafidh Aboo Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abee Haatim Muhammad al-Raazee, who died in 327. It is a large book beginning, “Praise belongs to God, Lord of the worlds, with all His praises.” He states therein that

when he found no way to know any of the meanings of God's Book—Glorified is He—or of the Sunna of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—except through transmission and narration, it was necessary to distinguish between the upright transmitters and narrators, their trustworthy men, and those among them possessing retention, precision, and mastery, on the one hand, and people of negligence, illusion, poor memory, falsehood, invention of fabricated hadeeth, and lying, on the other. End.

Also al-Kaamil by Ibn 'Adee, the most complete book on the subject; Meezaan al-I'tidaal fee Naqd al-Rijaal by al-Dhahabee, the most comprehensive compilation; and Lisaan al-Meezaan by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaanee—may God have mercy on him.

The Science of Noble Hadeeth

It is also called the science of narration and reports, according to Majma' al-Sulook; collectively, the science of narration and reports is called the science of hadeeths. End. On this basis, the science of hadeeth also includes the science of reports, contrary to the view that excludes it. Apparently this rests on the recognized restriction of the term hadeeth from the statements and actions of the Companions; that is correct, for no one's statement is authoritative except God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace. The science of hadeeth is the science by which the Prophet's statements, actions, and conditions are known; knowledge of its subject is therefore included.

Its end is attainment of the happiness of both abodes, as stated in al-Fawaa'id al-Khaaqaaniyya.

It is divided into the science of transmitting hadeeth: a science investigating how hadeeths are connected to the Messenger—upon him be blessings and peace—in terms of the conditions of their transmitters, their precision and probity, and the connectedness or interruption of the chain, and other matters. It is known, as previously noted, as the principles of hadeeth.

And into the science of understanding hadeeth: a science investigating the meaning understood from the words of hadeeth and what they intend, on the basis of the rules of Arabic and the controls of the Law, and in conformity with the conditions of the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace.

Its subject is the hadeeths of the Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—insofar as they indicate the understood or intended meaning.

Its end is adornment with prophetic manners and abandonment of what he dislikes and forbids.

Its benefit is among the greatest benefits, as no attentive person can fail to see.

Its premises are all the Arabic sciences, knowledge of the narratives and reports related to the Prophet, knowledge of the two principles and jurisprudence, and other matters, as stated in Miftaah al-Sa'aada and Madeenat al-'Uloom.

The correct view is what is stated in al-Fawaa'id, since hadeeth is broader than speech, action, and tacit approval, as established in its proper place.

In Kashshaaf Istilaahaat al-Funoon: The science of hadeeth is the science by which the statements and actions of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—are known.

As for his statements, they are Arabic speech. Whoever does not know the nature of Arabic speech is far removed from this discipline: namely, its being

literal, metaphorical, allusive, explicit, general, particular, absolute, restricted, expressed, understood, and so forth, together with conformity to the rules of Arabic detailed by the grammarians and to the conventions of Arab usage; this is what is called the science of language.

As for his actions, they are the things proceeding from him in which we are commanded to follow him—first, acts proceeding from him by natural disposition or as something particular to him, as in al-'Aynee's commentary on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, Zaad al-Kirmaanee, and his conditions.

Then, according to al-'Aynee, its subject is the person of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—insofar as he is God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace. Its premises are what the investigations depend on: the conditions and qualities of hadeeth.

Its questions are the matters intended by it, and its end is attainment of the happiness of both abodes. End.

Ibn al-Atheer said in Jaami' al-Usool: The sciences of the Law are divided into obligatory and supererogatory; the obligatory is divided into individual obligation and communal obligation.

Among the foundations of communal obligations is knowledge of the hadeeths of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—and the reports of his Companions, which are the second proof of legal rulings. It has principles, rulings, rules, and technical terms explained by scholars and expounded by hadeeth scholars and jurists. Its student must know and master them, after first learning language and inflection, which are the foundation for knowledge of hadeeth and other disciplines, since the purified Law came in the language of the Arabs. These matters include knowledge of transmitters, their names, lineages, ages, and death dates; knowledge of the qualities and conditions that permit acceptance of their transmissions; knowledge of the transmitters' bases and how they received hadeeth; classification of its paths; knowledge of the transmitters' wording and their citation of what they heard, its connection to the one who received it from them, and its ranks; knowledge of the permissibility of transmitting hadeeth by meaning, narrating part of it, adding to it, appending what is not part of it, and a trustworthy transmitter's being alone in transmitting an addition; knowledge of the musnad and its conditions, its elevated and lower forms; knowledge of the mursal and its division into interrupted, suspended, mu'dhal, and other forms, because people differ over their acceptance and rejection; knowledge of discrediting and accrediting, their permissibility and occurrence, and the classes of those discredited; knowledge of the divisions of sound hadeeth, fabrication, and the division of reports into these, the uncommon, the good, and other categories; and knowledge of mutawaatir and solitary reports, abrogating and abrogated reports, and other matters agreed upon by the imams of hadeeth. Whoever masters them enters this discipline through its gate and encompasses it from every side; to the extent that he misses any of them, his degree slips and his rank declines. Yet although knowledge of mutawaatir and solitary reports and of the abrogating and abrogated is connected with hadeeth, the hadeeth scholar does not need it, because it belongs to the jurist, who derives rulings from hadeeths and therefore needs to know these matters. The hadeeth scholar's task is to transmit and narrate what he heard exactly as he heard it; if he undertakes more than that, it is an increase in virtue.

As for the beginning of collecting, composing, and disseminating hadeeth: since it was among the fundamental obligations, attention had to be devoted to it and to its control and preservation. Therefore God—Glorified is He—made trustworthy scholars available who preserved its rules, mastered it, and transmitted it from generation to generation, conveying it as they heard it from the first to the last, as God had revealed it to them, for the wisdom of preserving His religion and guarding His Law. Desire for it thus flourished.

From the time of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—this discipline remained the noblest and most exalted of sciences among the Companions, Successors, and Successors of the Successors, generation after generation. After preserving God's Book—Glorified is He—no one was esteemed among them except in proportion to what he had memorized of it, and hearts honored no one except in proportion to what they heard of his hadeeth, until resolve turned toward learning it, so that one of them would travel long distances, cross deserts and wastelands, and traverse lands east and west in pursuit of a single hadeeth, to hear it from its transmitter.

Some were motivated to travel by seeking that hadeeth for its own sake; others combined that desire with hearing it from that particular transmitter, either because they trusted him personally or because his chain was elevated. Thus their resolve was stirred to acquire it.

At first they relied on memorization and retention in their hearts, paying little attention to what they wrote, preserving this discipline as they preserved God's Book—Glorified is He. When Islam spread, lands expanded, the Companions dispersed across the regions, and most of them died, retention diminished, and scholars needed to record hadeeth in writing. Indeed, writing is the foundation: the mind forgets, while the pen preserves. The matter therefore reached the time of a group of imams, such as 'Abd al-Malik ibn Jurayj, Maalik ibn Anas, and others, who recorded hadeeth. It was even said:

The first book composed in Islam was Ibn Jurayj's book; it was also said to be Maalik ibn Anas's Muwatta'; and it was said that the first to compose and arrange chapters was al-Rabee' ibn Sabeeh in Basra. Then the collection, recording, and inscription of hadeeth in fascicles and books spread. This increased and its benefit grew until the time of the two imams, Aboo 'Abd Allaah Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Bukhaaree and Aboo al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj al-Qushayree al-Naysaabooree. They compiled their two books and established in them such hadeeths as they were certain were sound and whose transmission was established for them. They called them the two Saheehs of hadeeth. They spoke truly, and God will reward them for it; therefore God granted them excellent acceptance in east and west.

Then this type of composition spread further and became widespread, while people's aims diverged and their purposes varied, until the age in which they had gathered and agreed—such as Aboo 'Eesaa Muhammad ibn 'Eesaa al-Tirmidhee, Aboo Daawood Sulaymaan ibn al-Ash'ath al-Sijistaanee, Aboo 'Abd al-Rahmaan Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasaa'ee, and others—came to an end. That age was the culmination of the ages in acquiring this discipline, and it was the furthest point reached.

Then demand declined, zeal diminished, and resolve weakened. The same is true of every kind of science, craft, dynasty, and other thing: it begins little by little, continues to grow and increase until it reaches its utmost limit, and then returns. It seems that this discipline reached its culmination with al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, and their contemporaries, after which it declined and receded as God willed.

Although this discipline was noble and exalted in rank, it was difficult in wording or meaning; therefore people pursued different aims in their compositions.

Some limited their ambition to recording hadeeth without restriction, so as to preserve its wording and derive rulings from it, as 'Abd Allaah ibn Moosaa al-Dhabbee, Aboo Daawood al-Tayaalisee, and others first did.

Second came Ahmad ibn Hanbal and those after him: they established hadeeths according to the musnads of their transmitters, mentioning the Musnad of Aboo Bakr al-Siddeeq—may God be pleased with him—and including in it everything they had transmitted from him, then mentioning the Companions one after another in this order.

Others established hadeeths in the places for which they served as evidence, assigning each hadeeth a dedicated chapter. If it concerned prayer, they mentioned it in the chapter on prayer; if it concerned almsgiving, they mentioned it there, as Maalik did in the Muwatta'. Because it contained relatively few hadeeths, however, its chapters were few, and those after him followed his example.

When the matter reached the time of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim and the hadeeths deposited in their books became numerous, their chapters also multiplied, and those who came after them followed them. This type is easier to consult than the first, because one may know the meaning without knowing the transmission; indeed, one may not need to know the transmission. If he wants a hadeeth concerning prayer, he seeks it in the Book of Prayer, for when a hadeeth is placed in the Book of Prayer, the reader knows that it is evidence for that ruling and need not investigate further, unlike the first type.

Others extracted hadeeths containing linguistic terms and difficult meanings, composing a book restricted to mentioning the text of the hadeeth, explaining its uncommon vocabulary, inflection, and meaning, without addressing legal rulings, as Aboo 'Ubayd al-Qaasim ibn Sallaam, Aboo Muhammad 'Abd Allaah ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba, and others did.

Others added to this selection legal rulings and jurists' opinions, as Aboo Sulaymaan Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Khattaabee did in Ma'aalim al-Sunan and A'laam al-Sunan, along with other scholars.

Others intended to record uncommon vocabulary without the hadeeth text, extracting, recording, arranging, and explaining rare words, as Aboo 'Ubayd Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Harawee and other scholars did.

Others sought to extract hadeeths containing encouragement and warning, and hadeeths containing non-comprehensive legal rulings; they recorded them and presented their texts alone, as Aboo Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Mas'ood al-Baghawee did in al-Masaabeeh and others.

Since those eminent figures were pioneers in it, their work did not achieve the most complete 2 / 225 forms. Their first aim was simply to preserve and establish hadeeth, repel fabrication from it, examine its paths, preserve its transmitters, accredit them, and investigate their conditions, until they criticized, discredited, accredited, accepted, and rejected them, after caution, precision, and reflection. This was their greatest aim and fullest purpose. Time and life did not allow them to do more than this broadest purpose and greatest task, nor did they see fit in their day to occupy themselves with other requirements of this discipline, which are like its adjuncts. Indeed, they could not do so, for one must first establish the substance and then arrange its attributes; the foundation is the hadeeth itself, followed by arranging and improving its presentation. They accomplished the necessary task, but death overtook them before they could complete and set aside the work for their successors and followers. They therefore labored so that those after them might rest.

Then the righteous successors came and wished to display that excellence and disseminate these sciences in whose collection their predecessors had exhausted their lives, either by introducing arrangement, increasing refinement, abridging, facilitating, deriving rulings, or explaining difficult vocabulary.

Among these later scholars were those who combined the books of the earlier scholars with some adaptation and abridgment, such as those who combined the two books of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim: Aboo Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Rammaanee, Aboo Mas'ood Ibraaheem ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd al-Dimashqee, and Aboo 'Abd Allaah Muhammad al-Humaydee. They arranged them by musnads rather than chapters.

They were followed by Aboo al-Hasan Razeen ibn Mu'aawiya al-'Abdaree, who combined the books of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, Maalik's Muwatta', al-Tirmidhee's Jaami', and the Sunans of Aboo Daawood and al-Nasaa'ee. He arranged them by chapters, though these scholars deposited the hadeeth texts without commentary. Razeen's book was the largest and most comprehensive, containing these six books, which are the foundational and most famous books of hadeeth; from their hadeeths scholars took evidence and jurists established rulings. Their compilers are the most famous scholars

of hadeeth and those with the greatest memorization; to them the matter ultimately returns.

He was followed by Imaam Aboo al-Sa'aadaat Mubaarak ibn Muhammad ibn al-Atheer al-Jazaree, who combined Razeen's book with the six foundations, refining the arrangement of its chapters, facilitating its consultation, and explaining its uncommon vocabulary in Jaami' al-Usool. It was the most comprehensive compilation of its kind.

Then al-Haafidh Jalaal al-Deen 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abee Bakr al-Suyootee came and combined the Six Books, the ten musnads, and others in Jam' al-Jawaami'. It was much greater than Jaami' al-Usool in respect of the texts, though he did not concern himself with the inclusion of weak, indeed fabricated, hadeeths.

The first thing these later scholars did was omit the chains, contenting themselves with naming the Companion who transmitted the hadeeth if it was a report, and naming the one who transmitted it from the Companion if it was an athar, while indicating the source. The original purpose of mentioning chains had been to establish and authenticate the hadeeth; that had been the function of the earlier scholars, and they had discharged it, so there was no need to repeat what they had completed.

They assigned the authors of the Six Books letters as marks and symbols.

They assigned al-Bukhaaree khaa', because his association with his homeland is better known than his name and teknonym, and none of the letters in the remaining names is khaa'.

They assigned Muslim meem, because his name is better known than his lineage and teknonym.

They assigned Maalik taa haa, because his book is better known as the Muwatta'.

Also because meem is the first letter of his name, and they had given it to Muslim, while the remaining letters of his name resemble others.

They assigned al-Tirmidhee taa', because his lineage is better known.

They assigned Aboo Daawood daal, because his teknonym is better known than his name and lineage, and daal is the most prominent and least confusable of its letters.

They assigned al-Nasaa'ee seen, because his lineage is better known than his name and teknonym, and seen is the most prominent letter of his lineage. They likewise assigned individual and compound symbols to the authors of musnads, as recorded in the Jaami'.

Al-Qushjee said in Kashshaaf Istilaahaat al-Funoon: The people of hadeeth have ranks.

The first is the seeker, the beginner who desires it.

Then comes the muhaddith, the complete master; likewise shaykh and imaam in this sense.

Then the haafidh, whose knowledge encompasses one hundred thousand hadeeths, texts and chains, and the conditions of their transmitters in discrediting, accrediting, and chronology.

Then the hujja, whose knowledge encompasses three hundred thousand hadeeths in the same way. This is what Ibn al-Mutarree said.

Al-Jazaree said: The raawee is one who transmits hadeeth with its chain; the muhaddith is one who received it through transmission and attended to understanding it.

The haafidh is one who narrates whatever reaches him and retains whatever he needs. End.

Aboo al-Khayr said: Know that the utmost extent of the attention of the people of this age to the science of hadeeth is study of Mashaariq al-Anwaar. If you rise to al-Baghawee's Masaabeeh, you may think it reaches the rank of the muhaddiths; this is only because of their ignorance of hadeeth. Even if someone memorized both books by heart and added texts equal to them in size, he would not be a muhaddith until a camel could pass through a needle's eye. The person whom the people of the age regard as having reached the end, calling him “the muhaddith of muhaddiths” and “the Bukhaaree of the age,” is one who has occupied himself with Ibn al-Atheer's Jaami' al-Usool while memorizing Ibn al-Salaah's 'Uloom al-Hadeeth or al-Nawawee's Taqreeb; yet he is not in any way of

the rank of the muhaddiths. A muhaddith is one who knows the musnads, defects, names of men, elevated and lower chains, and who has also memorized a considerable body of texts, heard the Six Books, Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Musnad, al-Bayhaqee's Sunan, and al-Tabaraanee's Mu'jam, and added to this a thousand fascicles of hadeeth. This is the minimum. If, after hearing what we mentioned, he writes the biographical classes, responds to shaykhs, and speaks about defects, deaths, and chains, he has reached the first degree of the muhaddiths.

Then God—Glorified is He—grants whomever He wills whatever He wills. This is what Taaj al-Deen al-Subkee mentioned.

Sadr al-Sharee'a mentioned in Ta'deel al-'Uloom that the shaykhs of hadeeth are renowned for long lives.

Al-Subkee also mentioned

in Tabaqaat al-Shaafi'iyya that Aboo Sahl said: I heard Ibn al-Salaah say: I heard our shaykhs say: A sign of a man's long life is his occupation with the hadeeths of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace. Experience confirms it, for when you examine the lifespans of the people of hadeeth, you find them extremely long. End.

Books composed in the science of hadeeth are too numerous to count, but in our Persian book Ithaaf al-Nubalaa' al-Muttaqeen bi-Ihyaa' Ma'aathir al-Fuqahaa' al-Muhadditheen we have comprehensively recorded what we encountered, arranged alphabetically.

Madeenat al-'Uloom says: The early masters among the shaykhs of hadeeth agreed that the soundest books after God's Book are Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim, and that the sounder of the two is Saheeh al-Bukhaaree. Its imam is the shaykh of the Sunna, the light of Islam, the haafidh of the age, and God's blessing in His land: Imaam Aboo 'Abd Allaah Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Ju'fee al-Bukhaaree—may God have mercy on him. The governor of Bukhaaraa was Ju'fee, a nisba to a tribe in Yemen, and al-Bukhaaree was affiliated with it by clientage.

Imaam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj al-Qushayree al-Baghdaadee was one of the haafidh imams and the most knowledgeable of the muhaddiths, the imam of Khuraasaan in hadeeth after al-Bukhaaree.

Among the sound collections are the Sunan of Aboo Daawood al-Azdee al-Sijistaanee, the book of al-Tirmidhee, and the book of al-Nasaa'ee.

Al-Nawawee counted these five among the foundations, but the majority made them six, counting among them the Muwatta' of the imam of the Abode of Emigration, exemplar of the God-fearing, and one of the mujtahid imams, Imaam Maalik ibn Anas.

Some placed the Muwatta' after al-Tirmidhee; others said after al-Nasaa'ee. The sounder view is that it ranks after Muslim.

Some counted Ibn Maaja Muhammad ibn Yazeed al-Qazweenee's book in place of the Muwatta'.

Know that the muhaddiths appended to the Six Books Aboo al-Hasan Razeen al-'Abdaree's Jaami', the author of the compilation combining the sound books; al-Humaydee's Jaami' between the two Saheehs; al-Barqaatee's Jaami', which combines them; and Aboo Mas'ood al-Dimashqee's Jaami', also combining the two Saheehs.

They then selected seven authors and appended their books to the sound collections because of their great benefit: al-Daaraqutnee; Aboo 'Abd Allaah al-Naysaabooree al-Haakim; Aboo Muhammad 'Abd al-Ghanee al-Azdee al-Misree; Aboo Nu'aym al-Isfahaanee, author of Hilya; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, the haafidh of the Maghrib; al-Bayhaqee; and al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadee. End, in summary.

Section on the Sciences of Hadeeth

Ibn Khaldoon said: The sciences of hadeeth are numerous and varied. Some investigate abrogating and abrogated reports, on account of the established permissibility and occurrence of abrogation in our Law, as a kindness from God to His servants and a reduction of their burden in view of the interests He has

undertaken to secure for them. The Exalted said: “Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or its like.” When two reports conflict through negation and affirmation, reconciliation through some interpretation is impossible, and the precedence of one is known, the later is necessarily the abrogating one. Knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated is among the most important and difficult sciences of hadeeth.

Al-Zuhree said: It defeated and incapacitated the jurists to know which of the Messenger's hadeeths abrogated and which were abrogated. al-Shaafi'ee—may God have mercy on him—had a firm foothold in it.1

Among the sciences of hadeeth is investigation of chains and knowledge of what hadeeths must be acted upon because they occur with a chain complete in its conditions. Action is required only on the basis of what makes the truthfulness of the reports of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—probable. One therefore investigates the path that produces that probability by knowing the justice and precision of the transmitters of hadeeth. This is established by transmission from the authorities of religion through their accreditation and declaration that they are free of discredit and negligence, and it serves as evidence for acceptance or rejection.

Likewise, one studies the ranks of these transmitters among the Companions and Successors, their varying degrees, and distinguishes each one individually. Chains also vary according to their connection and interruption, according to whether the transmitter from whom one reports is present, and according to their freedom from defects that weaken them. They range between two extremes: the higher is judged acceptable and the lower rejected, while the intermediate is assessed according to what is transmitted from the imams of the field.

They established technical expressions for these ordered ranks, such as sound, good, weak, mursal, interrupted, mu'dhal, anomalous, uncommon, and other titles current among them.

They arranged a chapter for each, transmitting the disagreements or agreements of the imams of this field concerning it.

Then they investigated how transmitters received from one another, by reading, writing, handing over, or authorization, and the varying ranks of these methods, together with the scholars' disagreement over acceptance and rejection. They followed this with discussion of words occurring in hadeeth texts that are uncommon, difficult, misspelled, homonymous, or divergent, and related matters. This is the greater part, and most, of what the people of hadeeth investigate.

The conditions of hadeeth transmitters in the early generations of the Companions and Successors were known among the people of each town. Some were in the Hijaaz, some in Basra and Koofa in Iraq, and some in Syria and Egypt; all were known and famous in their own ages.

In their ages, the method of the people of the Hijaaz in chains was superior to that of others and more firmly sound, because they were strict in the conditions of transmission—justice and precision—and refrained from accepting a person whose condition was unknown.

After the early generations, the chain of the Hijaazee method ran through Imaam Maalik, the scholar of Medina, and then through his students, such as Imaam Muhammad ibn Idrees al-Shaafi'ee, Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and their peers.

1 This discipline has a book, Ifaadat al-Shuyookh bi-Miqdaar al-Naasikh wa-l-Mansookh, by the author of this work, in which he collected what had been composed on that discipline. It became the most comprehensive compilation on this subject, and the abrogated hadeeths amounted to eleven, with the number confined to that total. It is in Persian. Haafidh 'Alee Husayn al-Lakhnawee, the writer of this book—may God, the Bestower, preserve him.

At the beginning of this matter, the science of the Law was purely transmitted. The early generations devoted themselves to it and verified the sound until they completed it.

Maalik—may God have mercy on him—wrote the Muwatta', depositing in it the foundations of agreed-upon sound rulings and arranging it according to chapters of jurisprudence. Then the hadeeth masters attended to knowing the various paths and chains of the hadeeths. A hadeeth's chain may occur through multiple paths from different transmitters, and a hadeeth may also occur in multiple chapters according to the different meanings it contains.

Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Bukhaaree, the imam of the hadeeth masters of his age, then came and extracted the hadeeths of the Sunna under their chapters in his sound Musnad, with all the paths belonging to the Hijaazees, Iraqis, and Syrians. He relied on what they agreed upon rather than what they disputed. He repeated hadeeths, presenting each in the chapter whose meaning it contained. His hadeeths therefore recur, so that it is said to contain 9,200 hadeeths, of which 3,000 are repeated; he distributed the paths and chains among the chapters, differing in each.

Then Imaam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj al-Qushayree—may God have mercy on him—came and composed his sound Musnad, following al-Bukhaaree in transmitting what was agreed upon, omitting repetitions, gathering paths and chains, and arranging it by chapters and headings of jurisprudence. Yet he did not encompass all sound hadeeths, and people later supplied what was lacking in both works.

Then Aboo Daawood al-Sijistaanee, Aboo 'Eesaa al-Tirmidhee, and Aboo 'Abd al-Rahmaan al-Nasaa'ee wrote their Sunans, broader than the sound collections. They sought what met the conditions for action, either through the high rank of its chains—the sound, as is known—or through what lay below it, such as the good, so that it might serve as an authority for the Sunna and practice. These are the famous musnads in the community and the foundational books of hadeeth in the Sunna. Although they are numerous, they generally return to these. Knowledge of all these conditions and technical terms is the science of hadeeth. People sometimes separate abrogating and abrogated reports from it as an independent discipline, and likewise uncommon vocabulary; people have famous works on these.

Then there are the similar and dissimilar names. People composed extensively on the sciences of hadeeth.

Among its outstanding scholars and imams was Aboo 'Abd Allaah al-Haakim, whose works on it are famous. He refined it and displayed its merits. The most famous work for later scholars is Aboo 'Amr ibn al-Salaah's book, written at the beginning of the seventh century; Muhyee al-Deen al-Nawawee followed it with a similar work. The discipline is noble in its aim, because it is knowledge of what preserves the transmitted Sunna of the Lawgiver. In this age, the extraction of new hadeeths and criticism of the earlier scholars have ceased, for custom shows that those imams, despite their number, succession across ages, competence, and exertion, would not have overlooked any part of the Sunna or left it for a later scholar to discover. That is far from them. In this age, attention is instead directed to the sound foundational books already written, verifying them through transmission from their compilers, examining their chains back to their authors, and comparing this with the conditions and rulings established in the science of hadeeth, so that the chains may be connected and firmly authenticated to their endpoint. They have added little beyond attention to these five foundations.

As for al-Bukhaaree, which ranks highest among them, people found its commentary difficult and failed to appreciate its method because it requires knowledge of the numerous paths and their transmitters from the Hijaaz, Syria, and Iraq, knowledge of their conditions, and knowledge of disagreement concerning them. It therefore requires profound reflection on the jurisprudential understanding of its headings: he gives a heading and presents under it a hadeeth with a chain or

path, then gives another heading and presents that same hadeeth because it contains the meaning indicated by the heading. He does this from heading to heading until the hadeeth recurs in many chapters according to its meanings and their differences. Those who commented on it without completing this did not fulfill the right of commentary, such as Ibn Battaal, Ibn al-Muhallab, Ibn al-Teen, and their like. I often heard our shaykhs—may God have mercy on them—say: “Commenting on al-Bukhaaree is a debt owed by the community.” They meant that none of the community's scholars had fulfilled what commentary requires in this respect.

Al-Zabeedee said in Kashf al-Dhunoon: I say: Perhaps that debt was discharged by the commentaries of the two critical scholars Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaanee and al-'Aynee thereafter. End.

I say: al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar's commentary is the fullest of the commentaries; no commentary or book equals it. Thus, when al-Shawkaanee was asked to comment on al-Bukhaaree, he replied: “There is no emigration after the conquest”—meaning Fath al-Baaree. How subtle this reply is to one who understands the subtlety of speech.

Then Ibn Khaldoon said:

As for Saheeh Muslim, the scholars of the Maghrib devoted great attention to it, immersed themselves in it, and agreed that it was superior to al-Bukhaaree's book in the sound material that did not meet his conditions and in most of what occurred in its headings.

Al-Maazaree, one of the Maalikee jurists, dictated a commentary on it called al-Mu'lim bi-Fawaa'id Muslim. It contained choice material from the science of hadeeth and branches of jurisprudence. Judge 'Iyaadh then dictated a commentary after him, completed it, and called it Ikmaal al-Mu'lim.

Muhyee al-Deen al-Nawawee followed them with a commentary that fully treated what was in the two books and added to it, producing a comprehensive commentary.

As for the other Sunans, which contain most of the sources used by jurists, they are mostly explained in books of jurisprudence. Apart from what belongs specifically to the science of hadeeth, people wrote commentaries on them and supplied what was needed concerning its science, subjects, and chains containing hadeeths used in the Sunna.

Know that in this age the ranks of hadeeths have been distinguished as sound, good, weak, defective, and other categories. The imams and masters of hadeeth assigned them their ranks and recognized them. No route remained for authenticating what had previously been authenticated. The imams of hadeeth knew hadeeths by their paths and chains, such that if a hadeeth were narrated through a chain and path other than its own, they would realize that its arrangement had been altered.

Something similar happened to Imaam Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Bukhaaree when he came to Baghdad. The hadeeth scholars intended to test him, so they asked him about hadeeths whose chains they had inverted. He said, “I do not know these; but so-and-so related to me …” Then he presented all those hadeeths in their correct arrangement, returning each text to its chain. They acknowledged his imamate. End.

Ibn Khaldoon said: Know also that the imams who practiced independent reasoning differed in how much they pursued this craft.

It is said that Aboo Haneefa—may God be pleased with him—narrated seventeen hadeeths or thereabouts.1

1 This severity is contradicted by the fact that the people of ra'y counted Imaam Aboo Haneefa among the Successors. Even if that is not sound according to the critics of hadeeth, his transmission would then only be from Companions, so what meaning would there be in imposing severe transmission conditions? The scholars of hadeeth and jurisprudence unanimously agree that all the Companions are upright. If it is assumed that he was not a Successor but belonged to the generation following the Successors, as the hadeeth scholars preferred, that too does not entail the alleged severity. Moreover, this is a claim without proof: not one of the hadeeths transmitted through the imam's route meets the conditions of even the middling hadeeth masters, let alone those recognized by the greatest of them. Thus the claim that his conditions were stricter than theirs has no corresponding reality. Mawlawee Muhammad 'Abd al-Rasheed al-Kaashmeeree—may God preserve him, prolong his life, and bring him to what he desires.

As for Maalik—may God have mercy on him—he regarded only what was in the Muwatta' as sound, amounting to three hundred hadeeths or thereabouts.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal—may God Most High have mercy on him—had fifty thousand hadeeths in his Musnad, each according to what his reasoning led him to accept.

Some hostile and overbearing people may say that some of them possessed little knowledge of hadeeth and therefore narrated little. There is no basis for this belief regarding the great imams, for the Law is taken from the Book and the Sunna. Whoever possesses little knowledge of hadeeth must seek and transmit it and strive diligently, so as to take religion from sound foundations and receive rulings from the one who conveyed them. Those who reduced their narrations did so because of the objections and defects that could arise in them, especially since discrediting takes precedence for most scholars. Their reasoning therefore led them to refrain from accepting reports and chains subject to such concerns, and these became numerous, so their narration diminished because of weakness in the chains. In addition, the people of the Hijaaz narrated more hadeeth than the people of Iraq, because Medina was the Abode of Emigration and refuge of the Companions, whereas those who moved from it to Iraq were more occupied with fighting.

Imaam Aboo Haneefa's narrations were few because he was strict regarding the conditions of transmission and reception, and he weakened a certain hadeeth's transmission when it conflicted with an established practice; for this reason his narration was reduced. His few hadeeths were not due to deliberately abandoning narration—God forbid. His reliance among the scholars, and their reliance on and consideration of his school in acceptance and rejection, show that he was among the great authorities in the science of hadeeth.

As for the other hadeeth scholars, who are the majority, they expanded the conditions, and their hadeeths became numerous; all of this was based on reasoning. His students later expanded the conditions further and their narrations multiplied.

Al-Tahaawee narrated extensively and wrote his Musnad. It is of considerable rank, but it does not equal the two Saheehs, because the conditions on which al-Bukhaaree and Muslim relied in their books are agreed upon by the community, as they stated.

Al-Tahaawee's conditions were not agreed upon, such as narrating from a person whose condition was concealed and the like. For this reason the two Saheehs were placed before it, indeed before it were the recognized Sunans as well, because its conditions came later than theirs. For this reason it was said concerning the two Saheehs that the community unanimously accepts them, on account of its agreement on the soundness of the agreed-upon conditions found in them.

Do not let this cause you doubt. These men are the most deserving of a favorable opinion and of seeking valid interpretations for them. God—Glorified is He—knows best the realities of matters.

The Science of Understanding Hadeeth

Discussion of it has already appeared under the science of hadeeth.

Shams al-Deen al-Akfaanee al-Sakhaawee said: Understanding hadeeth is a science by which the kinds and rulings of transmission, the conditions of transmission, the classes of transmitted materials, and the extraction of their meanings are known. It requires what the science of Qur'aanic exegesis requires: language, grammar, morphology, semantics, eloquence, rhetoric, and the principles of jurisprudence; it also requires the history of transmitters. End.

We have a book called al-Hutta bi-Dhikr al-Sihaah al-Sitta, in which we have mentioned all the branches of the science of hadeeth.

We have also discussed the nobility of this discipline, the conditions of the Six Foundations, and biographies of their authors. If you desire more, consult it.

Madeenat al-'Uloom states that when the term “sound” is used unqualified in the science of hadeeth, the muhaddiths mean al-Bukhaaree; when “the two sound books” is used unqualified, they mean Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim.

When “the sound books” is used unqualified, they mean the two Saheehs, Saheeh Ibn Hibbaan, Saheeh Ibn Khuzayma, Saheeh Ibn 'Awaana, and al-Haakim's Mustadrak. These are the Six Sound Books. End. This is clearly open to objection.

He said: When the Sunans are mentioned without qualification, their technical usage means the Sunans of Aboo Daawood, al-Tirmidhee, al-Nasaa'ee, and Ibn Maaja al-Qazweenee. The Sunans of others are mentioned with qualification, such as the Sunan of al-Daaraqutnee and the Sunan of al-Bayhaqee. When the Musnads are mentioned without qualification, their technical usage means the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Musnad of Aboo Ya'laa al-Mawsilee, the Musnad of al-Daarimee, and the Musnad of al-Bazzaar.

When the Ma'aajim are mentioned without qualification, they mean the three works of al-Tabaraanee: the Great, Middle, and Small Mu'jams. He said: When we had finished mentioning the early muhaddiths, it seemed appropriate to include here some later ones; when the righteous are mentioned, mercy descends.

He then mentioned Aboo Sulaymaan al-Khattaabee, Ibn al-Jawzee, al-Nawawee, Aboo al-Sa'aadaat al-Jazaree, Aboo Muhammad Husayn al-Baghawee, Ibn al-Salaah, al-Hasan al-Saghaanee al-Laahooree al-Hindee, Akmal al-Deen al-Baabaree, commentator on al-Mashaariq, and Qaadhee 'Iyaadh, giving brief biographies. Our book Ithaaf al-Nubalaa' al-Muttaqeen bi-Ihyaa' Ma'aathir al-Fuqahaa' al-Muhadditheen has fulfilled the purpose of listing the books composed in the science of hadeeth and the biographies of its leading masters.

The Science of Repelling Objections to Hadeeth

Kashf al-Dhunoon adds nothing beyond this. Apparently it is a branch of the science of hadeeth. Madeenat al-'Uloom says: Its subject and benefit are evident to people of understanding. A group of heretics, namely the Qaraamita, attacked the hadeeths of the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace. The scholars of Islam—may God reward them well—stood to repel those disgraceful misconceptions with strong proofs and clear arguments, and composed books on the subject, which anyone seeking them will find. End.

The Science of the Men of Hadeeth

The eminent grandson of Aboo Shaama said in describing the science of history and censuring those who disparaged and defamed it: Scholars composed many works on this subject, but many restricted themselves to mentioning events without discussing deaths, such as Ibn Jareer's Taareekh, Murooj al-Dhahab, and al-Kaamil. If they mention the name of someone who died in a given year, it is devoid of his virtues and merits.

Some wrote about deaths alone, apart from events, such as al-Haakim's Taareekh Naysaaboor, Aboo Bakr al-Khateeb's Taareekh Baghdaad, and al-Sam'aanee's supplement to it. Although this is the more important of the two types, the benefit is complete only by combining both arts. A group of hadeeth masters combined them, including Aboo al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzee in al-Muntadham and Aboo Shaama in al-Rawdhatayn; its supplement extends to 665.

Al-Haafidh 'Alam al-Deen al-Barzaalee also appended a supplement to it.

Among those who combined the two types was also the haafidh Shams al-Deen al-Dhahabee, though deaths predominate in al-'Ibar. 'Imaad al-Deen Ibn Katheer combined them in al-Bidaaya wa-l-Nihaaya. Its best section concerns the prophetic biographies, but he omitted many scholars. At times the person omitted was more deserving of mention than one included with excessive detail; the work also contains serious errors that cannot be excused. In Egypt and Syria, reliance for transmitting histories in this age has come to rest on these three masters: al-Barzaalee, al-Dhahabee, and Ibn Katheer.

Al-Barzaalee's history ends at the close of 738, and he died the following year.

Al-Dhahabee's history ends at the close of 740.

As for Ibn Katheer, it is widely held that his history ends at the close of 738, the last point he abridged from al-Barzaalee's history; he recorded events until two years before his death. Since the events of 741 had no

work combining both matters in the fullest manner, our shaykh, the haafidh and mufti of Syria, Shihaab al-Deen Ahmad ibn Yahyaa al-Sa'dee, began a supplement from the start of 741, comprehensively treating events and deaths. He wrote seven years of it, then began again from the start of 769, reaching the middle of Dhoo al-Qa'da 815, before the weakness preceding his death. One year, 775, fell out of it and was lost. He had instructed me to complete the gap from the beginning of 748 through the end of 768. I sought God's guidance regarding completing what he indicated and then appending to it from the time of his death. I then saw that from 781 onward through the end of 748 there were many valuable events and deaths that our shaykh had omitted and that the book needed, so I added many of them. I began with the events from the start of 741, combining his words with those materials, although in truth all of it belongs to him.

The Science of the Symbols of Hadeeth

Kashf al-Dhunoon mentions nothing further. Madeenat al-'Uloom says: It is the science of the symbols and indications of the Prophet's statements—God bless him and grant him peace. Its subject is evident and its benefit brilliant; its end and purpose are not hidden. I have seen a fine work in this discipline. End.

The Science of Transmitting Hadeeth

It is a science that investigates how hadeeths are connected to the Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—in terms of the conditions of their transmitters, their precision and probity, the connection or interruption of the chain, and other conditions known to the critics of hadeeth.

Its subject is the words of the Messenger, in terms of the soundness or weakness of their attribution to him—God bless him and grant him peace—and other matters.

This discipline has evident benefit and immense purpose; indeed, it is one of the pillars of religion.

The books composed in it are too numerous to count.

Among them is Ibn al-Salaah's book, on which al-Nawawee wrote a composition.

And the book of the shaykh, imam, and haafidh of the age, Commander of the Believers in hadeeth, Shihaab al-Deen Ahmad known as Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaanee, born in 'Asqalaan and settled in Egypt, as stated in Madeenat al-'Uloom. It has already been discussed in detail under the science of hadeeth.

The Science of Commenting on Hadeeth

It is a branch of hadeeth. Scholars attended to collecting and commenting on the Forty Hadeeths because it is reported that the Prophet said: “Whoever preserves forty hadeeths of the Sunna for my community, I will intercede for him on the Day of Resurrection.”

In one narration: “Whoever carries forty hadeeths from me for my community will meet God Almighty on the Day of Resurrection as a jurist and scholar.”

In another narration: “Whoever learns forty hadeeths seeking God's Most High countenance, so as to teach my community through them what is lawful and unlawful, God—Glorified is He—will raise him on the Day of Resurrection as a scholar.” This concludes what is in Kashf al-Dhunoon. I say: This hadeeth, through all its paths, is weak according to the critical authorities among the hadeeth scholars. It cannot be relied upon or followed except by one whose grounding in the science of hadeeth is not firm.

We have discussed it elsewhere. Commenting on hadeeth is not restricted to commenting on forty hadeeths; rather, anyone who comments on

a book among the books of the purified Sunna, supplies what is appropriate to it, and fulfills its due has commented on hadeeth, as we did in Misk al-Khitaam, a commentary on Buloogh al-Maraam, and in 'Awn al-Baaree fee Hall Adillat al-Bukhaaree, and as a group of hadeeth-master imams did before us, whose names would be lengthy to list.

Among them is Fath al-Baaree, a commentary on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, by the haafidh, imam, and hujja Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaanee.

And Nayl al-Awtaar, a commentary on Muntaqaa al-Akhbaar, by our shaykh, the mujtahid judge Muhammad ibn 'Alee al-Shawkaanee—may God be pleased with them both.

Madeenat al-'Uloom says: The science of commenting on hadeeth investigates the intent of God's Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—in his noble hadeeths according to the rules of Arabic and the principles of the Law, to the extent of human capacity. Its benefit and purpose are of a rank evident to everyone, and the books composed in it are too numerous to count.

The best known are the commentaries on al-Bukhaaree by al-Kirmaanee, al-Barmaawee, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, al-'Aynee, al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, al-Kooraanee, al-Suyootee, and others; the commentary on Muslim by al-Nawawee and al-Suyootee; and commentaries on al-Masaabeeh by al-Khalakhaalee, al-Tooreeshtee, Mudhhir, Zayn al-'Arab, and others.

Among the commentaries on al-Mashaariq are al-Mabaariq, the commentary by the author of al-Qaamoos, the commentary by Akmal al-Deen, the commentary by Ibn al-Malik, and others. End.

I say: I have fully treated the commentaries on the books of hadeeth in my Ithaaf al-Nubalaa' under the entries for the texts; consult it.

The Science of Weak and Abandoned Transmitters of Hadeeth

Imaam Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel al-Bukhaaree, who died at Khartank in 256, composed a work on it, transmitted from him by Aboo Bishr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hammaad al-Doolaabee, Aboo Ja'far, the shaykh of Ibn Sa'eed, and Aadam ibn Moosaa al-Ja'faree. It is among his extant compositions, according to al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, Imaam 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Ahmad al-Nasaa'ee, Imaam Hasan ibn Muhammad al-San'aanee, and Aboo al-Faraj 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn 'Alee ibn al-Jawzee, who died in 597. al-Dhahabee said in Meezaan al-I'tidaal: He lists the discrediting and remains silent regarding accreditation. He abridged it and then appended to it, as he said.

It was also supplemented by 'Alaa' al-Deen Mughaltaay ibn Qaleej, who died in 762.

'Alaa' al-Deen 'Alee ibn 'Uthmaan al-Maarideenee, who died in 750, also composed a work on it.

Muhammad ibn Hayyaan al-Bustee composed a work on it and gave it an introduction in which he divided the transmitters into approximately twenty categories. al-Biqaa'ee mentioned it in his marginal commentary on the Alfiyya.

The Science of the Text of Hadeeth

The matn is what surrounds the solid core of an animal; the matn of anything is that by which the thing is constituted. Thus the matn of a hadeeth is its words, by which the meaning is constituted.