Ahadith: The Basic Information
It has always been my goal as a journalist to be generous with my thoughts; to not withhold information unless it involves a confidentiality agreement. So let me teach some basic principles related to Ahadith (pl) - as understood by scholars.
First a definition of Hadith:
The words, actions, approval and disapproval of Prophet Muhammad. This is known as the Sunnah of the Prophet - and is used as a preferred contemporary term among the common man.
For scholars, Hadith is the "carrier" of the Sunnah - a means of communication. And the Sunnah is the law deduced from Ahadith.
An individual Hadith has two components:
The snad (narrator) or isnad (narrators).
The second matn, or the actual text.
It is a bit like playing "telephone". A personal example is, "My Cherokee grandmother told my father, who told me, 'One woman is better than two blankets on a cold night.'" So if I am the Muhhadithun, the narrators are my grandmother and my father and myself. But I just provided you with the text/matn when I placed it in digital form.
I believe that one woman is better than two blankets and my grandmother was probably right. smile
But the whole thing can be a bit like eavesdropping on the Navajo code talkers, but not understanding what they are saying. These things can be tricky. Because just as every ayat has a back story, the same is true for every Hadith.
If you hear a Imam declare that there are more women in hell than men, then he is quoting Hadith. But do you know the dynamic and observation for this particular declaration? This lashing out was not just about women being "ungrateful". It involved a lot more.
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:29
In actuality, the discipline of Ahadith is more akin to the Arabic word Nazm, which for scholars is all about establishing a data base and a pattern. The actual meaning of Nazm from the Arabic root n-z-m means to organize and put in a certain order. And in Arabic literature, nazm refers to a distinct type of poetry, which is lovingly referred to as a "string of pearls".
Ahadith fall into categories, or sub-classifications. The most interesting classification is called Ghareeb, or rare... strange. This is one which has been narrated by three generations, starting with the Sahaba or Companions of the Prophet.
What a scholar does not want to see is "Mawdoo" or a false/fabricated Hadith. An example would be the Hadith "Seek knowledge even if in China."
Mashoor are the well known Ahadith, and I have memorized one in particular because it is a nice ice-breaker.
Munqate is a broken Hadith because the isnad is book-ended with the name of a Sahaba and the last narrator, but one or more additional names in the chain are unknown.
Other categories are Mursal (defective), Mu'azzal (problematic), Shaz (contradictions in the matn that work against more reliable texts) and a special category called Marfu.
Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim are considered the gold standard works of Ahadith. The Muwatta of Imam Malik is also important because the approximately 1,700 Ahadith represent a historical recounting of the customs, rules, and opinions of the citizens of Madinah. Not all scholars include this selection because it is not composed only of Ahadith, but additional thoughts of the author.
The Forty Hadith Qudsi remain of the greatest interest to scholars because these are attributed directly to the Ruh - or Allah's own spirit.
The sayings from the many sources of Ahadith are liberally salted within the communications of the Muslim community. But they can be hard to catch because they can be spoken very casually. But do not forget how they can also provide important signals in important conversations which need to be captured and analyzed for intent.
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