Ahaad, mashhoor, aziz and ghareeb
Understanding the ahaad hadith, mashhoor, aziz and ghareeb
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful…
Think about the last piece of important news someone told you. Did you believe it straight away? Most of the time, what decided it was not how many people told you, but who told you. One friend you know to be truthful and careful can be worth more than a crowd of strangers.
The scholars of hadith look at every report from the Prophet (ﷺ) with the same care. In the previous part, on the definitions and terminologies of Mustalah al-Hadith, we met the mutawaatir, the report carried by so many people at every level that agreeing on a lie is impossible. We also saw Imam al-Shafi'i refute the man who held that a report is established only when four narrate it, each from a different city. (al-Shafi'i, Kitab al-Umm, 7/296–297)
Every report that does not reach the level of mutawaatir is called ahaad, and in this part we count its narrators at each level to give it a name: mashhoor, aziz or ghareeb. The count gives the report its name; it is not what makes it accepted. The khabar waahid of a trustworthy narrator is proof in the religion, and it is obligatory to act on it, even when one narrator alone carries it. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, pp. 13 and 18)
Note: Don't worry if mashhoor, aziz and ghareeb sound alike at first. Each one is a count: how many narrators carry the hadith at a level of its chain. We will count them together, one real chain at a time.
The story in five steps
Here is the path we are about to walk.
In the last part we began a map of how narrations are classified. Here it is again, as far as we built it, so you know where this lesson is heading. Press Next to add this part's branches, one step at a time, and press any word on it to read what it means.
What is an ahaad report?
Definition:
- Linguistically: the plural of ahad (meaning one).
- Literally: that which is reported by only one person.
- Technically: a narration that does not fulfil the conditions of being mutawaatir. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 13)
In simpler terms: the four conditions of the mutawaatir (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, ) are the test, and a report that does not pass it is ahaad.
Points of benefit:
- It gives ilm ad-dhann (ilm an-nazari, knowledge which requires research), and according to one group it gives ilm az-zaroori. Ibn Hazm said that akhbaar al-ahaad give ilm az-zaroori. In any case, acting upon it is obligatory. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- Ibn Hazm reports from Abu Sulayman, from al-Husayn from Abu Ali al-Karabisi, from al-Harith ibn Asad al-Muhasibi and others that "the report of one upright narrator from one like him, up to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), necessitates knowledge and action together", and he says: "this is what we hold". (Ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, 1/119)
The ahaad is classified in two ways: A) based on the number of its routes, and B) based on acceptance and rejection. We begin with the first.
Classification of ahaad (based on the number of routes): (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- Mashhoor
- Aziz
- Ghareeb
Al-Mashhoor: three or more
Definition:
- Linguistically: famous or well known. The course book adds that linguistically it is what is well known on people's tongues, even if it is a lie. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 14)
- Technically: that which is narrated by three narrators or more at every level, but does not reach the condition of mutawaatir. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Some call the mashhoor al-mustafeed, and it is said that al-mustafeed is more specific than al-mashhoor: al-mashhoor and al-mustafeed are different. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Al-Mustafeed, technically: that which is narrated with the same number of people at each level. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Examples of a mashhoor hadith:
- Abu Mas'ud reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like one who did it." (Sahih Muslim 1893, 3/1506)
- Sahl ibn Sa'd reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Deliberateness (al-anah) is from Allah, and haste is from Satan." (Jami al-Tirmidhi 2012, ed. Shakir, 4/367)
Note: The points below use two words from later lessons, hasan and ghareeb. Ghareeb comes later in this part; hasan gets its own lesson later, inshaAllah. For now, notice only that one example of a mashhoor hadith is graded weak.
Points of benefit:
- Regarding this hasan hadith reported by al-Tirmidhi, Shaykh Abdurrahman Mubarakpuri (who wrote the book Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi bi-Sharh Jami al-Tirmidhi) collected different old manuscripts of Jami al-Tirmidhi, and said that al-Tirmidhi said about this hadith "hasan ghareeb".
- In the published version of Jami al-Tirmidhi it says "ghareeb". (Jami al-Tirmidhi 2012, ed. Shakir, 4/367; ed. Bashar, 3/541)
- Ibn Hajar said that al-Tirmidhi said it is "hasan", and the authors of Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah quoted from him.
- This hadith is declared da'if (weak) by Shaykh al-Albani (Da'if al-Jami al-Saghir wa Ziyadatuh, no. 2300) and by Hafidh Zubair Ali Zai.
- If al-Tirmidhi says a hadith is only ghareeb, then al-Tirmidhi is indicating towards its weakness. This is the view of Shaykh Wasiullah Abbas and Dr Tariq Awadullah.
- If al-Tirmidhi says a hadith is only hasan, then al-Tirmidhi is not indicating towards its authenticity. This is said in the Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar by Dr Saad ibn Abdul Hameed.
- According to al-Tirmidhi, a hasan hadith is: "Every hadith that is related that does not have in its chain someone who is accused of lying, nor is the hadith shadh, and it is narrated through more than one route, like that: then it is a hasan hadith according to us." (al-Tirmidhi, Al-Ilal al-Saghir, at the end of Jami al-Tirmidhi, ed. Bashar, 6/251)
Al-Aziz: two at one level
Definition:
- Linguistically: either "rare" or "strong".
- Technically: that which is narrated by two narrators at any one level of the sanad, even if they are two in only one tabaqah (level). The condition is that at least one tabaqah contains only two narrators. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 15)
The following two meanings can be inferred from hadith al-aziz: (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- Strong: linguistically, to strengthen something; technically, strengthened due to the support of another sanad.
- Rare: linguistically, something that is rare to find; technically, a hadith which is rare to find (compared to ghareeb and mashhoor).
Example of an aziz hadith: Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "None of you has faith until I am more beloved to him than his children, his father, and all of the people." (Sahih Muslim 44, 1/67; Sahih al-Bukhari 15, 1/12)
Two Companions narrated it from the Prophet (ﷺ), Anas and Abu Hurayrah. From Anas, two narrated it, Qatadah and Abd al-Aziz ibn Suhayb. From Qatadah, two narrated it, Shu'bah and Sa'id; and from Abd al-Aziz, two, Ismail ibn Ulayyah and Abd al-Warith. Then a group narrated it from each of them. (Ibn Hajar, Nuzhat al-Nazar fee Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar, ed. Itr, p. 50) In the machine below, the tablet is the hadith and each tier of pipes is a level of its chain: an open pipe is a narrator carrying it. Tap a valve to open or close a pipe, and the dial names what the chain has become.
Ruling:
- According to the majority, it is not a condition for a hadith to be authentic that it has to be aziz. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- This overwhelming majority is opposed by Abu Ali al-Jubbai (a scholar from the Mu'tazilah, a deviated sect), Ibn al-Arabi and al-Hakim. They held the opinion that for a hadith to be authentic, it has to be aziz at least. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- Imam al-San'ani said in his Nadhm (poem) of Nukhbat al-Fikar: "And it is not a condition for the sahih, so know." (al-San'ani, Isbal al-Matar ala Qasab al-Sukkar, p. 166)
Points of benefit:
Regarding the statement of al-Hakim al-Nishapuri that for a hadith to be authentic it must be aziz, this is not right because:
- Ibn Hajar said in his book An-Nukat ala Kitab Ibn al-Salah that the condition of two narrators from two, until the chain reaches the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), is found in the words of al-Hakim in al-Madkhal. (Ibn Hajar, An-Nukat ala Kitab Ibn al-Salah, 1/238) Shaykh Ali al-Halabi said that he searched al-Madkhal ila al-Sahih and al-Madkhal of al-Hakim but could not find this statement, as quoted by Dr Saad ibn Abdul Hameed in his Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar. So the statement of al-Hakim is not present with us, nor the reference given by Ibn Hajar.
- In his Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn, al-Hakim reported many ghareeb hadith as authentic upon the condition of al-Bukhari and Muslim. If al-Hakim held the position that a hadith is authentic only if it is aziz, then he would not have called a hadith sahih on the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim (Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim reported ghareeb hadith too).
Regarding the statement of Ibn al-Arabi al-Maliki that for a hadith to be authentic, it must be aziz:
- Ibn al-Arabi said in his sharh of Sahih al-Bukhari, as quoted by Ibn Hajar, that this is the condition of al-Bukhari. Then the first hadith of al-Bukhari, "إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ" (the reward of deeds depends upon the intentions), was put to him as a ghareeb hadith, and he answered: "If it is said: the hadith 'Actions are by intentions' is fard, none narrated it from Umar except Alqamah, we say: Umar delivered it in a sermon on the minbar in the presence of the Companions, and had they not known it, they would have objected to it." (Ibn Hajar, Nuzhat al-Nazar fee Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar, ed. Itr, p. 48) His claim was that other Companions may have also heard this hadith directly from our Prophet (ﷺ), hence at least two Companions must have heard it.
- Others have answered this statement by Ibn al-Arabi: (Ibn Hajar, Nuzhat al-Nazar fee Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar, ed. Itr, p. 49)
- a. There is no proof that other Companions (other than Umar, radiallahu anhu) heard this hadith directly from our Prophet (ﷺ). The Companions heard this hadith from Umar (radiallahu anhu) and accepted it. This refutes the claim of Ibn al-Arabi.
- b. Even if, for argument's sake, other Companions heard it from our Prophet (ﷺ) apart from Umar (radiallahu anhu), it is still ghareeb, because Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi is alone in reporting it from Umar (radiallahu anhu). Likewise, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi is alone in narrating it from Alqamah, and then Yahya ibn Sa'id is alone in narrating it from Muhammad.
Al-Ghareeb: one narrator alone
Definition:
- Linguistically: the singular.
- Technically: that which is narrated by one narrator only at every level of the sanad. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 16)
Example of a ghareeb hadith: Abdullah bin al-Zubair bin Isa (al-Humaydi), from Sufyan bin Uyaynah, from Yahya bin Sa'id al-Ansari, from Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin al-Harith (al-Taymi), from Alqama bin Waqqas, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said on the minbar: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, "Actions are only by intentions, and everyone will only have what he intended. So whoever migrates for worldly gain or to marry a woman, then his migration is for whatever he migrated for." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1, 1/6)
Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari is alone in narrating it from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi, from Alqamah, from Umar; and then a great many narrated it from al-Ansari. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, ) Here is the same machine with this chain in it: one pipe open at each level. Open more pipes at a later level, or press a name under the dial, and watch which kind of ghareeb it is.
Most renowned works on the subject: (al-Tahhan, Taysir Mustalah al-Hadith, p. 41)
- As-Sunan allatee Tafarrada bi Kulli Sunnatin Minha Ahlu Baldah, by Abu Dawood
- Ghara'ib Malik, by al-Daraqutni
- Al-Afraad, by al-Daraqutni
Categories: (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- Al-Ghareeb al-Mutlaq
- Al-Ghareeb an-Nisbi
Point of benefit: Ibn Hajar said that ghareeb mutlaq is often referred to as fard, and ghareeb nisbi is often referred to as ghareeb. (Ibn Hajar, Nuzhat al-Nazar fee Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar, ed. Itr, p. 57; Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 17)
1) Al-Ghareeb al-Mutlaq
Al-ghareeb al-mutlaq, also known as fard mutlaq: it is ghareeb at the root of its sanad, meaning that only one person narrated it from the root of the sanad. It is a report where the gharabah or tafarrud (being alone, one narrator) is in the asl (root) of the sanad, which is from the Sahabi, like a Tabi'i who is alone in narrating from a Sahabi without any support. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Examples:
- The hadith "Indeed, all actions are only by intentions." It was narrated only by Alqamah ibn Waqqas from Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiallahu anhu): only one narrator. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- The hadith "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade selling or giving away the wala." (Sahih al-Bukhari 2535, 3/147; Muwatta Malik, 2/782) Abdullah ibn Dinar is alone in narrating it from Abdullah ibn Umar (radiallahu anhu): only one narrator. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, ) Imam Muslim said after narrating it: "The people are all dependent on Abdullah ibn Dinar in this hadith." (Sahih Muslim 1506, 2/1145)
Sometimes one may find tafarrud (one narrator) in all or most of the narrators in the chain. Musnad al-Bazzar and Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat by Imam al-Tabarani contain lots of ghareeb mutlaq narrations. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
2) Al-Ghareeb an-Nisbi
Al-ghareeb an-nisbi, also known as fard nisbi: it is ghareeb at a later point in its sanad. This means more than one person narrated it at the root of its sanad, but then only one narrator reported it from that previous group. Hence the gharabah or tafarrud is in the middle of the chain, as in the narration of a Taba' Tabi'i or someone below him who is alone in narrating it. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Reason for the name ghareeb nisbi: it is ghareeb in relation to a specific person later on in the sanad. Since the tafarrud is towards a specific (mu'ayyan) person, it is named nisbi, and the hadith itself may be mashhoor. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
If a khabar is ghareeb mutlaq, we know it is being reported from a Sahabi. But for a khabar which is ghareeb nisbi, we do not know which exact person it is, and we have to look out in the chain.
Example: the hadith from Malik, from az-Zuhri, from Anas, that "the Prophet (ﷺ) entered Makkah wearing a mighfar (a type of helmet)." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1846, 3/17; Sahih Muslim 1357, 2/989) Malik was the only one who narrated it from az-Zuhri. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Simply put: count the narrators at each level of the chain. Three or more at every level is mashhoor, two at a level is aziz, and one alone is ghareeb. Where that one stands decides the kind of ghareeb: at the root, it is mutlaq; later in the chain, it is nisbi.
Accepted and rejected reports
The second way of classifying the ahaad is B) based on acceptance and rejection: the ahaad, whether mashhoor, aziz or ghareeb, is divided into maqbool and mardood. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, p. 18)
1) Maqbool: that from which evidence can be taken as proof. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Ruling: it is used as proof. People differed over its hukm (ruling). The position of the Sahaba, the Tabi'een and those after them (the muhadditheen, the fuqaha and others) is that the khabar waahid of a trustworthy narrator is proof in the religion, and it is obligatory to act on it. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Note: khabar waahid is another name for khabar ahaad.
The khabar waahid surrounded by qarain, and its types: the hadith (or khabar) with qarain is preferred over the one without qarain. (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
Types, and the qarain surrounding them: (Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, )
- That which is reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim in the Sahihayn, that has not reached the level of tawaatur. Its qarain:
- The great status of the Shaykhayn (al-Bukhari and Muslim) in this field. Because of their status, if a hadith is reported by both al-Bukhari and Muslim, this is a qarinah to support it over other hadith.
- Their distinction between the sahih and the saqeem (weak hadith), and the preference of this distinction (the stringent conditions they imposed) in choosing only the sahih hadith, over other scholars.
- Talaqqi bil qubool (the unanimous acceptance of the hadith of the Sahihayn by the scholars). Overall, the hadith reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim have unanimous acceptance by the scholars.
- The khabar which has conformity (musalsal) with the great imams, al-huffadh al-mutqineen, and which is not ghareeb. Example: the hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad (without tafarrud) from Imam al-Shafi'i (without tafarrud), likewise Imam al-Shafi'i (without tafarrud) from Imam Malik (without tafarrud), and he from Imam Nafi (without tafarrud).
- The khabar mashhoor: the khabar (or hadith) which has numerous chains of narration, and whose narrators are free from weakness and hidden defects (ilal). These types are studied by scholars of hadith who are experts in knowing the condition of narrators and hidden defects (ilal).
2) Mardood: the rejected report. Its kinds, and the reasons a report is rejected, come in a later part of this series, inshaAllah.
In simpler terms: maqbool is the report that can be taken as proof, and the khabar waahid with qarain around it is preferred over the one without them.
Check what you have learned
Eight questions, taken only from what you just read. Every answer comes with the line that explains it.
Conclusion
We counted. A report that does not reach the level of mutawaatir is ahaad; by the number of its routes it is mashhoor (three or more at every level), aziz (two at a level) or ghareeb (one alone), and a ghareeb is mutlaq or nisbi by where that one narrator stands. By acceptance and rejection it is maqbool or mardood, and the khabar waahid with qarain around it is preferred.
One thing to keep: a mashhoor hadith can still be graded weak, as the hadith of haste showed us, and the first hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari is ghareeb.
InshaAllah, in the next part we open the maqbool: sahih li-thaatihi and li-ghayrihi, and hasan li-thaatihi and li-ghayrihi.
Sources
This lesson follows the course book. Each quotation and report is cited where it appears, and the original works it was checked against are listed here.
- Min Atyab al-Minah fi Ilm al-Mustalah, Shaykh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abbad and Shaykh Abdul Kareem al-Murad, pp. 13–18 (the printed course book).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Sultaniyyah edition: 1 (1/6), 15 (1/12), 1846 (3/17), 2535 (3/147).
- Sahih Muslim, edited by Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi: 44 (1/67), 1357 (2/989), 1506 (2/1145), 1893 (3/1506).
- Jami al-Tirmidhi, 2012: edited by Ahmad Shakir, 4/367; edited by Bashar Awwad Ma'ruf, 3/541; and Al-Ilal al-Saghir at its end, 6/251.
- Muwatta Malik, the narration of Yahya, edited by Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi, 2/782.
- Ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, 1/119.
- Ibn Hajar, Nuzhat al-Nazar fee Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar, edited by Nur al-Din Itr, pp. 48–50 and p. 57.
- Ibn Hajar, An-Nukat ala Kitab Ibn al-Salah, 1/238.
- al-San'ani, Isbal al-Matar ala Qasab al-Sukkar, p. 166.
- al-Albani, Da'if al-Jami al-Saghir wa Ziyadatuh, no. 2300.
- al-Shafi'i, Kitab al-Umm, Dar al-Fikr, Kitab Jima al-Ilm, 7/296–297.
- Mahmud al-Tahhan, Taysir Mustalah al-Hadith, p. 41.
Found a mistake or something to improve? Suggest a fix or report an issue on GitHub.