Kinds of hadith ash-Sharifs are defined as follows on the one hundred and thirty-sixth page of the first chapter of the book Makhzanul'Ulum, which was printed in Istanbul in the Hijri year 1308, and on the third page of the book Ashi'at-ul-lam'at:

1- Hadith-i mursal: Those hadiths that are quoted by one of the Tabiin directly in the name of Rasulullah's "sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' utterance without the name of any of the Sahaba "radi-Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain' being mentioned.

2- Hadith-i musnad: Those hadiths that are given together with the name of the Sahabi "radi-Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain' who ascribes them to Rasulullah "sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam'. Musnad hadiths are either muttasil or munqati':

3- Hadith-i musnad-i muttasil: Those hadiths that are ascribed to Rasulullah "sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' by an unbroken chain of transmitters; that is, not one of their transmitters is lacking.

4- Hadith-i musnad-i munqati': Those hadiths whose one or more transmitters, except the Sahabi "radi-Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain, are not recorded.

5- Hadith-i mawsul: Is the kind of hadith-i musnad-i muttasil which the Sahabi "radi- Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain' quoted by saying, "I have heard Rasulullah say so." Such hadiths are called Hadith-i marfu' on the thirty-fourth page of the translation of the second volume of Mawahib-i ladunniyya and in the forty-second hadith in Imam-i-Nawawi's "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih' Hadith-i arbain, translated by Ahmad Naim Bey "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih'.

6- Hadith-i mutawatir: Those hadiths that many Sahabis heard from Rasulullah "sall- Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' and which many other people heard from them and which were written in a book not before having been heard always from many people, who are not ever likely to have agreed on a lie. It is absolutely necessary to believe and to obey the hadiths that are mutawatir; he who disbelieves them becomes a kafir.

7- Hadith-i Mashhur: Those hadiths that became well-known in the second century though they had been reported by only one person in the first century (of Islam). That is, they are the hadiths that were heard from Rasulullah "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' by one person, and from him many other people heard them later, and from them again, other people heard them; they were transmitted as mutawatir up to the last person from whom they were heard. He who disbelieves Mashhur hadiths becomes a kafir, too. (See the book Ibni Abidin, p.176)

8- Hadith-i mawquf: Those hadiths of which all the transmitters are recorded up to a Sahabi "radi-Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain' and about which the Sahabi did not say, "I have heard Rasulullah "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' say so," but said, "I have heard that Rasulullah "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' said so."

9- Hadith-i sahih: Those musnad-i muttasil, mutawatir and Mashhur hadiths heard only from people who are learned in the knowledge of hadith.

10- Khabar-i ahad: Those musnad-i muttasil hadiths that have always been transmitted by one person (to another).

11- Hadith-i muallaq: Those hadiths whose first transmitter is not known, or a few of whose transmitters are not known, or not one of whose transmitters is known. Mursal and munqati' hadiths are muallaq. A hadith whose first transmitter only is not recorded is called Mudallas. Tadlis (concealing the authority for a tradition in order to lead people to suppose it more trustworthy) is makruh.

12- Hadith al-qudsi: Those hadiths of which the meanings are from Allahu ta'ala but uttered by Rasulullah "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam'. Whenever our master the Prophet "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' uttered a hadith al-qudsi he was covered by a nur, and it was known by his appearance.

13- Hadith-i qawi: Any hadith after saying which he recited an ayat.

14- Hadith-i nasikh: Those hadiths which he said towards the end of his life.

15- Hadith-i mansukh: Those hadiths which he said during the early age (of Islam) but which were changed later.

16- Hadith-i am: Those hadiths that were said for all people.

17- Hadith-i khas: Those hadiths that were said for one person only.

18- Hadith-i hasan: Those hadiths whose transmitters are faithful and trustworthy but without as strong a memory and understanding as those who transmit sahih hadiths.

19- Hadith-i maqtu: They are the hadiths transmitted from the Tabiin-i kiram "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain', and their transmitters up to the Tabiin are known.

20- Hadith-i shadh: Those hadiths which a person says he heard from a savant of hadith. They are accepted, but they cannot be documents or proofs. If the person who is said to be a savant is not well known, they will not be accepted.

21- Hadith-i gharib: Any hadith-i sahih that was transmitted by only one person. Or it is a hadith of which one of the transmitters was repudiated by a hadith savant.

22- Hadith-i daif: Those hadiths that are not sahih or hasan. One of their transmitters had a slack memory or was unjust, or there was doubt in his belief. Much worship is done in accordance with daif hadiths. But they are not relied on for ijtihad.

23- Hadith-i muhkam: Those hadiths which do not need an interpretation.

24- Hadith-i mutashabih: Those hadiths that need an interpretation.

25- Hadith-i munfasil: Those hadiths with more than one forgotten transmitters in between.

26- Hadith-i mustafid: Any hadith with more than three transmitters.

27- Hadith-i muddarib: Those hadiths that were reported to authors of books through various incongruous ways.

28- Hadith-i mardud: An expression that does not bear any meaning or any of the conditions of hadith-transmitting.

29- Hadith-i muftari: Words of Musaylamat-ul-kazzab. Or they are the concocted words of those munafiqs, zindiqs and irreligious people disguised as Muslims who succeeded him. Savants of Ahl as-sunnat found those hadiths that are mardud or muftari and discarded them. Books written by religious superiors do not contain such words.

30- Hadith-i mawdu': Explained in the previous pages.

31- Athar: Means a mawquf or maqtu' hadith, or a merfu' hadith teaching a prayer. Sanad means a savant who transmits hadiths "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih'.

GREAT HADITH SAVANTS: Hadith savants are very exalted people. He who knows by heart a hundred thousand hadiths together with their transmitters is called a Hafiz. He who has memorized all of the Qur'an is not called a hafiz, he is called Qari'. Because there is nobody today who knows hadiths by heart we erroneously say hafiz instead of qari'. He who knows two hundred thousand hadiths by heart is called Shaikh-ul-hadith. He who has memorized three hundred thousand is called a Hujjat-ul-Islam. He who knows by heart more than three hundred thousand hadiths together with their transmitters and proofs is called an Imam of hadith or Mujtahid of hadith. Today's world does not have such an Islamic savant. The knowledge of hadith is now in the hands of junior and unimportant people. Of the hadith books that have been unanimously confirmed to be correct by all Islamic savants, six have become famous all over the world. These six books are called Kutub-i sitta. [It is stated in ijma' (unanimity of scholars) that the hadith ash-Sharifs in these books are sahih.] The six savants who wrote the Kutub-i sitta are:

1- Imam-i Bukhari: His name is Muhammad bin Ismail. He is briefly signified with the letter (H). There are seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five hadiths in his book titled Sahih-i-Bukhari. He selected these out of six hundred thousand hadiths. Before writing down each hadith, he would perform ghusl, perform a namaz of two rakats, and then go to sleep for istikhara. He wrote his Bukhari-i Sharif in sixteen years. He was born in Bukhara in 194 Hijri and died in Semerkand in 256, on the night before fitr bayram ['Iyd- i fitr].

2- Imam-i Abdul-Husain Muslim Nishapuri "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih'. He is briefly signified with the letter (M). He wrote his book entitled Jami'us-sahih with selections from three hundred thousand hadiths. He was born in 206 and died in 261.

3- Imam-i Malik bin Anas: He is signified with the letters (Ma). His book entitled Muwatta is the first hadith book written. He was born in Medina in 95, and died there in 179. It is written in the book Mawduat-ul'Ulum that when listing the names of the Kutub-i sitta some savants mentioned the book Sunan by Ibni Maja instead of Muwatta.

4- Imam-i Tirmuzi: His name is Muhammad bin Isa. He is signified with the letter (T). His book entitled Jami-us-sahih is so valuable. He was born in 209, and died in 279.

5- Abu Dawud Sulaiman bin Ash'as Sijstani: He is signified with the letter (D). There are forty-eight hundred hadiths in his book entitled Sunan. He selected these from among half a million hadiths. He was born in 202, and died in Basra in 275.

6- Imam-i Nasai: His name is Abu Abdurrahman Ahmad bin Ali. He is signified with the letter (S). His two books, one entitled Sunan-i kabir and the other Sunan-i saghir, are very valuable. Sunan-i saghir is one of the Kutub-i sitta. He was born in 215, and died in 303.

It is written in the book Mawduat-ul'Ulum that the word Sunan, when used alone, is construed as one of the books of four savants. These are Abu Dawud (D), Tirmuzi (T), Nasai (S) and Ibni Maja. Ibni Maja is briefly signified with the letters (MJ). When the word Sunan is mentioned in reference to books other than these four, it is used together with the name of its author. For example, Sunan-i Dara Qutni (QT, N) and Sunan-i kabir-i Baihaki (Hak).

Of the famous and very precious hadith books, Musnad by Imam-i Ahmad bin Hanbal is signified with (HD), Abu Yala's Musnad is signified with (Yala), Abdullah Darimi's Musnad is signified with (DR), and Ahmad Bazzar's Musnad is signified with (Z). These books are called Masanid.

28th Ramadan 1347 [1929]
Abdulhakim Arwasi

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