How Can Hanafis Be Sure a Mursal Hadith Has Only One Missing Narrator?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
If the Hanafis act on the mursal with very specific conditions, such as there being no more than one missing link and it occurring in the first three generations, how can they be sure that those mursal hadith in fact only have one missing link?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.
The era condition you mention is real, but “no more than one missing link” is not a Hanafi condition, so no such certainty is needed.
In the Hanafi school, the mursal of a trustworthy Imam of the first three generations is a valid proof even if more than one narrator is omitted. This is because the truly trustworthy narrator stating with certainty that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said it is his own testimony that those he omitted are reliable.
The Hanafi Definition Counts No Links
Ibn al-Humam (Allah have mercy on him) defines the mursal as a trustworthy Imam saying the Prophet “said such,” “with an omission from the chain,” naming no number. [Ibn al-Humam, al-Tahrir]
Zafar Ahmad Usmani (Allah have mercy on him) relays from the Hanafi Siraj al-Hindi that hadith scholars reserve the term for a Successor quoting the Prophet, calling one narrator dropped before him munqatiʿ and more muʿdal, yet all of it is called mursal by the legal theorists. [Usmani, Qawaʿid fi Ulum al-Hadith]
That narrower usage is where “one missing link” comes from; it defines a term, not a Hanafi condition. Hence Badr al-Din al-Ayni (Allah have mercy on him) says of a broken chain: “It does no harm with us, because the mursal is a proof with us.” [al-Ayni, Umdat al-Qari]
The Certainty Rests on the One Who Omits
Imam Jassas (Allah have mercy on him) reasons that “what one who is not trustworthy narrates cannot be asserted with certainty upon the Messenger of Allah.” [Jassas, al-Fusul fi al-Usul]
For Imam Sarakhsi (Allah have mercy on him), it is testimony when he omits the chain, he testifies upon the Messenger of Allah that he said it. [Sarakhsi, Usul]
Ibn al-Humam concludes: “The upright narrator’s certainty in ascribing the text to him by saying ‘he said’ entails his belief in the reliability of the one omitted.” [Ibn al-Humam, al-Tahrir]
So the count does not matter. Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi (Allah have mercy on him) told al-Aʿmash that when he named a source from Ibn Masʿud (Allah be pleased with him), it was that one, “and when I say to you, ‘Abd Allah said,’ a group narrated it to me from him.” [Jassas, al-Fusul fi al-Usul]
Zafar Usmani goes further,r explaining that “the chainless reports of the trustworthy of the three generations are accepted with us without qualification.” [Usmani, Qawaʿid fi Ulum al-Hadith] A mursal may conceal one link or several; it is accepted because the Imam vouches for them all.
The Conditions: Era and Integrity
Imam Lakhnawi (Allah have mercy on him) gives the conditions: “the verifiers of this school stipulate that the one who sends it be of the people of the three generations, whose excellence the Prophet attested, trustworthy, and “careful, sending only from the trustworthy.” [Lakhnawi, Zafar al-Amani]
Sarakhsi calls the era distinction “the soundest of positions”: after those generations, a mursal is a proof only from one known to narrate solely from the trustworthy. [Sarakhsi, Usul]
The grounding for this is the Prophet’s praise of those generations: he (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.” [Bukhari]
In that era, integrity was presumed; after it, it had to be established. Allah Most High says, “O you who believe: Should someone who does wrong bring you tidings, find out the truth of them first.” [Quran 49:6; Keller, The Quran Beheld]
Why the Hadith Scholars Are More Cautious
Shaykh Muhammad Awwama (Allah preserve him) sets out the difference: the hadith scholars at large judge the mursal weak, while most jurists, among them Imams Abu Hanifa, Malik and Ahmad in one of two narrations, hold that sending does no harm, so the mursal with them is a proof acted upon; Imam Shafiʿi (Allah have mercy on him) accepts it only when supported. [Awwama, Athar al-Hadith al-Sharif] And he explains that the mursal hadith are no small number. [Ibid.] To their concern that an unnamed narrator cannot be assessed, Sarakhsi answers that we take him on the word of an Imam whose integrity we know.
Silence That Guarantees
Read Jassas’s chapter on the mursal and Sarakhsi’s on the forms of disconnection, and you will find the early Imams: men so careful with the words of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) that their silence about a name was itself a guarantee.
And Allah knows best.
Faraz Rabbani
Related Answers
One. What Criteria Are Used to Verify the Authenticity of a Hadith?: The hadith scholars’ criteria of authentication, including continuity of the chain.
Two. How Does the Hanafi School Reconcile Hadith Suggesting ’Umra Is Obligatory with Another That Scholars Deem Weak?: How Hanafi jurists weigh all the evidence by their principles, not by one chain alone.
Three. Should I Act on a Weak Hadith?: Whether and when one may act on a hadith with a weak chain.
«النصوص» · Source-Texts
[ابن الهمام، التحرير]
«(مَسْأَلَةٌ الْمُرْسَلُ قَوْلُ الْإِمَامِ) مِنْ أَئِمَّةِ النَّقْلِ أَيْ مَنْ لَهُمْ أَهْلِيَّةُ الْجَرْحِ وَالتَّعْدِيلِ (الثِّقَةِ قَالَ ﵇) كَذَا (مَعَ حَذْفٍ مِنْ السَّنَدِ»
[ظفر أحمد العثماني، قواعد في علوم الحديث]
«ونقل السِّراج الهندي من أصحابنا (الحنفية) أن المرسَل في اصطلاح المحدثين هو قولُ التابعي: قال رسول الله ﷺ، وأنَّ ما سقَط من رواته قبل التابعي واحدٌ يسمى منقطعاً، أو أكثرُ يُسمَّى مُعْضَلاً … وقال: والكلُّ يُسمَّى مرسلاً عند الأصوليين»
[العيني، عمدة القاري]
«وَأما قَول الْبَيْضَاوِيّ: إِنَّه مُنْقَطع، فَإِنَّهُ لَا يضر عندنَا، لِأَن الْمُرْسل حجَّة عندنَا»
[الجصاص، الفصول في الأصول]
«وَمَا يَرْوِيهِ غَيْرُ الثِّقَةِ لَا يَجُوزُ الْقَطْعُ بِهِ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ»
[السرخسي، أصول السرخسي]
«فَإِذا أرسل فَإِنَّمَا يشْهد على رَسُول الله أَنه قَالَ ذَلِك»
[ابن الهمام، التحرير]
«لَنَا جَزْمُ الْعَدْلِ بِنِسْبَةِ الْمَتْنِ إلَيْهِ ﵇ بِقَوْلِهِ قَالَ يَسْتَلْزِمُ اعْتِقَادَ ثِقَةِ الْمُسْقَطِ»
[الجصاص، الفصول في الأصول]
«وَإِذَا قُلْت لَك: قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، فَقَدْ حَدَّثَنِي جَمَاعَةٌ عَنْهُ»
[ظفر أحمد العثماني، قواعد في علوم الحديث]
«فبلاغاتُ الثقات من أهل القرون الثلاثة مقبولة عندنا مطلقاً، كالإمام مالك وأبي حنيفة والشافعي ومحمد بن الحسن وأبي يوسف وأمثالهم»
[اللكنوي، ظفر الأماني]
«ويُشتَرَطُ عند محقِّقي هذا المذهب: كونُ المرسِلِ من أهل القرون الثلاثة التي شَهِدَ رسولُ الله صلَّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلَّم بخيريتِها، وإفشاءِ الكذبِ بعدَها. وكونُ المُرسِلِ ثقةً، وكونُهُ متحرِّياً لا يُرسِلُ إلَّا عن الثقات»
[السرخسي، أصول السرخسي]
«وَأَصَح الْأَقَاوِيل فِي هَذَا مَا قَالَه أَبُو بكر الرَّازِيّ ﵁ أَن مُرْسل من كَانَ من الْقُرُون الثَّلَاثَة حجَّة مَا لم يعرف مِنْهُ الرِّوَايَة مُطلقًا عَمَّن لَيْسَ بِعدْل ثِقَة ومرسل من كَانَ بعدهمْ لَا يكون حجَّة إِلَّا من اشْتهر بِأَنَّهُ لَا يروي إِلَّا عَمَّن هُوَ عدل ثِقَة»
[صحيح البخاري]
«خَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ»
[محمد عوامة، أثر الحديث الشريف في اختلاف الأئمة الفقهاء]
«ذهب جمهورُ المحدثين إلى أن الحديثَ المرسل ضعيفٌ غيرُ حجة، وذهب جمهور الفقهاء ـ منهم الأئمة أبو حنيفة ومالك وأحمد في إحدى روايتين عنه ـ إلى أن الإرسال لا يضرُّ، فالمرسل عندهم حجة يُعمل به»
[المصدر نفسه]
«وليست الأحاديثُ المرسلةُ بالعدد اليسير»
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani is a recognized specialist scholar in the Islamic sciences, having studied under leading scholars from around the world. He is the Founder and Executive Director of SeekersGuidance.Shaykh Faraz stands as a distinguished figure in Islamic scholarship. His journey in seeking knowledge is marked by dedication and depth. He spent ten years studying under some of the most revered scholars of our times. His initial studies took place in Damascus. He then continued in Amman, Jordan. In Damascus, he was privileged to learn from the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas. Shaykh Adib al-Kallas was renowned as the foremost theologian of his time. Shaykh Faraz also studied under Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi in Damascus. Shaykh Hassan is recognized as one of the leading Hanafi jurists of our era. Upon completing his studies, Shaykh Faraz returned to Canada in 2007. His return marked a new chapter in his service to the community. He founded SeekersGuidance. The organization reflects his commitment to spreading Islamic knowledge. It aims to be reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible. This mission addresses both online and on-the-ground needs. Shaykh Faraz is also an accomplished author. His notable work includes “Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School.” This book, published by White Thread Press in 2004, is a significant contribution to Islamic literature. His influence extends beyond his immediate community. Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Muslims. This recognition comes from the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. It underscores his impact on the global Islamic discourse. Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s life and work embody a profound commitment to Islamic scholarship. His teachings continue to enlighten and guide seekers of knowledge worldwide.
