Mastering Hadith: The Science of Transmission

This is the first in a series of articles drawn from Shaykh Issam Eido’s seminar on mastering hadith. The full seminar can be found here: Mastering the Core Islamic Sciences: Hadith.

Mastering the Core Islamic Sciences is a regular series at SeekersGuidance which looks at a specific discipline from the revealed sacred sciences, with the aim of giving students a map to the architecture of that science. The science of hadith pertains to the traditions and reports of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his Companions, and the early Muslims. It sits at the heart of the intellectual tradition of Islam. 

Much of what developed over the centuries grew alongside the study of the Quran, out of the early Muslims’ deep concern for transmitting the words, deeds, and tacit approvals of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and likewise of the Companions and the earliest generations of Muslims.

Centuries later, we still come to know how to believe, how to practice, and how to submit to Allah Most High by holding fast to the Sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). This science was among the earliest to develop, and it provides much of the basis for what we know of the Sunna and of our religion today.

The Anatomy of the Science

Imam Sajiklizada (Allah have mercy on him) outlined two main branches of the hadith sciences: transmission and audition (riwaya), and comprehension (diraya).

Transmission and audition take place where a teacher recites hadith, and his students listen, or the reverse (samaʿ).

Comprehension, meanwhile, has two components: comprehending a hadith’s meaning (dalala), and comprehending the critical principles used to verify its soundness (thubut).

Transmission and Audition

Transmission and audition (riwaya) refers to hearing or reciting any hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), even without understanding it.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, al-Izz ibn Jamaʿa, and Ibn al-Akfani (Allah have mercy on them) defined this branch of knowledge as pertaining to the statements of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his actions, his attributes, and his approvals and rejections.

Shaykh Nur al-Din Itr (Allah have mercy on him), in his book Manhaj al-Naqd, extended this definition to include the statements of the Companions and the Successors (Tabiʿin) as well.

In summary, the science of hadith transmission and audition covers the statements of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his Companions, and their followers, along with their actions, approvals, and attributes.

Hadith Collection in the Earliest Centuries

The science of transmission has a long history. It traces back to the early collections of hadith, especially in the second century, followed by the canonical works of the third century. Later still came the comprehensive works, such as Mishkat al-Masabih and Jamiʿ al-Usul.

Every type of these collections has a different nature and purpose. Early collections fell into categories such as the abwab and the muwattaʾat. The abwab gathered hadith related to a specific topic, such as divorce or prayer. 

These collections carry real importance, since presenting every hadith on a given topic together helps a student see the strong and weak points among them. Without knowing all the hadith related to one topic, certain defects and problems can easily go unnoticed.

Collections Built on Consensus

Also present in the second century were the muwattaʾat, such as the Muwatta of Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him). This genre gathered the hadith that the scholars of a city, or of an era, agreed upon.

Imam Malik’s Muwatta collected around 1000 hadith agreed upon by the scholars of Madina. The purpose of such a work was to compile a core of sound hadith while excluding those with problems—for Imam Malik, the project was fundamentally one of exclusion.

These exclusions included certain anomalous opinions from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masʿud, and Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with them), anomalous here meaning opinions that did not match the positions held in Madina.

The Musannafat

The musannafat formed another category present in the second century, among them the Musannaf of Imam Sanʿani and the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shayba.

The Musannaf of Imam Sanʿani is a vast work, drawing together statements from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his Companions, and their followers alike. In works of this kind, identifying the Prophetic sayings specifically is not always straightforward.

By the end of the second century, this shifted. Scholars began to focus their collections on what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself said, opening the next chapter in the science of hadith.