All praise belongs to Allāh, Lord of all the worlds; and may peace and blessings be upon His Noble Messenger, and upon his family and his Companions, all together.
To proceed: the science of ḥadīth is among the noblest of sciences, for the understanding of the Noble Qurʾān depends on it. Allāh, the Exalted, says: "That you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them." [al-Naḥl 16:44] This makes plain the importance of ʿilm uṣūl al-ḥadīth, since by it the accepted and the rejected among ḥadīth are known. How can someone who does not know it be guided to what is true and correct in the meaning of the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth? It is for this purpose that I have compiled this concise treatise.
From early times the study of ḥadīth has been pursued in three ways:
The first: the narration and transmission of ḥadīth alone, without understanding.
The second: the understanding of its meaning, and the derivation of legal questions from it.
The third: its verification (taḥqīq) with respect to whether it is established or not.1
Thus the first is ʿilm riwāyat al-ḥadīth; the second is ʿilm dirāyat al-ḥadīth; and the third is ʿilm uṣūl al-ḥadīth or muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth. It is this third that we are concerned with explaining in this treatise.
Its definition, subject, and goal are as al-Suyūṭī said in his Alfiyya:
All of this pertains to ʿilm muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth; it has no bearing upon the science of riwāyat al-ḥadīth or dirāyat al-ḥadīth.5 And Allāh knows best.
As is understood from the words of al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Shāma, Ibn Ḥajar, Shaykh al-Kāndhalawī and others. See: Nukat Ibn Ḥajar, pp. 35–37; Tadrīb al-Rāwī, 1/44–45; Awjaz al-Masālik, p. 3; Taqrīr al-Mishkāt by Shaykh Muḥammad Salmān, Rector of Jāmiʿat Maẓāhir ʿUlūm, 1/10; al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil, pp. 238–263. ↩
Matn: literally, the hard, raised part of the ground. In technical usage, the text of the ḥadīth at which the sanad ends. [tr.] ↩
Sanad: literally, that which is depended upon for support. In technical usage, the chain of narrators leading to the matn. [tr.] ↩
It is thus known that its definition is: a science of rules by which the conditions of the sanad and the matn are known. Its subject is the sanad and the matn. Its goal is the knowledge of the accepted (maqbūl) and the rejected (mardūd). ↩
See the introduction to Awjaz al-Masālik (p. 3), where it is stated: "Be aware that, since the science of ḥadīth in former times comprised the narration of ḥadīth, its understanding, and the scrutiny of its narrators and their grades, the scholars' statements on its definition became conflated. Some defined it in terms applicable to uṣūl al-ḥadīth; others in terms applicable to dirāyat al-ḥadīth. Al-Zurqānī, in his commentary on al-Bayqūniyya, even defined ʿilm al-ḥadīth as a science of laws, that is, of rules, by which the conditions of the sanad and the matn are known with regard to soundness and goodness; and you are aware that this is the definition of muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth, which is also called uṣūl al-ḥadīth." ↩
Al-shādhdh is that which a single narrator has transmitted alone, raising doubt in the mind of the critic; this is also the definition of al-munkar. Statements of the early imāms show the two are one.
The science of jarḥ and taʿdīl, the two grounds of evaluation, when criticism overrides praise, and who needs tazkiya.
The Ḥanafīs classify narrators into four (or, on some accounts, five) groups, including the al-mastūr and majhūl categories with their five-case treatment.
Al-mawḍūʿ is that which has been concocted and fabricated. It is known by four indications, and may not be narrated to one who knows its condition without disclosure.
