Gharīb aḥādīth are of two types;
- Farḍ muṭlaq (or gharīb muṭlaq)
- Farḍ al-nisbī (or gharīb al-nisbī)
Farḍ muṭlaq
Definition of farḍ al-muṭlaq: That which is narrated by only one narrator, i.e. narrated by one ṣaḥābah.
Example of farḍ muṭlaq:
حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ ، قَالَ : أَخْبَرَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيُّ ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنَ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ ، يَقُولُ : سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ، قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، يَقُولُ : ” إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا، فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ “
Al-Ḥumaydī ‘Abdullāh bin Zubayr, reports from Sufyān, who reports from Yaḥya bin Saīd al-Anṣārī, who reports from Muhamamd bin Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, who heard from ‘Alqamah bin Waqqās al-Laythī who heard ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab say on the minbar: I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.”[1]
This ḥadīth is only narrated by ‘Umar bin al-Khattab from the Prophet ﷺ and is therefore classified as farḍ muṭlaq.
Farḍ al-nisbī
Definition of farḍ al-nisbī: that which is narrated by more than one narrator to begin with,[2] but is narrated by only one narrator further down the chain.
Example of farḍ al-nisbī:
حديث بريد بن عبد الله بن أبي بردة عن جده أبي بردة عن أبي موسى عن النبي ﷺ قال : الكافر يأكل في سبعة أمعاء والمؤمن يأكل معا واحد. قال الترمذي: هذا حديث غريب من هذا الوجه من قبل إسناده، وقد روي هذا من غير وجه عن النبي ﷺ، وإنما يستغرب من حديث أبي موسى.
The ḥadīth narrated by Burayd bin ‘Abdullāh bin Abī Burdah, on the authority of his grandfather Abū Burdah, on the authority of Abū Mūsa, that the Prophet ﷺ said: the disbeliever eats in seven intestines, and the believer eats in one intestine.
Tirmidhī said: this ḥadīth is gharīb from the point of view of this chain. It has been narrated with alternative narrations[3] from the Prophet ﷺ, however only the ḥadīth of Abū Mūsa is gharīb.[4]
[1] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhāri 1
[2] More than one ṣaḥābah narrates this ḥadīth
[3] Such as those mentioned in Bukhāri via Ibn ‘Umar, and Abū Hurayra.
[4] ‘Ilal al-Tirmidhī al-Ṣaghīr
