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The above-mentioned classification of ahadith plays a vital role in
ascertaining the authenticity of a particular narration. Ibn al- Salah
mentions sixty-five terms in his book, of which twenty-three have been
discussed above. Two further types not included by Ibn al-Salah, mu'allaq
and mutawatir, have been dealt with from other sources. The remaining
forty-two types follow in brief, which help further distinguish between
different types of narrations.
- Knowledge of i'tibar ("consideration"), mutaba'ah ("follow-up") and
shawahid ("witnesses"). Traditionists are always in search of strengthening
support for a hadith which is reported by one source only; such research
is termed i'tibar. If a supporting narration is not found for a particular
hadith, it is declared as fard mutlaq (absolutely singular) or gharib.
For example, if a hadith is reported through the following isnad: Hammad
b. Salamah - -- Ayyub --- Ibn Sirin --- Abu Hurairah --- the Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace), research would be done to
ascertain whether another trustworthy reporter has narrated it from
Ayyub; if so, it will be called mutaba'ah tammah (full follow-up); if
not, a reporter other than Ayyub narrating from Ibn Sirin would be sought:
if so, it will be called mutaba'ah qasirah (incomplete follow-up). Whereas
mutaba'ah applies to the isnad, i.e. other narrations from the same
reporters, a narration which supports the text (meaning) of the original
hadith, although it may be through a completely different isnad, is
called a shahid ("witness").85
- Afrad (singular narrations).
- The type of character required in an acceptable reporter.
- The way a hadith is heard, and the different ways of acquiring ahadith.
- How a hadith is written, and punctuation marks used.
- The way a hadith is reported.
- The manners required in traditionists.
- The manners required in students of hadeeth.
- Knowledge of a higher or lower isnad (i.e. one with less or more reporters
respectively).
- Knowledge of difficult words.
- Knowledge of abrogated ahadith.
- Knowledge of altered words in a text or isnad.
- Knowledge of contradictory ahadith.
- Knowledge of additions made to an isnad (i.e. by an inserting the
name of an additional reporter).
- Knowledge of a well-concealed type of mursal hadith.
- Knowledge of the Companions.
- Knowledge of the Successors.
- Knowledge of elders reporting from younger reporters.
- Knowledge of reporters similar in age reporting from each other.
- Knowledge of brothers and sisters among reporters.
- Knowledge of fathers reporting from their sons.
- Knowledge of sons reporting from their fathers.
- Knowledge of cases where e.g. two reporters report from the same authority,
one in his early life and the other in his old age; in such cases the
dates of death of the two reporters will be of significance.
- Knowledge of such authorities from whom only one person reported.
- Knowledge of such reporters who are known by a number of names and
titles.
- Knowledge of unique names amongst the Companions in particular and
the reporters in general.
- Knowledge of names and by-names (kunyah).
- Knowledge of by-names for reporters known by their names only.
- Knowledge of nicknames (alqab) of the traditionists.
- Knowledge of mu'talif and mukhtalif (names written similarly but pronounced
differently), e.g. Kuraiz and Kariz.
- Knowledge of muttafiq and muftariq (similar names but different identities),
e.g. "Hanafi": there are two reporters who are called by this name;
one because of his tribe Banu Hanifah; the other because of his attribution
to a particular Madhhab (school of thought in jurisprudence).
- Names covering both the previous types.
- Names looking similar but they differ because of the difference in
their father's names, e.g. Yazid b. al-Aswad and al-Aswad b. Yazid.
- Names attributed to other than their fathers, e.g. Isma'il b. Umayyah;
in this case Umayyah is the mother's name.
- Knowledge of such titles which have a meaning different from what
they seem to be, e.g. Abu Mas'ud al-Badri, not because he witnessed
the battle of Badr but because he came to live there; Mu'awiyah b. 'Abdul
Karim al- Dall ("the one going astray"), not because of his beliefs
but because he lost his way while travelling to Makkah; and 'Abdullah
b. Muhammad al-Da'if ("the weak"), not because of his reliability in
hadeeth, but due to a weak physique.
- Knowledge of ambiguous reporters by finding out their names.
- Knowledge of the dates of birth and death of reporters.
- Knowledge of trustworthy and weak reporters.
- Knowledge of trustworthy reporters who became confused in their old
age.
- Knowledge of contemporaries in a certain period.
- Knowledge of free slaves (mawali) amongst the reporters.
- Knowledge of the homelands and home towns of reporters.86
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