# Notes on Muhammadanism/Chapter 6

VI.—THE TRADITIONS.
The Hadís (pl. Ahádís) is, as we have already remarked, the second part of the Muhammadan rule of faith. It forms the body of that oral law of the Arabian legislator which stands next to the Qurán in point of authority, being considered by all Muhammadans, whether Sunní, Shíʾah, or Wahhábi, as a supplement to that book. The collections of these traditions are called Hadís, being records of the sayings of the Prophet, but they are also called Sunna, a word which signifies custom, or regulation.
Muhammad gave very special injunctions respecting the faithful transmission of his sayings; for example, it is related by Tirmizi, that the Prophet said, "Convey to other per-sons none of my words except those which ye ​know of a surety. Verily he who purposely represents my words wrongly, would find a place nowhere for himself but in fire."
But notwithstanding the severe warning given by Muhammad himself, it is admitted by all Muslim divines that very many spurious traditions have been handed down. Abu Dáud received only four thousand eight hundred, out of five hundred thousand, and even after this careful selection he states that he has mentioned "those which seem to be authentic and those which are nearly so." Out of forty thousand persons who have been instrumental in handing down traditions of "the Prophet," Bokhárí only acknowledged two thousand as reliable authorities. It will, therefore, be seen how unreliable are the traditions of Islám although they are part of the rule of faith. Such being the case, it is not surprising that ʾIlm-i-Hadís, or the Science of Tradition, has become a most important branch of Muslm Divinity, and that the following canons have been framed for the reception or rejection of traditions.
(1) Hadís-i-Sahíh, a genuine tradition, is one which has been handed down by truly pious persons who have been distinguished for their integrity.
(2) Hadís-i-Hasan, a mediocre tradition, is one the narrators of which do not approach in moral excellence to those of the Sahíh class.
(3) Hadís-i-Zʾaíf, a weak tradition, is one whose narrators are of questionable authority.
The disputed claims of narrators to these three classes have proved a fruitful source of learned discussion, and very numerous are the works written upon the subject.
II. With reference to the original relators of the Hadís:—
(1) Hadís-i-Marfuʾ, an exalted tradition, is a saying, or an act, related or performed by ​the Prophet himself and handed down in a tradition.
(2) Hadís-i-Mauquf, a restricted tradition, is a saying or an act related or performed by one of the asháb or companions of the Prophet.
(3) Hadís-i-Maqtuʾ, an intersected tradition, is a saying or an act related or performed by one of the Tábaʾín, or those who conversed with the companions of the Prophet.
III. With reference to the links in the chain of the narrators of the tradition, a Hadís is either Muttasil, connected, or Munqataʾ, disconnected. If the chain of narrators is complete from the time of the first utterance of the saying or performance of the act recorded to the time that it was written down by the collector of traditions, it is Muttasil; but if the chain of narrators is incomplete, it is Munqataʾ.
IV. With reference to the manner in which the tradition has been narrated, and transmitted down from the first:—
(1) Hadís-i-Mutawátir, an undoubted tradition, is one which is handed down by very many distinct chains of narrators, and which has been always accepted as authentic and genuine, no doubt ever having been raised ​against it. The learned doctors say there are only five such traditions; but the exact number is disputed.
(2) Hadís-i-Mashhúr, a well-known tradition, is one which has been handed down by at least three distinct lines of narrators. It is called also Mustafíz, diffused. It is also used for a tradition which was at first recorded by one person, or a few individuals, and afterwards became a popular tradition.
(3) Hadís-i-ʾAzíz, a rare tradition, is one related by only two lines of narrators.
(4) Hadís-i-Gharíb, a poor tradition, is one related by only one line of narrators.
Khabar-i-Wáhid, a single saying, is a term also used for a tradition related by one person and handed down by one line of narrators.. It is a disputed point whether a Khabar-i-Wáhid can form the basis of Muslim doctrine.
Hadís-i-Mursal (lit. "a tradition let loose"), is a tradition which any collector of traditions, such as Bokhári and others, records with the assertion, "the Apostle of God said."
Riwáyat, is a Hadís which commences with the words "it is related," without the authority being given.
​Hadís-i-Mauzuʾ, an invented tradition, is one the untruth of which is beyond dispute.
It is an universal canon that no tradition can be received which is contrary to the Qurán, and it is related that when ʾAyeshah heard Omar say that Muhammad had taught that the dead could hear, she rejected the tradition as spurious, because it was contrary to the teaching of the Quran.
Whatever may be the difference of opinion as to the authority of the various traditions, it must be remembered that they form the groundwork of the different schools of thought of the Muhammadan religion. It is, therefore, impossible for European critics to form a just estimate of the Muhammadan creed without being acquainted with those traditions which are generally received as authentic and genuine.
European writers are unfortunately under the impression that the "Muhammadan revival" is a going back to "first principles," as expressed in the Qurán, whereas, it is, as we have already remarked, a revival of the study of the traditions concerning their Prophet, which study has undoubtedly been promoted by the establishment of printing presses in Egypt, ​Turkey, and India. Not that we think Islám will present any fairer proportions even when deprived of those excrescences which are supposed to have been the preternatural growth of tradition, as long as the Pilgrimage has the so-called divine sanction of the Qurán, and the position of women is regulated by the same "divine oracles."
The following are the six principal collectors of Hadiís received by the Sunni Muhammadans:—
| 1. | Muhammad Ismail Bokhárí. | Muhammad Ismail Bokhárí. |
| | | Born, A.H. 194; died, A.H. 256. |
| 2. | Muslim-ibn-i-Hajjáj. | Muslim-ibn-i-Hajjáj. |
| | | Born, A.H. 204; died, A.H. 261. |
| 3. | Abu Isaʾ Muhammad Tirmízí. | Abu Isaʾ Muhammad Tirmízí. |
| | | Born, A.H. 209; died, A.H. 279. |
| 4. | Abu Dáud | Sajistaní, |
| | | Born, A.H. 202; died, A.H. 275. |
| 5. | Abu Abdur Rahmán Nasaí. | Abu Abdur Rahmán Nasaí. |
| | | Born, A.H. 215; died, A.H. 303. |
| 6. | Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn-i-Májah. | Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn-i-Májah. |
| | | Born, A.H. 209; died, A.H. 273. |
Muawattáa Imám Málik.
Born, A.H. 95; died, A.H. 179.
The following are the collections of Hadís received by the Shíaʾh:—
1. The Káfi, by Abu Jáfar Muhammad, A.H. 329.
2. The Man-lá-yastahzirah-al-Faqíh, by Shekh ʾAli, A.H. 381.
3. The Tahzíb, by Shekh Abu Jáfar Muhammad, A.H. 466.
4, The Istibsár, by the same author.
5. The Nahaj-ul-Balághat, by Sayyud Razi, A.H. 406.
Copies of the Sihah-Sittah, or "six correct" books of tradition received by the Sunnis, together with the seventh work by Imám Málik, have been lithographed, and can be purchased in the book shops of Delhi, Lucknow, and Bombay; but the work most read is the Mishkát-ul-Musábíh (the niche for lamps), which is a collection of the most reliable traditions. This work was originally in Arabic; but it was translated into Persian in the reign of Akbar. It was rendered into English by Cap​tain Matthews, and published in Calcutta in 1809. The English translation has been long since out of print, but efforts are being made by the author of these notes for its republication. The popular collection of Shíaʾh traditions arranged in the form of an historical narrative is the Hyát-ul-Qulub, a Persian work which has been translated by the Rev. J. L. Merrick (Phillips, Sampson & Co., Boston, U.S., 1850).
The most trustworthy of the various collections of Sunni traditions is the one usually called Bokhárí. It was compiled by Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn-i-Ismaíl a native of Bokhára. In obedience to instructions he is said to have received in a vision, he set himself to commence the collection of all the current traditions relating to Muhammad. He succeeded in collecting not fewer than six hundred thousand traditions, of which he selected only 7275 as trustworthy! These he recorded in his work; but it is said that he repeated a two rikʾat prayer before he wrote down any one of the 7275 traditions which he recorded. There is, therefore, every reason to believe that the compilers of the books of tradition ​were sincere and honest in their endeavours to produce correct and well authenticated traditions of their Prophet's precepts and practice; but, as Sir William Muir remarks, "the exclusively oral character of the early traditions deprives them of every check against the licence of error and fabrication."
Sir William Muir has very ably dwelt upon the unsatisfactory character of Muhammadan tradition in the first volume of his "Life of Mahomet," to which Sayyid Ahmad Khán has written a reply in a supplement to his essay on Muhammadan tradition. The learned Sayyid is in this, as in almost everything he writes on the subject of religion, his own refutation. Sir William Muir reveals to the public "the higegledy-piggledy condition, the unauthenticity and the spuriousness of Muhammadan traditions," and surely Sayyid Ahmad Khán does but confirm the same when he writes: "All learned Muhammadan divines of every period have declared that the Qurán only is the Hadees mutawátir; but some doctors have declared certain other Hadeeses also to be Mutawátir, the number, however, of such Hadeeses not exceeding five. Such are the Hadeeses that ​are implicitly believed, and ought to be religiously observed.
But although the traditions of Muhammad are shrouded with a degree of uncertainty which is perplexing, not to say vexatious, to the student of history, still there can be no doubt as to the place they were intended to, and still do occupy in the theological structure of Islám. The example of Muhammad is just as binding upon the Muslim as that of our Divine Lord and Saviour is upon the Christian. And everything Muhammad said with reference to religious dogmas and morals is believed to have been inspired by God; by a "wahí ghair-i-mutluʾ," or an inspiration similar in kind to that which we believe to have been given to the inspired writers of our Christian Scriptures.
* ↑ In the first edition of these Notes the canons for the reception and rejection of traditions were taken from Sayyad Ahmad Khan's "Essay on Traditions," but in the present edition they have been arranged according to the Arabic treatise, entitled Nukhbat-al-Faqr by Shekh Shaháb-ud-dín Ahmad, edited by Capt. W. Nassau Lees, LL.D. (Calcutta, 1862.)
* ↑ The names in italics denote the usual title of the book.