بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The meaning of hadīth
Al-Sakhāwī said: “(al-hadīth) linguistically: the opposite of ancient (qadīm), and technically: what is attributed to the Prophet (ﷺ) as his statement, action, approval, or description – even movements and stillness during wakefulness and sleep.” (Fath al-Mughīth 1/36)
The linguistic meaning of Sahīh
al-Sahīh is derived from al-sihhah (soundness), which is the opposite of al-saqam (illness). And it is that which is free from every defect and doubt.
A “Sahīh land” is one with no epidemic in it, where illnesses and diseases do not abound.
Al-Sahīh in poetry is that which is safe from deficiency, and al-Sahīh in statements is that which can be relied upon.
(Lisān al-‘Arab 8/202, Hāshiyah ‘Alā Ikhtisār ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth pg. 23 of al-Khudayr, Mu’jam Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 437)
The meaning and conditions of the Sahīh hadīth
Hāfidh ibn al-Mulaqqin said: “The Sahīh (hadīth) is that which is free from criticism in its chain of transmission (isnād) and its text (matn).” (Sharh Mutqin Li-Tadhkirah pg. 52)
Al-Nawawī said: “It is that (hadīth) whose chain of transmission (sanad) is connected (mutassil) [1] through trustworthy and precise narrators (al-‘udūl al-dābitīn) [2,3] without irregularity/contradiction (shudhūdh) [4] or defect (‘illah) [5].” (al-Taqrīb pg. 51)
Hāfidh ibn Kathīr said: “It (i.e. the Sahīh hadīth) may be mashhūr (i.e. well-known – via multiple routes) or gharīb (rare/odd – via a isolated/single route).” (al-Hāshiyah ‘Alā Ikhtisār ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth by al-Khudayr pg. 27)
[1] Mutassil: (the connected): It is that whose isnād is free from al-inqitā’ (disconnection/break), such that all the men of the isnād heard from those above them.
[2] Adl (i.e. the just/upright person): the scholars defined (a person) as one who has the quality that disposes him to adhere to al-taqwā (piety) and al-murū’ah (probity/dignity) and avoids fisq (sinfulness).
Hāfidh ibn Hajr said: “and what is intended by taqwā – is avoidance of evil deeds: from shirk (polytheism), or fisq (sinfulness), or bidʿah (innovation).”
Al-Laknawī said: “And what violates murūʾah (is) of two types:
One: minor sins indicating baseness, like stealing a morsel (of food) and the like. And from it (is) stipulating payment for listening to a hadīth.
Second: some permissible things indicating lowliness, like eating in the marketplace and urinating on the road, and like excessive joking leading to (one) being treated lightly, and (playing with) pigeons, and engaging in lowly crafts like dyeing, weaving, and the like.” (Dhafarul-Amānī pg. 127-128)
[T.N: a point of benefit regarding the commonly accepted definition of ‘adālah mentioned above: Imām al-San’ānī said: “There is no doubt that this is a strictness in (the definition of) ʿadālah that can only be fulfilled in the case of the infallible, and (a few) individuals from among the pure believers. Rather, it has come in the hadīth: “Every son of Ādam commit sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent”…And the hadīth: “If you did not sin, Allāh would take you away and bring a people who would sin, then seek forgiveness, and He would forgive them”…
al-Shāfiʿī said regarding ʿadālah a statement that many of the intelligent people after him found excellent. He said: “If al-ʿadl (the upright one) were one who does not sin, we would not find anyone upright, and if every sin did not prevent ʿadālah, we would not find anyone impugned. But one who abandons major sins and whose good qualities are more than his faults—he is upright (‘adl).” End (of quote).
(I say – i.e. Al-San’ānī:) And this is a good statement, and it is supported by the interpretation of the people of language for al-ʿadl as being the opposite of al-jawr; one whose oppression/wrongdoing overcomes his uprightness and his evil overcomes his good.
Al-ʿadl then is one who approximates/comes close to (near perfection) and aims correctly (i.e. strives and is upright) and whose good is more than his evil.” (Summarised, Nukhbatul-Fikr with al-San’ānīs commentary pg. 220-223)]
[3] Dabt (i.e. precision): the careful preserver who preserves and masters what he hears from the time of hearing until transmission.
The meaning of this is not that he never errs in his narrations, for that is an impossible matter. Rather, what is intended by precision is that his errors be few, and that he not be negligent.
Ibn al-Salāh said: “The narrator being precise is known by comparing his narrations with the narrations of reliable and trustworthy narrators (al-thiqāt) known for preservation and precision. If his narrations are found to be in agreement with them in terms of meaning, or in agreement with them mostly and disagreement is rare, then we know at that point that he is precise and reliable. But if we find him frequently contradicting them, we know his precision is defective, and his hadīth is not used as proof.” (Dhafarul-Amānī pg. 129 of al-Laknawī, Muqaddimah of Ibn Salāh pg. 116)
[4] Shādh (i.e. irregular/contradictory): that it is the lone narration of the trustworthy/reliable (narrator) with contradiction of one who is more trustworthy/realiable than him, or a group of trustworthy narrators.
[5] ‘Illah (hidden damaging defect): an obscure, hidden cause that undermines the authenticity of the hadīth, even though the apparent state is authenticity.
Al-Laknawī said: “Then the defect (ʿillah) is either in the chain (isnād) – and it is the most (common) – or (it may be) in the text (matn). And that which (is) in the chain may be disqualifying (of authenticity) in the text also, or it may be disqualifying (of authenticity) in the chain alone, while the text is known (to be) authentic…” (Dhafarul-Amānī pg. 133)
In the Sahīh hadīth there are three conditions to be met which are positive, meaning: requiring their establishment.
And two conditions are negative, meaning: requiring their negation.
If any one of these five conditions is lacking, then the hadīth is not called Sahīh (authentic).
(Sharh al-Mutqin Li-Tadhkirah pg. 51-54, Nukhbatul-Fikr with al-San’ānīs commentary pg. 220, Hāshiyah ‘Alā Ikhtisār ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth pg. 21-26 of al-Khudayr, Mu’jam Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 438)
The ruling of the Sahīh hadīth
It is obligatory to act upon it by consensus (ijmā’) of the people of Hadīth and those who are recognised from among the scholars of usūl (fundamental principles) and the jurists. So it is a proof (hujjah) from among the proofs of the Sharī’ah, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to abandon acting upon it. (Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 439, Taysir Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 34-36, al-Hadīth al-Da’īf wa-Hukm al-Ihtāj Bihī pg. 43)
Sahīh li-dhātihī
Sahīh li-dhātihī (authentic in itself): It is that which reached the level of authenticity by itself without needing anything to strengthen it…it is not a condition that it be ‘Azīz’ (i.e., that it be narrated from another chain). (Mu’jam Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 441)
Sahīh li-ghayrihī
Sahīh li-ghayrihī (authentic due to others): It is the hadīth that is hasan li-dhātihi (good in itself), and when it is narrated from another chain similar to it or stronger than it, with its wording or its meaning. Then it becomes strengthened and rises from the level of (hasan) to (Sahīh), and it is called Sahīh li-ghayrihī. (Mu’jam Mustalah al-Hadīth pg. 442)
Shaykh al-Khudayr said: “It is what a trustworthy and reliable narrator whose precision is light narrated with a connected chain, and was followed by another similar or stronger chain or by more chains, and it was not defective nor anomalous.
Sahīh li-ghayrihī ranks below Sahīh li-dhātihi and above hasan li-dhātihi. So it is accepted and used as proof, even though it is below Sahīh li-dhātihī in strength.” (al-Hadīth al-Da’īf wa-Hukm al-Ihtāj Bihī pg. 49-50)
Sources of Sahīh hadīth
The sources of Prophetic hadīth are very numerous – they number in the hundreds, and almost all of them contain authentic hadīths.
The Examples of sources where Sahīh hadīth may be found:
1 – Sahīh al-Bukhārī: by Imām Muhammad ibn Ismā’īl al-Bukhārī (died 256H).
2 – Sahih Muslim: by Imām Muslim ibn al-Hajjāj al-Qushayrī (died 261H).
[Note: Hāfidh ibn Kathīr said: “Indeed al-Bukhārī and Muslim did not commit to bringing out all that is judged authentic from the hadīths, for indeed they authenticated hadīths that are not in their books, as al-Tirmidhī transmits from al-Bukhārī the authentication of hadīths that are not with him.”]
3 – Al-Muwatta: by Imām Mālik ibn Anas (died 179H).
4 – Sahīh Ibn Khuzaymah: by Imām Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Khuzaymah (died 311H)
5 – Sahīh Ibn Hibbān: by Imām Abū Hātim Muhammad ibn Hibbān al-Bustī (died 354H).
6 – Al-Mustadrakāt ʿalā al-Sahihayn (Supplements to the Two Sahīhs): by al-Hākim Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Naysābūrī (died 405H).
7 – Al-Mustakhrajāt ʿalā al-Sahihayn (Extracts from the Two Sahīhs) by Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī on al-Bukhārī, and by Abū ʿAwānah al-Isfarāyīnī on al-Muslim, and by Abū Nuʿaym al-Asbahānī on both.
8 – Al-Sunan al-Arbaʿah [i.e. Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, al-Nasā’ī] and Musnad of Ahmad.
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