Glossary

Glossary

Technical terms and concepts in the hadith sciences.

In development

A full glossary with worked examples is in development. The entries below are abbreviated.

Isnad: The chain of narrators who transmitted a hadith
Matn: The actual text/content of the hadith
Sahih: Authentic - a hadith with a sound chain
Hasan: Good - a hadith with acceptable chain
Daif: Weak - a hadith with deficiencies in the chain
Jarh wa Tadil: The science of evaluating narrator reliability
Thiqah: Trustworthy narrator
Mursal: A hadith where a successor omits the companion
Mawquf: A narration stopped at a companion
Marfu: A narration attributed to the Prophet
Mutawatir: Mass-transmitted hadith
Khabar Ahad: Solitary report (not mass-transmitted)