The sciences of hadith

From a prophetic text to a judgement of authenticity.

1. 1

   The text (matn)

   Start with the words themselves — real hadiths of Sunan Abī Dāwūd's Book of Purification.

   Open
2. 2

   The chain (isnād)

   Behind every matn is a chain of narrators. Open a hadith and see its isnād laid out.

   Open
3. 3

   The narrators (rijāl)

   Who were they, and were they reliable? This is the science of rijāl.

   Open
4. 4

   A narrator's dossier

   Mālik as a narrator — his teachers, students, and reliability grade.

   Open
5. 5

   From grade to ruling

   The narrators' grades compute a hadith's strength — which in turn grounds a fiqh ruling.

   Open