Hadith Terminologies
Types of Rejected Hadith Due to Narrator’s Lack of Accuracy
Musahhaf (Distorted Text or Chain):
A Hadith whose wording appears correct but whose pronunciation has changed due to changes in diacritics (dots), vowel marks, or pauses.
Maqlub (Inverted Text or Chain):
A Hadith in which, due to a narrator’s mistake, words have been rearranged or a narrator in the chain is replaced by another narrator.
Mudraj (Interpolated Hadith):
A Hadith in which a narrator’s own words, intentionally or unintentionally, are inserted and the inserted words may be mistaken as part of the Hadith text.
Al-Mazid fi Muttasil al-Asanid (Additional Link in Connected Chains):
When two narrators narrate the same chain, one being trustworthy (Thiqah) and the other more trustworthy, and the trustworthy narrator adds one narrator in the chain, then his narration is called “Mazeed fi Muttasil al-Asanid” (Addition in connected chains).
Shadh (Irregular Hadith):
A Hadith whose narrator is acceptable (Thiqah or Saduq) but contradicts many narrators who are more or equally trustworthy; the Hadith is called “Mahfuz” in contrast to “Shadh.”
Munkar (Unacceptable Hadith):
A Hadith whose narrator is weak and contradicts one or more trustworthy narrators; the Hadith is called “Maruf” in contrast to “Munkar.”
Narration by One with Poor Memory:
A Hadith whose narrator is “Sayyi’ al-Hifz” (born with weak memory).
Narration by One Extremely Negligent:
A Hadith whose narrator commits severe negligence or many errors.
Narration by One Who Makes Gross Errors:
A Hadith whose narrator commits obvious and clear mistakes.
Narration by a Confused Narrator (Mukhtalit):
A Hadith whose narrator loses memory due to old age or accident, or whose written Hadiths get lost.
Mudtarib (Inconsistently Narrated Hadith):
A Hadith whose chain or text contains differences among narrators that cannot be resolved.
