7/23/2019 Biographical Evaluation http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/biographical-evaluation 1/23 Biographical evaluation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Part of a series on Hadith Sunni 1 [show] Shi'ah [show] Ibadi [show] Mu'tazila [show] Related topics[hide] • Biographical evaluation • Criticism • History • Jihad • Studies • Terminology • Types (categories) 1 - Books also revered by Ahadis !ategory Isla portal • V • T •
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Biographical evaluation ( Arabic: ,عم الرج translit.: `Ilm al-Rijl!, literally meanin" 'Knowledge ofMen' b#t more commonly #nderstood as the Science of Narration, refers to a disciplineof Islamic reli"io#s st#dies $ithin hadith terminolo"y in $hich the narrators of hadith are e%al#ated.Its "oal is to distin"#ish a#thentic and reliable hadiths from#nreliable hadiths in establishin" thecredibility of the narrators, #sin" both historic and reli"io#s kno$led"e. &' `Ilm ar-rijal is synonymo#s$ith $hat is commonly referred to as al-jarḥ wa al-ta dīl ʻ (discreditin" and accreditin"! ) the criticism
and declared acceptance of hadith narrators.&footnote '&*
o 8.6 1%al#ation of the narrators of specific books
• Footnotes
• ; References
• < F#rther readin"
• = 1>ternal links
Significance&edit
Ali ibn al-5adini, an early a#thority on the s#bject, said, ?@no$in" the narrators is half of kno$led"e.?&0
In his Introduction to tḥe Science of Haditḥ, Ibn al-+alah, a reno$ned hadith specialist, e>plained theimportance of the st#dy of hadith narrators. Introd#cin" the chapter entitled, Reco"niBin" thetr#st$orthy, reliable narrators and those $ho are $eak and #nreliable, Ibn al-+alah said, ?his isfrom the most distin"#ished and noble types (of hadith st#dy! as it res#lts in reco"niBin" the
a#thenticity of a hadith or its $eakness.?&6
e then e>plained that any criticism directed at a narrator$as permissible d#e to the ?maintenance of the +hariah, p#r"in" it of any mistakes ormisinformation?.&6
+tressin" the importance of bio"raphical e%al#ation, Ali ibn al-5adini, an early a#thority on thes#bject, said, ?@no$in" the narrators is half of kno$led"e.?&footnote *&0
History &edit
he follo$in" C#ranic %erse established a "eneral principal in iographical evaluation:&8 ?2 yo# $ho belie%e, if a$ron"doer sho#ld approach yo# con%eyin" information, then %erify that so as not to fall into i"norance th#s re"rettin"$hat yo# ha%e done.?&
Beginning o! narrator evaluation&edit
he C#ranic %erses are n#mero#s that praise the /ompanions and criticiBe the hypocrites, both asa "ro#p and specific indi%id#als from amon"st them)as $ell as criticism of specific indi%id#als otherthan the hypocrites. he most $ell-kno$n of these is a %erse of the C#ran statin", ?2 yo# $hobelie%e, if a $ron"doer sho#ld approach yo# con%eyin" information, then %erify that so as not to fallinto i"norance th#s re"rettin" $hat yo# ha%e done.?& While this %erse $as re%ealed re"ardin" apartic#lar indi%id#al, it is a "eneral principle. Follo$in" this e>ample, $ere the 9rophet and thenis /ompanions.&8
"i#e o! the Co#panions&edit
While many /ompanions narrated hadith, accordin" to Ahmad ibn anbal there $ere si> $ho $erethe most prolific narrators of them, $ho li%ed lon" li%es enablin" them narrate to a lar"e e>tent. hey$ere: Ab# #raira, Abd#llah ibn Dmar , Aisha, Eabir ibn Abd#llah, Ibn Abbas and Anas ibn
5alik $ith Ab# #raira bein" the most prolific of them.&;
Accordin" to Ibn al-+alah the most prolificnarrators from the /ompanions $as Ab# #raira follo$ed by Ibn Abbas.&;
In spite of the /ompanions efforts in narratin" their hadith, there $as no need for them to e%al#ateeach others narratin" capabilities or tr#st$orthiness. his is beca#se, as Al-@hatib al-a"hdadi said,that Allah and his 9rophet declared the /ompanions to be #pri"ht and tr#st$orthy, and, therefore,there is no need to in%esti"ate their reliability, ho$e%er, one m#st in%esti"ate the condition of thoseafter them.&< o$e%er, there are many established narrations ori"inatin" from the /ompanionspraisin" some of the Follo$ers $ith some criticism of specific indi%id#als from them. &8
As for the Follo$ers, the "eneration follo$in" the /ompanions, their praise of narrators $as plentif#l,$hile dispara"ement from them $as seldom. hose narrators $ho $ere criticiBed from the Follo$ers$ere not criticiBed for fabricatin" hadith, b#t, instead, d#e to heresy, s#ch as the @harijites, or d#e to$eak memory or d#e to their condition as narrators bein" #nkno$n. &8
1%al#atin" the narrators of hadith be"an in the "eneration follo$in" that of the /ompanions based#pon the statement of 5#hammad Ibn +irin, ?hey did not pre%io#sly in#ire abo#t the isnad . Howeer! after tḥe turmoil occurred tḥe" would sa"! 'Name for us "our narrators.' So tḥe #eo#le oftḥe Sunnaḥ would ḥae tḥeir ḥaditḥ acce#ted and tḥe #eo#le of innoation wouldnot.$ &= %ḥe t#rmoil referred to is tḥe conflicting ideologies of tḥe Kḥarijites and e&treme Sḥias tḥatḥad emerged at tḥe time of tḥe tḥird khalifas tḥman i(n )ffan' s assassination and tḥe social unrestof tḥe Kḥarijites in o##osition to tḥe succeeding rulers! )li and Muawi"aḥ.&'G%ḥe deatḥ of tḥmanwas in tḥe "ear *+ after tḥe migration.&''
In the follo$in" "eneration, that after the Follo$ers, and after$ard, the $eak, #nacceptable narratorsincreased in n#mber, necessitatin" that a "ro#p of scholars clarify the condition of the narrators anddistin"#ishin" any narrations that $ere not a#thentic.&8
%arl& specialists&edit
Accordin" to Ibn al-+alah, #otin" an early reli"io#s a#thority, the first to specialiBe in the st#dyof hadith narrators $as +h# ba Ibn al- Hajjjʿ , follo$ed by ahya ibn +aid al-Cattan and then Ahmadibn anbal and ahya ibn 5ain.&' Al-#lini added some names to the aforementioned: Ali ibn al-5adini and Amr ibn Ali al-Fallas, and then mentioned 5alik ibn Anas and isham ibn Dr$ah asha%in" preceded them in e%al#atin" narrators. &6
Overview &edit
he "ro#nds #pon $hich a narrator is s#bject to criticism are n#mero#s some relatin" to moral #pri"htness andothers to precision.
'arrator criteria&edit
A hadith is s#bject to criticism on the basis of t$o matters. he first relates to the contin#ity of thehadiths chain of narrationJ if there is discontin#ity bet$een t$o or more narrators, that hadith iscriticiBed on this basis as disc#ssed in depth in the hadith terminolo"y article. he second relates tocriticism of a narrator, or more, in thechain of narration of a partic#lar hadith.&'*
adith narrators are e%al#ated in li"ht of t$o #alities in determinin" the o%erall "radin" of a hadith.hese #alities are deri%ed from the definition of a hadith that issaḥiḥ constituting two of its fieconditions. %ḥe first! u#rigḥtness , al- adlahʻ ! is defined as tḥe a(ilit" an indiidual #ossesses toadḥere to moralistic decorum , al-ta$ and maintaining #ro#er social graces , al-m#rK ahʼ . %ḥesecond! #recision , al-d Habt H ! is of two t"#es! tḥe first is #ertaining to memoriation and tḥe second towriting. /recision in memoriation , d Habt H al-s Hadr refers to tḥe a(ilit" to retain tḥe s#ecifiedinformation! recalling and cone"ing it at will. /recision in writing , d Habt H al-kitb is tḥe #reseration of tḥe written information from tḥe time it was ḥeard until its transmission.&'0
(roun)s !or criticis#&edit
he "ro#nds #pon $hich a narrator is s#bject to criticism are n#mero#s some relatin" to moral#pri"htness and others to precision. Ibn Hajr identified and en#merated ten #alities in $hich anarrator co#ld be criticiBed. Fi%e relate to tr#st$orthiness and the other fi%e to precisionJ ho$e%er, hepresented these ten #alities in order accordin" to se%erity:
'. A narrator intentionally lyin", claimin" a statement to be a 9rophetic hadith $hen it is not.he incl#sion of a narrator of a hadith as s#ch renders that hadithfabricated (Mawd 0ʻ !.
*. An acc#sation of fabricatin" a hadith. his $o#ld be d#e a narration that clearly contradictsestablished reli"io#s principles ori"inatin" from the direction (as it pertains to that hadithschain of narration! of that indi%id#al. 2r, that a narrator is kno$n to lie in his ordinary speech
b#t not $hile narratin" hadith.
0. 9lenit#de of mistakes in a narrators hadith.
6. 7ack of attention to acc#racy.
8. he commission of $ron"doin" by statement or action as lon" as it does not constit#teapostasy.
. 5isconception d#e to narratin" on the basis of mis#nderstandin".
;. /ontradiction of that narrators hadith of another established narrator.
<. Dnspecification of that narrators standin" in their narratin" capabilities.
=. eresy, bein" the belief in an inno%ated matter that contradicts the established reli"io#spractice ori"inatin" $ith the 9rophet d#e to a misconception, not obstinateness.
'G.9oor memory, differin" from n#mber three abo%e in that the mistakes of that narratoro#tn#mber instances in $hich they are correct.&'6
*etho)s o! evaluation&edit
adith scholars of the past employed %ario#s methods by $hich to e%al#ate the narratin" abilities ofa narrator. From these means are the follo$in":
'. 2bser%in" that narrators reli"iosity and askin" others abo#t it.
*. Re#estin" the narrator in #estion to narrator from a partic#lar li%in" scholar and thenret#rnin" to that scholar and comparin" his narrations $ith those of the narrator #ndere>amination.
0. If the narrator narrates from a deceased scholar, in#irin" $hen he, the narrator in #estion,$as born, $hen he met that scholar and $here and then comparin" the dates pro%ided inhis response to the reco"niBed dates of that scholars death and tra%els. +o, perhaps, thedates pro%ided by the narrator may contradict the established dates, for e>ample, claimin"that he heard from a partic#lar scholar after the reco"niBed death of that scholar.
6. /omparin" the narrations of the narrator $ith those of narrators of established reliability,comparin" them seekin" any distinctions that mi"ht be #ni#e to that narrator, in partic#lar,$hile contradictin" the others.
8. 1>amination of the narrations either $ritten or memoriBed by that narrator after the passa"eof time obser%in" any discrepancies $ith their initial narrations.&'8
. Leliberately alterin" the $ordin" of a hadith or more for the p#rpose of e>aminin" the abilityof the narrator bein" e>amined to detect those alterations. his is considered an acceptablepractice as lon" as those alterations are bro#"ht to li"ht follo$in" the e>amination process.&'
Evaluation terminology &edit
A system of terminolo"y de%eloped to codify the standin" of each narrator...
As a res#lt of the e%al#ation of narrators, each scholar $o#ld then concl#de by describin" thestandin" of each narrator. A system of terminolo"y de%eloped to codify the standin" of each narrator,$ith some %ariation in #sa"e of terms bet$een the indi%id#al e%al#ators. hese are di%ided into t$ocate"ories, those terms that constit#te praise (ta dīl ʻ ! and those that constit#te criticism ( jarḥ !. al-+#yKt H M "athered the %ario#s terms and arran"ed them in order of stren"th. e #oted fo#r le%els ofstren"th for praise from Ibn Abi atim and Ibn al-+alah, addin" that al-Lhahabi and Abd al-Rahimibn al-#sain al-Irai added an additional le%el and Ibn Hajr one abo%e that. h#s accordin" to al-+#yKt H M, there are si> le%els of praise. +imilarly, al-+#yKt H M described si> le%els of terms #sed tocriticiBe a narratorJ he arran"ed them be"innin" $ith the least se%ere and concl#din" $ith the mostse%ere criticism.&';
+evels o! praise&edit
'. Ibn Hajr held that the hi"hest le%el of praise $as e>pressed $as thro#"h the #se of thes#perlati%e, for e>ample, tḥe most esta(lisḥed of tḥe #eo#le (atḥ(at al-n1s!, or tḥe mostrelia(le of tḥe #eo#le (awtḥa2 al-n1s!.
*. Al-Irai and al-Lhahabi $ere of the opinion that the hi"hest le%el $as the repetition ofadjecti%e, or adjecti%es, in praisin" a narrator. For e>ample, relia(le! relia(le (tḥi2aḥ tḥi2aḥ!,or relia(le! firm (tḥi2aḥ tḥa(t !.
0. he hi"hest le%el accordin" to Ibn Abi atim and Ibn al-+alah the hi"hest is the #se of asin"le adjecti%e in describin" a narrator. 1>amples of this
are:relia(le (tḥi2aḥ!, #recise (mut2in! or firm (tḥa(t !.
6. %rustwortḥ" (s ad02! and wortḥ" of trust (maḥ allaḥu al-s id2! are both e>amples of the ne>tcate"ory to Ibn Abi atim and Ibn al-+alah $hile al-Irai and al-Lhahabi consider the latterterm to be from the ne>t le%el.
8. 3e>t is res#ecta(le (sḥa"3ḥ along witḥ $orthy of tr#st , mah Hallah# al-s Hid according tosome. %ḥis leel would also (e inclusie of an indiidual accused of ḥeres".
. he lo$est of the le%els of praise is, for e>ample, satisfactor" in ḥaditḥ (s 1liḥ al-ḥ adītḥ!,meanin" accordin" to Ibn Hajr , this incl#des acce#ta(le (ma2(0l ! meanin", $hen s#pportedby other narrators.&';&'<
+evels o! criticis#&edit
'. he least se%ere le%el for the criticism of a narrator is soft in ḥaditḥ (la""in al-ḥ adītḥ! and,accordin" to al-Irai, tḥe" ḥae s#o3en a(out ḥim (ta3allam0 fīḥi !. his le%el $o#ld also betaken into consideration as a corroboratin" narrator, b#t at a le%el less than the lo$est le%elof praise.
*. 3e>t is ḥe is not strong (la"sa (i l-2awī !. he hadith of a narrator determined to be at thisle%el $o#ld also be taken into consideration, as $ith the pre%io#s le%el, ho$e%er, thisnarrator is $eaker than one of the pre%io#s le%el.
0. 5ore se%ere than ḥe is not strong is wea3 in ḥaditḥ (d a īf al-ḥ adītḥʻ !, ho$e%er, none of thesefirst three cate"ories are rejected o#tri"ht.
6. he fo#rth of the le%els of se%erity of criticism incl#des terms s#ch as: ḥis ḥaditḥ isrejected (rudd al-ḥ adītḥ! and er" wea3 (d a īf jiddanʻ !.
8. he fifth incl#des terms s#ch as: ḥis ḥaditḥ is a(andoned (matr03 al-ḥ adītḥ!and destro"ed (ḥ1li3 !.
. From the most se%ere le%el of terms of criticism are: com#ulsie liar (3adḥdḥ1(!, ḥelies ("a3dḥi(! and fa(ricator (wad d 1ʻ ! amon" other terms.&';
Collections of narrator biographies&edit
/ollections of narrator bio"raphies are sometimes "eneral and sometimes specific to partic#larcate"ories of narrators. Amon" the most common of these cate"ories are:
(eneral evaluation&edit
• %ḥe 4reat Histor" by 5#hammad al-#khari.
• al-5arḥ wa al-%a dīl ʻ by Ibn Abi atim.
Chronologicall& or)ere)&edit
,articular to a speci!ic perio) o! ti#e&edit
ooks partic#lar to the /ompanions:
• %ḥe 6oo3 of Knowledge a(out tḥe 7om#anions by Ali ibn al-5adini.
• %ḥe 7om#reḥensie 7om#ilation of tḥe Names of tḥe /ro#ḥet's 7om#anions by #s#f ibn
abd al-arr .
• 8inding tḥe %rutḥ in 5udging tḥe 7om#aninons by Ibn Hajr.
• %ḥe 9ions of tḥe 8orest and tḥe 3nowledge a(out tḥe 7om#anions by Ali ibn al-Athir .
(eneral chronolog&&edit
• %ḥe 6oo3 of tḥe Major 7lasses by Ibn +ad al-a"hdadi.
• %adḥ3irat al-ḥuffa , %ḥe Memorial of tḥe Haditḥ Masters, a chronolo"ical history of hadith