Strategies for Proving the Integrity ('Adalah) of Hadith Narrators in Ahl al-Sunnah: Analysis and Critique

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 qom seminary

2 Associate Professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, University of Qom

10.22034/pht.2025.20049.1540

Abstract

Prophetic hadiths are a transmitter of the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition). Like any other piece of information, they can be true or false. Therefore, their usefulness requires evaluation. In order to employ the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as manifested in the hadith reports of Sunnis, and to utilize this heritage in the context of scholarly debates, it seems necessary to distinguish between authenticity and weakness in the methods of establishing trustworthiness and accuracy. The most common and important criterion for Sunnis to evaluate a hadith is the chain of transmission (sanad). To establish the authenticity of a chain of transmission, the trustworthiness of the narrator must be established. This article, using a descriptive and analytical approach, analyzes, evaluates, and classifies the strategies proposed by Sunnis to establish the trustworthiness of hadith narrators. Among the acceptable strategies in this area are: reputation for trustworthiness according to the popular reading; examination of the narrator's behavior and speech by his contemporaries; and the declaration of trustworthiness by one or two trustworthy narrators of one or more narrators. However, the narration of the two sheikhs from the narrator, the narration of eminent narrators from the narrator—according to the readings of Ibn  Bazzar and Ibn  Hibban—and the reputation of the narrator according to the report of Ibn  Abd al-Barr are among the unacceptable strategies. Finally, the classification of these strategies was addressed in terms of their generality or specificity, and in terms of their philosophical foundations.

Keywords

References

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11- Pajooheshname Hadith Tatbighee
Volume 12, Issue 22 - Serial Number 22
September 2025
Pages 410-485

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History

  • Receive Date: 10 March 2025
  • Revise Date: 10 April 2025
  • Accept Date: 03 May 2025

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