CLASSIFICATION OF ADTH

BASED ON
ACCEPTANCE & REJECTION

ADTH MARDD
Rejected adth

ADTH MARDD

Literally = ( )rejection X acceptance

Definition

That which the truthfulness and reliability of its

transmitters have not been confirmed
Position
Has no judicial, nor canonical value
Reason of Rejection:
1. Discontinuity in the chain of transmitters
2. Defects due to the transmitters

ADTH MARDD
ADTH
MARDD

ADTH
A'F

discontinuity of
the sanad

defects due to
the transmitters

ADTH A'F

Literally = ( )weakness X strength

Definition

That which does not conform to the conditions of

acceptance
Has various levels; weak, very weak, extremely
weak, denied, forged etc

ADTH A'F
Permissibility of Transmitting

It is permissible to transmit weak adth without

mentioning its weakness only for the following
circumstances:
1. It is not concerned with 'aqdah (eg. the attributes of
Allh)
2. It is not concerned with the clarification of legal
principles, such as all and arm

It could be transmitted for the purpose of religious

exhortations/spiritual counseling,
motivations/intimidations, warnings, stories etc.

ADTH A'F
Practice based on weak adth
1.

2.

3.

Impermissible in deriving rulings and fa'il ala'ml (al-Bukhr, Muslim, Ibn azm etc)
Permissible in establishing rulings and fa'il
al-a'ml (Ab Dwud, Amad ibn anbal etc)
Permissible in fa'il al-a'ml,
motivations/intimidations, religious exhortations
with certain conditions (Ibn ajr)

ADTH A'F
Condition of practice based on 3rd opinion
1.
Slight weakness
2.
In line or interpolative with applied and valid
principles of Islamic Shar'ah
3.
Do not firmly believe in its authenticity when
practicing it

ADTH A'F
Compilations on weak adth

Al-Marsil by Ab Dwud
Al-'Ilal by al-Druqun
Al-Manr al-Munf f al-a wa al-a'f by Ibn
al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

Compilations on weak transmitters

Lisn al-Mzn by Ibn ajr

Mzn al-I'tidl by al-Dhahab
Al-u'af' al-Kabr by al-'Uqayl

DISCONTINUITY
Discontinuity
HIDDEN

APPARENT

Al-Mudallas

Al-Mu'allaq

Al-Mursal al-Khaf

Al-Mursal
Al-Mu'al
Al-Munqai'

DISCONTINUITY

( = ) omission/dropping of transmitter(s)
from the chain of transmitters
Refers to the discontinuity of the chain of transmitters
due to the omission/ missing/ dropping of one or
more transmitters, intentionally or unintentionally
The discontinuity can take place in any part of the
chain; it could be in the beginning, end or middle of
the chain, and it could either be apparent/ obvious or
hidden

APPARENT DISCONTINUITY

It is apparent/ obvious to well-versed scholars of the

sciences of adth that the transmitter of a particular
adth did not meet the person he transmitted from,
or he did not have permission to transmit from the
latter.
Divided into:
1. Al-Mu'allaq
2. Al-Mursal
3. Al-Mu'al
4. Al-Munqai'

AL-MUALLAQ

Literally = ( )to hang, cleave or suspend, to attach

something onto another, or to hang something to
another
Definition =

That which one transmitter or more consecutively, are dropped

from the beginning of the chain of transmitters
A

Prophet

AL-MUALLAQ
Status

Rejected due to not fulfilling the condition of continuity in

the chain of transmitters. There are transmitter(s) missing;
unaware of the status of the missing transmitter(s)

Can be elevated to the status of acceptance if it is

strengthened by other chain(s) of transmitters which mention
the missing transmitter(s) and it is established that the
transmitter(s) dropped conform to the conditions of being an
acceptable transmitter

AL-MUALLAQ
Mu'allaqt of al-Bukhr and Muslim

Mu'allaqt of al-Bukhr = 1341 and Muslim 14/17

Accepted if they use decisive active expressions
such as ( )said, ( )mentioned, ( )narrated
That which use passive expressions such as ( )it
is said, ( )it is narrated; could be a, asan or
a'f
Ibn ajr and al-Nawaw analysed the mu'allaqt in
a al-Bukhr and a Muslim respectively,
and found all of it to be acceptable

AL-MURSAL

Literally = (/ )free without any restraint, uncontrolled

Definition =

That which at the end of the chain of transmitters, after the

successor, a transmitter is dropped

That which the companion has been dropped from the chain of
transmitters

The transmission of a successor on the authority of the Prophet

AL-MURSAL
A

F2

F1

Prophet

successor companion
Mursal Tbi' = as in the definition
Mursal ab = a transmission by a junior
companion who did not witness/hear directly from
the Prophet due to his/her young age or delay in
embracing Islam. They transmit from a senior
companion but it is not mentioned in the chain of
transmitters

MURSAL TBI'
Status

Rejected due to discontinuity and unawareness of

the reliability of the missing transmitter(s)

However, scholars differ with respect to its

authority:
1. It has authority, if the transmitter is reliable and only
transmit from reliable transmitters
2. It has no authority since the transmitter dropped is
unknown and might not be a companion
3. It has authority with some conditions.

MURSAL TBI'
Conditions of 3rd Opinion

The transmitter is a prominent/senior successor

Clear indication that the missing transmitter is reliable

The transmission does not contradict (i.e. in agreement) with

similar transmissions by experts

The conditions above should be accompanied by one of the

following:
1. The adth should be transmitted through another
continued chain
2. There is another adth mursal by a different
transmitter
3. In accordance with the views of the companions
4. It is relied by scholars in delivering fatw

MURSAL AB
Status
Generally accepted as it is rare that the companions
would transmit from the successors. If they transmit
from the successors, they would usually provide a
justification. If they say The Messenger of Allah
said omitting the name of the companion, it is not
considered a serious defect as all companions are
reliable

AL-MURSAL
Compilations
Al-Marsil by Ab Dwud
Al-Marsil by Ibn Ab tim
Jmi' al-Tal li Akm al-Marsil by al-'All'

AL-MU'AL

Literally = ( )difficult, puzzling, problematic

Definition

That which two or more consecutive transmitters

are dropped from the chain of transmitters (be it in
the beginning, middle or the end of the chain)

AL-MU'AL
Status
Two or more transmitters consecutively are dropped
from the chain, making it very difficult to be
reconnected
It is therefore rejected on the basis of the
discontinuity of the chain
However, if it is transmitted from another similar
chain or stronger, its status can be elevated to
acceptable

AL-MUNQAI'

Literally = ( )cutting off, disconnection, suspension

Definition

That which is dropped from the chain of transmitters, one

or more transmitters before the companion
inconsecutively
Status
rejected on the basis of the discontinuity of the chain, and
the missing transmitter is unknown and status unexplained
if it is transmitted from another similar chain or stronger, its
status can be elevated to acceptable

AL-MUDALLAS

Literally = ( )hide defect of product, deceive,

falsify
Definition

Hidden defect in the chain of transmitters and

apparently beautifying it

AL-MUDALLAS
AL-MUDALLAS

Tadls al-Isnd

Tadls al-Taswiyah

Tadls al-Shuykh

Tadls al-Af

TADLS AL-ISND

A transmitter reports from his shaykh who he met,

what he did not hear from him, or from a
contemporary whom he did not meet, in such a way
as to create the impression that he heard from that
person
Normally uses the word ( )on the authority of or ()
he said
Divided into Tadls al-Taswiyah and Tadls al-Af

TADLS AL-ISND

Tadls al-Taswiyah = a transmitter reports from a

shaykh and omits a weak transmitter from between
two shaykhs who are trustworthy
T D T T Prophet
Omission of the intermediate weak transmitter,
leaving the chain apparently consisting of reliable
transmitters
Tadls al-Af = a transmitter reports from two
shaykhs, but in fact he only heard from only one of
them

TADLS AL-SHUYKH

A transmitter reporting from a shaykh whom he heard

from, but used a less well-known name, or nickname
etc. in order not to disclose the identity of the shaykh

AL-MUDALLAS
Causes of Tadls
1.
Weakness of the shaykh
2.
The long life of the shaykh, that it was possible for
him to report from the shaykh directly
3.
The shaykh is younger in age
4.
Transmitting many adth from the same shaykh;
not necessary to repeat the shaykhs name many
times in the same way
5.
To give the impression that the sanad is 'l (higher)

AL-MUDALLAS
Status

Differences of opinions:
1. Totally rejected
2. Acceptable as it is similar to adth mursal
3. Acceptable if the transmitter only commits tadls of a
person who is trustworthy
4. Acceptable if the transmitter is trustworthy and uses
direct expressions that he heard from the shaykh,
otherwise rejected

AL-MUDALLAS
Levels of Mudallisn
1.
Those known to do it occasionally
2.
Those accepted by the scholars, either because of their
trustworthiness and relatively few cases of tadls, or because
they reported only from reliable transmitters
3.
Those who always did it and scholars differed in totally
accepting, rejecting or accepting with condition(s)
4.
Those who always did it and scholars agree that the
transmission should be rejected unless they clearly
expressed hearing the adth
5.
Those who were disparaged due to other reasons apart from
tadls, their adth are rejected though they expressed direct
hearing

AL-MUDALLAS
Compilations

Asm' al-Mudallisn by al-Suy

Ta'rf Ahl al-Taqds bi Martib al-Mawfn bi alTadls by Ibn ajr

Qadah fi al-Mudallisn by Muammad Amad

ibn Ibrhm al-Maqdis

AL-MURSAL AL-KHAF

Definition
the transmitter reporting from his contemporary
whom he did not meet, or met but did not listen to
Identification
1.

Precise expression of certain scholars, confirming that the

transmitter concerned had never met with or heard from
the person he had transmitted from
2. Confession of the transmitter that he had never met or
heard from the person he transmitted from
3. The adth concerned is transmitted through another
chain, with the addition of one or more transmitters
between the transmitter concerned and the person he
transmitted from