Usool al Hadith (Science of Hadith)

Narrators, Isnad and Muhaditheen

What are Matn, Sanad and Isnad?

In each hadith, there are two elements: sanad or isnad, and matn. Sanad or isnad is the chain of narrators of the hadith, while matn is the text of the hadith. Take the following hadith reported by Al-Bukhari as an example:
Al-Bukhari reported that: Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us from Al-Layth from `Uqayl from Ibn Shuhba from `Urwah from `A’ishah who said, “Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the two as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it.”

The phrase “Al-Bukhari reported that: Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us from Al-Layth from `Uqayl from Ibn Shuhba from `Urwah from `A’ishah who said” represents the chain of narrators or isnad.

The statement “Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things…” represents the matn of the hadith.

ورکشاپ - اردو - علم الاسانید
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Urdu
Fun e Asma ur Rijal
Dr. Taqi ud Din Nadvi

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Urdu
Ilm e Hadith main Asnad o Matan ki Tehqeeq ke Usool
Hafiz Hamza Madni
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Arabic
Usool ul takhreej wa dirasat ul asaneed

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Urdu
Kitabat e Hadith - Ahd e Risalat aur Ahd e Sahaba main
Mufti Tqi Usmani
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Urdu
Muhaditheen e Izam aur un ki kitaboon ka taaruf

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Arabic
Moajjam Ahadees Zufa-e-Rejal
Yousif Al Shakh Muhammad Albaqi
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Urdu
Bustan ul Muhaditheen
By Shah Abdul Aziz Dahelvi

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Urdu
Ilm ul Hadith main Imam Abu Hanifa ka Muqam
by Habib ur Rehman Aazmi

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Urdu
Riwayat e Hadith main khwateen ka maqam
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Urdu
Ahnaf Huffaz e Hadith ki Funn e Jarah o Tadeel main Khidmat
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Urdu
Jarah wa Tadeel

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Urdu
Kitabat o Tadveen e Hadith Sahaba ke Qalam se
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English
Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development - by Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi
Part 1: Read / Download
Part 2: Read / Download

Urdu
Tareekh e Tahafuz e Sunnah Aur Khidmat e Muhaditheen
تاریخِ تحفظِ سنت اور خدمات المحدثین

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Arabic
ضوابط الجرح والتعديل مع دراسة تحليلية لترجمة إسرائيل بن يونس بن أبي إسحاق السبيعي - تأليف الدكتور عبد العزيز بن محمد بن إبراهيم العبد اللطيف
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Urdu
اثبات الدلیل علی توثیق مؤمل بن اسماعیل
ابو الفوزان کفایت اللہ سنابلی

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Arabic
مقدمة في تخريج الحديث ودراسة الأسانيد
المؤلف: محمد بن علي بن جميل المطري

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English
Al-Jarh Wa Al-Ta’dil (Criticism and Praise): It’s Significant in the Science of Hadith
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Arabic
معرفة الرجال - الإمام الحافظ يحي بن معين القطان
Read: Part 1, Part 2
Download: Part 1, Part 2

Arabic
التذكرة بمعرفة رجال الكتب العشرة - الإمام المحدث محمد بن الحسين العلوي
Read: Intro, Book
Download: Intro, Book

Arabic
معجم الجرح و التعديل لرجال السنن الكبري مع دراسة اضافية لمنهج البيهقي في نقد الرواة
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Arabic
الضعفاء
المؤلف: أبو جعفر محمد بن عمرو بن موسى بن حماد العقيل
تحميل , تصفح

Arabic
كتاب الضعفاء الكبير
أبو جعفر محمد بن عمرو بن موسى بن حماد العقيلي المكي
, مقدمة, السفر الأول, السفر الثاني
السفر الثالث , السفر الرابع

Arabic
كتاب الضعفاء
المحقق: مازن بن محمد السرساوي
الجزء الأول , الجزء الثاني
الجزء الثالث , الجزء الرابع
الجزء الخامس , الجزء السادس
الجزء السابع: الفهارس
تحميل الواجهة

Arabic
Risalah-i dar ilm-i rijal va hadith
(Historical manuscript)
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Arabic
Ar-Rijal Al-Hakim Fil Mustadrak

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Arabic
المغني في ضبط الرجال
محمد طاهر الفتني

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Urdu
نا قابلِ قبول راویوں کی کتاب
محمد سعید عمران

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Urdu
Rijal Al-Sind Wal Hind
Maulana Qazi Atharpuri

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Urdu
صحاح ستہ اور ان کے مؤلفین
محمد عبدہ الفلاح الفیروزپوری

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Urdu
قافلہ حدیث
محمد اسحاق بھٹی

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Arabic
مناهج المحدثين:مالك،أحمد،ابن خزيمة،ابن حبان،الحاكم،الطبراني
د.محمد التركي
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Arabic
الرسالة المستطرفة لبيان مشهور كتب السنة المشرفة
المؤلف: محمد بن جعفر بن إدريس الحسني الكتاني
الكتاب, مقدمة

Urdu
Taaruf Muhaddiseen Wa Kutub Muhaddiseen By Allama Mahtab Ahmad Razavi Attar - EXCELLENT BOOK - Maslak Brelviyyah
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Urdu
Misbah ul Hadith
(Dr. Hameedullah, PU, Lahore)
The book discusses authority of hadith, classifications of hadith books, and an overview of contributions of mohaditheen
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Arabic
Al-Fath ul Mobeen Fi At-Tahqeeq Tabqaat-ul-Mudalliseen
Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai
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Urdu
Musanifeen e Sihah e Sitta ke Halat
By Hashmat Misbahi

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More:

English - Is science of Jarh Wa Tadeel abrogated - Download
English - Ilm Ur Rijal - Introduction To Key Books - Download
English - Imam Al Aazam Abu Hanifa And His Expertise In Hadith By Fazal Ullah Chishti - Read / Download
Urdu - علم الحدیث میں متن اور اسناد کی تحقیق کے اصول - Download
Urdu - Aulia Rijal ul Hadith (Maslak Brelviyyah) - Read
Urdu - Ahd e banu umaiya may muhadithin ki khidmat - عہد بنو اٌمیہ میں محدثین کی خدمات - ڈاکٹر سید عبدالغفار بخاری - Read / Download
Urdu - Bar e Shagheer Pak o Hind main taleem wa tarweej e hadith -برصغیر پاک وہند میں تعلیم وترویج حدیث سلیمان اظہر - Read / Download
Urdu - Bar e Shagheer Pak o Hind main Ilm e hadith - برصغیر پاک و ہند میں علم ِ حدیث - by عبدالرشید عراقی - Read / Download
Urdu - Chamanistan e Hadith - چمنستان ِ حدیث - by محمد اسحاق بھٹی - Read / Download
Urdu - Hindustan Aur ilm e Hadeez -ہندوستان-اور-علم-حدیث - Maulana Feroz Akhtar Nadvi - Read / Download
Urdu - Imam Badr ud Din Ainee: Hayat wa Khidmat - Read / Download
Urdu - Ilm ul Hadith main bar e sagheer Pak o Hind ka hissa علم حدیث میں برصغیر پاک وہند کا حصہ - Read / Download
Urdu - Kitab Ul Zuafa Wa Al Matrokoon Urdu Tahzeeb Ut Tahzeeb - Read / Download
Urdu - Musannefeen E Sehah E Sitta By Hashmat Ali Razvi Misbahi - Read / Download
Urdu - Tazkaratul Mohaditheen تذکرۃ المحدثین - Maulana Ghulam Rasool Saeedi - Read / Download

Arabic - شرح ضوابط الجرح والتعديل - الشيخ عبد الله بن عبد الرحيم البخاري
Book that accompanies these lectures - Download
Individual audio files can be downloaded from here

Urdu - Zawabit Jarh wa Ta'adeel - By Sheikh Irshad ul Haq Asari

Download: Audio file 1, Audio file 2, Audio file 3

Arabic - تخريج الأحاديث و علم الأسانيد

Download Audios: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09

More books in Arabic

Hadith Authentication works of Nasir ud Din Albani and its criticism:

Shaikh Nasir ud Din Albani was a 20th Century scholar of Hadith (Muhadith) who did tonnes of work on hadith authentication and critically analysed almost all major works. He even pointed out a some weak narrations in Sahih Bukhari as well. A number of other independant researchers agree with his findings as well.

However, he faced some criticism on his works from scholarly circles as well.
In the spirit of encouraging original research work and enable viewing information from both sides, we are presenting a few relevant resources below.

In order to reach correct conclusion, one should do an un-biased review of arguments presented by Albani and those of his critiques in the light of Usool-al-Hadith.

And Allah knows best.

Pro:
English - Life and Works of Sheikh Nasir ud Din Albani in his own words (Read / Download)
English - In Defence of Sheikh Albani (Watch: Part1, Part2, Part3)
English - Q&A regarding works of Albani and sufi scholars (Read / Download)
Urdu - Mukhtasar Seerat E Albani (Read / Download)
Urdu - Muhadith e Asar - Nasir ud Din Albani (Read / Download)
English - Refutation of book "Albanee Unvieled" (Read / Download)
English - Life and times of Sheikh Albani (Watch)
English - Response to claim that Sheikh Albani had odd or Shaaz Views (Download)
English - Refutation of Limbada's claims against Sheikh Albani (Download)

Criticism:
English - Albani's weakenning of some ahadith from Bukhari and Muslim (Read)
Arabic - Albani: Shudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh (Read / Download)
Arabic - Al-Rud ala Albani (Read / Download)
English - Albani Unvieled: Errors in his works (Read / Download)
Arabic - Hiwar Ma'a Al-Shaikh Albani (Read / Download)