In the sciences of hadith, there’s something called a “mursal” hadith. What exactly is a mursal hadith? What is it’s status? What are the fiqh rulings on mursal ahadith? And why does it matter?
(Ok, for the answer to the last question, read and learn about the science of hadith. In a sentence: Scholars have devised an extremely rigorous process to determine which hadith are authentic, and which are not. You wouldn’t want to spend your whole life following a “hadith,” only to find out it really wasn’t legit, do you?)
A mursal hadith is a hadith where the chain only goes up to a tabi’ee. (So the hadith goes: X narrated, from Y, from Z, … from such-and-such a tabi’een.) Tabi’een are the generation after the companions–they are the sons and daughters and followers of Islam who came after the sahaba. Most hadith continue–the tabi’ee will narrate from a sahaba, who will narrate directly from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
So mursal ahadith are ahadith where the chain cuts off at the tab’iee level; it doesn’t go directly to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
And why is this important? Because a tabi’ee can narrate from another tabi’ee! It doesn’t necessarily mean that they heard it directly from a sahaba, who heard it from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
So the ruling on mursal ahadith? They are considered as da’eef ahadith. All the same rulings apply.
For example, in the issue of “does laughing in salaah break your wudoo?,” imam Abu Hanifa says yes, and cites a mursal hadith as his proof. The majority of scholars disagree, and insha’Allah this is the correct opinion–why?
Because the hadith is mursal (i.e. da’eef), and it contradicts shari’ah principles–why would it break your wudoo inside salaah, but not if you laugh outside salaah? (And these are not the only proofs; only a taste of the discussion.)
Wallahu ‘alam.
Abdul-Bary Yahya. Lecture. AlMaghrib. The Purification Act. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2006.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
WallauAllam, but according to my sheikh, according to the 3 imams (all except imam shafi rahimullah), mursal hadiths are considered authentic but according to the majority of hadith scholars, its considered daeef. Imam Shafi allows it to be authentic based on few conditions..
Allah knows best. When we read the Muwwatta of Imam Malik, many of the hadeeth would be mursal. The Muwwatta of Imam malik is considered to be one of the more authentic collections of hadith. Since this is the case, a hadeeth collection with a number of da’eef( as you mentioned above mursal has the ruling of da’eef) could not be considered one of the more authentic collections. Maybe there needs to be some clarity on your statement that they are equivalent to da’eef hadith.
@Hamidullah I am not well versed with Imam Malik (rahimahullah)’s Muwwata specifically. Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Al-Muslim are the two collections of ahadith that have no da’eef ahadith in them; pretty much every other collection has some da’eef ahadith mixed in.
There is also a difference between mursal (a hadith of rasulullah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, which does not have a chain connecting to him from a sahaba) and athaar (statements of the companions, aka hadith of companions). I believe you are referring tot he latter in Imam Malik’s collection.
Wallahu a’lam.
@Ilm Seeker, what is the ruling on mursal ahadith, when it comes to seerah?
@Qwerty as mentioned in the post, a mursal hadith is a da’eef hadith (weak) and can’t be used.
But you mention seerah specifically. Some scholars of seerah do permit the use of weak ahadith, just like some scholars permit using them in cases where they agree with well-known principles of Islam.
Wallahu a’lam. My teachers always said “we didn’t learn and implement all the authentic hadith yet, let’s do that first before we start looking at the weak ones!”