The word · Hadith
الآحَاد
Ahad
Any hadith that does not reach the level of mutawatir, however strong its single chain may be.
Also written · Aahad · Ahaad · Khabar al-wahid · Khabar wahid · Khabar ahad · Akhbar al-ahad · Solitary report · Ahad hadith · Wahid · Ahaadeeth aahaad
The meaning
What Ahad means in Islam
Most hadiths, including most of the two Sahihs, are ahad. Scholars agree that an authentic ahad report is acted upon in law. They differ about creed: hadith scholars and the Hanbalis generally accept authentic ahad reports in matters of belief, while many Ash'ari, Maturidi and Hanafi theologians held that such reports give strong probability rather than certainty, and so accepted them without building charges of unbelief on them.
Evidence · Scholars differ · The scholars read this one differently
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- MutawatirA report carried at every stage by so many people that they could not all have agreed on a lie.المُتَوَاتِر
- MashhurA hadith carried by three or more narrators at each stage, well known but short of mutawatir.المَشْهُور
- AzizA hadith which at no stage of its chain has fewer than two narrators.العَزِيز
- GharibA hadith narrated by only one person at some point in its chain.الغَرِيب
More from Hadith
- AdalahThe uprightness of a narrator: sane, adult, Muslim, not openly sinful, not known for shameful habits.العَدَالَة
- HafizIn hadith, a master who has memorised a very large number of reports together with their chains.الحَافِظ
- Jarh wa Ta'dilThe discipline of criticising or vouching for narrators, so that a chain can be judged fairly.الجَرْحُ وَالتَّعْدِيل
- MawqufA report that stops at a Companion: his own statement or action, not attributed to the Prophet.المَوْقُوف
- MusnadEither a hadith with a connected chain reaching the Prophet, or a book arranged by narrating Companion.المُسْنَد
- Sahih al-BukhariThe collection of Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, held to be the soundest book after the Qur'an.صَحِيحُ البُخَارِيّ