The word · Hadith
الأَثَر
Athar
A report from a Companion or a follower rather than from the Prophet himself.
Also written · Athaar · Aathar · Asar · Asaar · Aasar · Aathaar · Atsar · Aasaar · Traces of the Salaf · Athar hadith
The meaning
What Athar means in Islam
The word means a trace or a footprint, what is left behind after someone passes. Most scholars use athar for what stops at a Companion or a Tabi'i, and hadith for what reaches the Prophet, though some early scholars used athar for any report at all. Athar matters because Companion practice often shows what a hadith meant in the room where it was said.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- HadithA report of what the Prophet Muhammad said, did, or quietly approved, passed down through named narrators.الحَدِيث
- MawqufA report that stops at a Companion: his own statement or action, not attributed to the Prophet.المَوْقُوف
- Maqtu'A statement belonging to a Tabi'i, one of the generation after the Companions, traced no further back.المَقْطُوع
- KhabarA report; scholars use the word either as a synonym for hadith or for reports not reaching the Prophet.الخَبَر
More from Hadith
- AdalahThe uprightness of a narrator: sane, adult, Muslim, not openly sinful, not known for shameful habits.العَدَالَة
- Hadith QudsiA hadith in which the Prophet reports words from Allah that are not part of the Qur'an.الحَدِيثُ القُدْسِيّ
- Jami'A hadith book that covers every subject, not only law: belief, manners, tafsir, history and more.الجَامِع
- Mu'allaqA chain with its beginning cut off, where the author omits the narrators nearest to himself.المُعَلَّق
- MustadrakAl-Hakim's supplement, gathering hadiths he judged to meet the standards of al-Bukhari and Muslim.المُسْتَدْرَك
- Sahih al-BukhariThe collection of Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, held to be the soundest book after the Qur'an.صَحِيحُ البُخَارِيّ