Muhaddith

A scholar of hadith who has studied the chains, the narrators and the defects, not merely read collections.

Also written · Muhaddis · Muhadith · Muhaddithun · Muhaddithin · Muhaddithoon · Mohaddis · Hadith scholar · Muhaddis sahib · Muhadis · Hujjah

The meaning

What Muhaddith means in Islam

The ranks are informal but real. A talib is a student, a muhaddith works in the field, a hafiz has mastered a great number of chains, and titles like hujjah were given to a handful of men. Knowing many hadiths is not the same as being a muhaddith; the skill lies in judging them.

Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named

Read beside it

Words that sit beside it

HafizIn hadith, a master who has memorised a very large number of reports together with their chains.الحَافِظ
Ilm al-RijalThe biographical science of the narrators: who they were, whom they met, and how reliable each was.عِلْمُ الرِّجَال
Jarh wa Ta'dilThe discipline of criticising or vouching for narrators, so that a chain can be judged fairly.الجَرْحُ وَالتَّعْدِيل
Ulum al-HadithThe science of testing reports about the Prophet, deciding which are sound and which are not.عُلُومُ الحَدِيث