The word · Hadith
السَّمَاع
Sama'
Receiving a hadith by hearing it directly from a teacher, the strongest of the ways to take a report.
Also written · Sama · Samaa · Samaah · Sima · Sema · Hearing · Tahammul al-ilm · Sama hadith · Sama al-hadith · Munawalah · Wijadah · Qiraah
The meaning
What Sama' means in Islam
Scholars listed several ways of receiving hadith, in descending strength: hearing the teacher recite it, reading it back to him, a written licence, being handed a manuscript, correspondence, and finding a book with no licence at all. The wording of a chain tells you which way was used, so haddathana means he narrated to us in person, while akhbarana usually signals that it was read back to him.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- IjazahA teacher's licence permitting a student to transmit a text or a collection onward.الإِجَازَة
- IsnadThe chain of narrators who carried a hadith, listed name by name back to its source.الإِسْنَاد
- An'anahA chain that says only from so and so, without stating that the narrator actually heard the report.العَنْعَنَة
- RiwayahThe act of transmitting a report, and the version transmitted; its partner science is dirayah, understanding it.الرِّوَايَة
More from Hadith
- AdalahThe uprightness of a narrator: sane, adult, Muslim, not openly sinful, not known for shameful habits.العَدَالَة
- HadithA report of what the Prophet Muhammad said, did, or quietly approved, passed down through named narrators.الحَدِيث
- Jarh wa Ta'dilThe discipline of criticising or vouching for narrators, so that a chain can be judged fairly.الجَرْحُ وَالتَّعْدِيل
- Mawdu'A fabricated report, invented and then attached to the Prophet; not really a hadith at all.المَوْضُوع
- MusannafA collection arranged by legal topic that includes Companion and follower statements alongside hadith.المُصَنَّف
- SahihA hadith that meets all five conditions of authenticity, with nothing missing and no hidden flaw.الصَّحِيح