FIQH
Terminology-
www.hujjat-workshop.org
Wajib
MUST DO
-Something that
has to be done
and not to do it
is a sin.
Salaa, Sawm,
Khums, Hijab........
Haram
MUST NOT DO
-Something that
if done is a
sin.
Stealing, eating
non-halal food,
lying.....
Mustahab
BETTER TO DO
-Something which
if done is
rewarded. If it
is not done
there is no sin.Adhan,
Iqama,
Salatul Tahajjud
(Shab), Reciting
Qur'an, Dua...
Makruh
BETTER NOT TO DO
-Something which
is not
acceptable but
if done is not a
sin. -Praying salaa in
front of a
mirror,picture....
Jaiz (Mubah)
ALLOWED -All
those things
that do not fall
in the above
categories are
Jaiz.
Adhab
PUNISHMENT
Jahannam
Thawab
REWARD Janna
Mubah
Lawful That
which belongs to
you or you have
the permission
of the
owner to use.
Your belongings
Ghasbi
Unlawful
Something that
is taken from
someone else
without
permission. The
opposite of
Mubah. Stolen
property,
borrowing
without
permission...
Batil
Incorrect
That which is
not done in the
correct manner.
If you pray
salaa without
wudhoo, then
salaa is batil.
Tarteeb
Correct Order To
do something in
the right order.
In Salaa all the
actions -Qiyam,
Ruku, Sujud
etc.. are done
in a certain
order (tarteeb).
If the order is
changed then
salaa is b.til.
Muwalat
Continuity
It means to do
something
without any
interruption. In
salaa all the
actions must be
done without any
interruptions
Muslim
One who believes
in Tawheed,
Nabuwwa and
Qiyama; and
accepts the
commands of
Allah and His
Prophet.
Mu'min
One who believes
in Tawheed,
Adala, Nabuwwa,
Imama of the
12 Aimma and
Qiyama and
accepts the
commands of
Allah and His
Prophet.
Kafir Unbeliever
One who does not
believe in
Allah, Prophet
Muhammad (S.A.W.),
or in Qiyama.
Mushrik
One who believes
that Allah has
one or more
partners.
Munafiq
Hypocrite One
who says he/she
believes in
Allah, Prophet
Muhammad(S.A.W.) and
also recites
Kalima; but does
not really
believe what
he/she says.
Extract
from book
Introduction to
Hadith
http://www.islamic-college.ac.uk/RP/Books
Glossary of Technical Terms
add’:
conveyance,
denoting a
reporter’s
narration of the
tradition to
another reporter
who takes it
from him.
‘adalah: veracity.
See
Introduction.
‘adil:
veracious–lexically
means just,
equitable and
reliable. In
jurisprudence,
this designates
a person of
irreproachable
reputation and
veracity whose
testimony is
valid. See
Introduction and
chapter on the
veracity of the
reporter for a
detailed
explanation.
adl: equitable.
ahad or khabar al-wahid: solitary report-refers to any report that is not
mutawatir.
Akhbaris: Shi’i
traditionists
whose legal and
ritual
understanding
was primarily
based on the
literal
traditions of
the Imams.
‘alim (pl. ‘ulamd’): a
scholar well
versed in the
knowledge of the
Qur’an, the
traditions, and
Islamic
jurisprudence.
Amali: dictations.
‘Ammah: majority,
or commoners,
referringto the
Ahl al-Sunnah.
Ashab al-ijma’: since ijma’
in Arabic means
unanimous
agreement or
consensus, the
phrase means
‘the
agreed-upon
companions’,
denoting their
unanimously
agreed upon
reliability. The
phrase denotes
eighteen
reporters from
among the
companions of
the Imams (pbut).
athar (pl. athar): report
of a companion,
though Shi’ahs
do not accept
these as hadith,
so it is used
synonymously
with khabar. See
chapter on
hadith
terminology.
da ‘if: weak – a
tradition that
does not fit
into the
categories of
authentic, good
or dependable.
It is therefore
a ‘weak’
tradition.
da’if al-munjabar: the
reinforced weak
report.
Dirayat al-Hadith: critical
and contextual
study and
criticism of
traditions.
fasiq: corrupt –
antithesis of
‘adil,
according to
some scholars,
or synonymous
with kafir
(disbeliever)
according to
others. See
chapter on
veracity.
fatwa: juridical
or legal verdict
pronounced by a
jurisconsult.
fiqh: science of
jurisprudence.
ghali (pl. ghulat): extremist
sect, see ghalw
below.
ghalw: extremism
– refers to
certain sects’
exaggeration and
overestimation
of the
vicegerent of
Allah, or their
extreme neglect
in
underestimating
and degrading
him below his
decreed status.
It also refers
to reports that
were narrated by
Christian
converts to
pollute hadith
literature with
messianic
thought.
hadith (pl. ahadith): tradition
or report,
specifically the
traditions of
the Prophet (pbuh)
and the
infallible Imams
(pbut), i.e.
their sayings,
actions and
tacit approvals
of others’
actions, or the
narrations of
these.
Throughout the
course of this
book, I have
used the word
‘hadith’ to
refer to the
bulk of
tradition
literature and
the general
concept, and the
word
‘tradition’
or ‘report’
to refer to
individual
narrations.
Hadith as a
concept is
interchangeable
with ‘Sunnah’.
hafiz: is a term
that recurs
throughout the
book, usually
prefixed or
suffixed to
someone’s
name. It
literally means
‘memorizer’
and is used as a
title in hadith
terminology to
describe a
scholar who has
an excellent
memory and has
memorized a
great number of
traditions.
halal: permissible.
haram: prohibited.
hasan: good – a
tradition where
all the
transmitters in
its chain are
imami and
veracious, or
some of them are
imami and
commendable and
the rest are
non-imami but
commendable.
i’lam: declaration
– one of the
means of
receiving
traditions,
where the
teacher would
declare and
inform the
student that
this book or
this tradition
is his report or
a result of his
hearing a
certain report
from someone,
without actually
saying words to
the effect of
‘narrate on my
authority’ or
‘ I permit you
to narrate
it’.
ijazah: permission
and
authorization to
narrate
traditions on
someone’s
authority.
ijma’: legal
consensus of
scholars.
ijtihad: independent
jurisprudential
investigation
when deducing
legal rulings
from shari’ah
sources. Also
refers to a
scholar’s
personal
judgment when
investigating
matters.
‘ilm: literally
means knowledge,
but in this
field refers to
the legal
knowledge of
traditions and
jurisprudence.
Also refers to
the
‘certitude’
attained about
the report’s
origin.
‘Ilam al-Dirayah: the
science of
critical study
of the content
of the hadith,
i.e. the science
of Islamic legal
knowledge, which
includes the
narrators of a
hadith, its
text, its chain
of transmission,
the manner of
transmission,
etc. This term
is often
interchangeable
with our title,
‘Usul al-Hadith’
(principles of
hadith).
‘Ilm al-Rijal: biographical
studies – the
science of
hadith reporters
in which the
circumstances of
reporters are
analysed and
classified.
‘Ilm Usul al Fiqh: the
science of the
principles of
jurisprudence.
Shi’a Ithna
‘Ashari or a
follower of the
twelve Imams,
who adheres to
the Ja’fari
school of
jurisprudence.
imla’: dictation
of traditions.
irsal: the act of
‘forwarding’
traditions on
the authority of
the Ma’sum,
without
mentioning the
intermediary
source(s) in
between.
‘isabah: in Shi’i
sources there
are frequent
references to
the consensus of
al-isabah, which
points to those
of the Imams’
companions who
were invested
with the
authority of
giving fatwa.
‘isabah ‘the
body of
scholars’, by
practicing the
binding
authority of
ijma’,
determined the
course and
character of
Shi’i
sectarianism.
This word is
synonymous with
the word
ga’ifah.
isnad or sanad: chain of
transmission.
Isra’iliyyat: traditions
and legends
narrated by
Jewish converts
to Islam, which
infiltrated and
perverted hadith
literature with
concepts and
ideas that were
not originally
present therein.
These traditions
are rife in
Sunni hadith,
and have
penetrated into
their most
sacred hadith
collections,
‘the authentic
(sahih)
canonical
collections’.
Jami’: comprehensive
compilation of
traditions
encompassing
traditions on
all matters of
religion from
juristic matters
to contracts and
interpretation
of the Qur’an,
as well as
historical
accounts.
jarh wa ta’dil: defamation
and
authentication
of reporters.
khabar (pl. akhbar): report.
See chapter on
hadith
terminology.
khabar al-wahid or ahad: solitary report – refers to any report that is not
mutawatir.
khabar al-wahid: linked
solitary report.
See chapter on
solitary
reports.
khabar al-wahid al-maqrun: unlinked solitary report. See chapter on solitary
reports.
Kitahab ghayr al-maqrun: writing down – one of the
means of
receiving
traditions,
whereby the
teacher would
write down his
tradition,
either in his
own hand or by
ordering someone
else to write
it, then send it
to the reporter
who has
requested it.
ma’sum: infallible – referring
specifically to
the Prophet (pbuh)
and the Imam (pbut).
makruh: undesirable act.
marfu’: ‘traceable’ – refers to
any tradition
that can be
traced back to a
Ma’sum,
regardless of
the continuity
in its chain of
transmission.
marja’ al-taqlid: grand jurisconsult who is the
most learned in
the field of
jurisprudence
and
extrapolation of
legal rulings,
and has the
legal capacity
to pronounce
juristic
verdicts
(fatwa).
mashhur: famous. The word mustafid
implies
extensiveness
and abundance on
all the levels,
whereas mashhur
implies general
fame and
prevalence, not
necessarily
attained on all
the levels.
matn: content or text of a tradition.
mawdu’: fabricated, invented, forged.
mu’allaq: suspended – describes a chain
of transmission
in which the
names of some or
all of the
reporters have
been
intentionally
omitted by the
author of a
compilation for
brevity, and
subsequently
appended at the
back of the
book.
mudmar: ambiguous – refers to a chain
of transmission
in which the
name of the
Ma’sum is not
mentioned, but
rather a
personal pronoun
referring to
him, such as
‘he’. We
will refer to
this type of
chain as
‘ambiguous’.
Its opposite is
musarrah
(‘explicit’),
where the name
of the Ma’sum
is mentioned
frankly. This is
also referred to
as maazu’
(‘disconnected’).
muhaddith: traditionist; jurist who
transmits
traditions.
mujtahid: a jurisconsult who attempts to
deduce legal
rulings from the
source according
to a certain
discipline.
mukallaf: legally responsible person,
i.e. one who has
reached the
Islamic legal
age of maturity,
and thus has
become
responsible for
performing
Islamic duties.
munawalah: handing over. This is when the
teacher would
hand over (give)
his book of
traditions to
his student or
to whoever
wishes to
narrate on his
authority.
mursal: hurried – a tradition whose
complete chain
of transmission
is unknown, i.e.
the names of one
or more of its
narrators are
missing or
unknown. The
word
‘mursal’
literally means
‘forwarded
on’ because
often the
tradition is
forwarded on by
a Follower,
missing out the
name of the
Companion who
narrated it to
him.
musarrah: explicit – refers to a chain
of transmission
in which the
Ma’sum is
explicitly
mentioned by
name. This is
also referred to
as mawsul
(‘connected’).
Musnad (pl. Masanid): refers to works of hadith
categorized
according to the
first narrator
in the chain
after the
Prophet (pbuh)
(i.e. a
Companion).
musnad: supported – a tradition
supported by a
known chain of
transmission
that goes all
the way back to
the Prophet (pbuh).
mustafid: extensively narrated.
mustahab: legally recommended atc.
mutawatir: a tradition from the Prophet (pbuh)
or an infallible
Imam, repeatedly
and widely
narrated in an
uninterrupted
sequence,
through
successive
reliable
narrators. In
the absence of a
single English
word to express
this very
specific
meaning, this
has been left as
mutawatir in the
text. See
Introduction.
muwaththaq: dependable – a tradition in
which some or
all of the
transmitters in
its chain are
non-imami, but
it has been
established that
they are
dependable by
our scholars’
standards.
naql: the act of transmission.
nass: textually explicit legal
statement.
qarinah (pl. qara’in): external evidence linked to a
report, which
proves the
soundness of its
origin.
qawi: strong. Classification of
hadith similar
to muwaththaq;
it refers to a
tradition
transmitted by
an imami who has
been neither
commended nor
criticized in
the biographical
dictionaries.
qira’ah: reading – one of the means of
receiving
traditions,
whereby the
student would
read out his
teacher’s
tradition back
to him, for
verification.
qiyas: analogical reasoning.
Rafidah: dissenters – a term used
describe certain
extremist sects
because of their
desertion of the
Imam and
rejection of his
statements.
rawi (f. rawiyah, pl. rawun): narrator, reporter.
rawiyyah: reporter of many traditions.
Rijal works: biographical dictionaries of
Muslim
dignitaries and
narrators of
traditions.
riwayah: narration or transmission.
Sahabi (pl. Sahabah): ‘Companion’ refers to the
Companions of
the Prophet (pbuh).
In earlier times
the term was
restricted to
his close
friends who had
close contact
with him. Later
the term was
extended to
include the
believers who
had seen him,
even if only for
a brief moment
or at an early
age.
Sahib (pl. Ashab): Companion – as a general term
used to refer to
Companions of
Imams, of other
people and of
the Prophet.
sahifah (pl. suhuf): literally means journal or
manuscript, and
here refers to
small personal
habith
collections of
people who lived
at the time of
the Prophet (pbuh).
Sahih (pl. Sihah): refers to works of hadith
compiled to
include only
authentic
traditions from
the Prophet (pbuh).
sahih: authentic – a tradition in
which all the
transmitters in
its chain are
imami and
veracious. This
is the highest
grade of hadith.
sama’: hearing – one of the means of
receiving
traditions, in
which the
reporter would
hear the
tradition and
subsequently
learn it, by
heart or from a
book.
sanad or isnad: chain of transmission.
shadh: unusual tradition.
Sunan: work of traditions that is
mainly to do
with matters of
jurisprudence
that a Muslim
encounters in
everyday life.
ta’wil: allegorical interpretation of
the Qur’an.
Tabi’i (pl. Tabi’un): ‘Follower’ or
‘Successor’
– refers to
the second
generation of
Muslims who came
after the
Companions, who
did not know the
Prophet (pbuh)
but who knew his
Companions.
tahammul: reception – refers to the
reporter’s
receipt of the
tradition from
another reporter
who related it
to him, and the
hearer’s
subsequent
learning of it,
whether by heart
or by use of a
book or written
record.
tahdith: narration of traditions.
taqiyyah: dissimulation of one’s faith
when faced with
a
life-threatening
situation.
taqlid: the legal imitation or
following of a
mujtahid – a
veracious legal
authority in
matters of
jurisprudence.
tarjth: preponderance – a field of
study within the
science of
hadith in which
contradictory
reports are
weighed up and
evaluated in
terms of their
authenticity in
order to
determine which
of them prevails
over the rest.
tawatur: recurrent multiple successive
transmission,
i.e. the path of
a mutawatir
report.
thiqah: reliable.
Usul (sing. Asl): the Arabic term for books in
which Shi’i
hadith scholars
at the time of
the Imams
recorded the
traditions
directly
received by
them. There were
four hundred
such source
collections,
termed al-Usul
al-Ara’umi’a,
in which usul
literally means
‘principles’,
fundamentals’
or ‘roots’,
to indicate that
they are primary
source for
scholars to
refer to and
rely upon.
usul al-fiqh: principles of interpreting
Islamic law,
namely: the
Qur’an, the
Sunnah of the
Prophet and the
Ahl al-Bayt (pbut),
reason (‘aql)
and legal
consensus.
Usulis: the rational segment of imami
jurists who
favoured the
incorporation of
the
semantic-exegetical
methodology in
jurisprudence.
wajib: obligatory.
wasiyyah: will –one of the means of
receiving
traditions,
whereby a
reporter would
instruct a
person, before a
journey or his
death, to
narrate his book
of traditions or
some other
traditions on
his authority.
wijadah: finding traditions – one of
the means of
receiving
traditions. This
has been defined
in hadith
terminology as:
obtaining
knowledge from a
manuscript,
without having
heard it (sama’),
without having
been given it (munawalah)
and without
permission to
transmit it.
zann: valid conjecture or speculation
of a jurist
about the
soundness of a
report’s
origin, which
does not entail
more than a
probability.
