IN PAST ARTICLES, we discussed the obvious breaks in the chain of narrations and their effects on the ḥadîth. Now we turn to the kinds of breaks in the chain that are hidden and can only be discovered after scrutiny and comparison.

Madallas’, linguistically, means a product that has a hidden flaw. Mudallas comes from the masdar, or verbal noun, ‘dalas,’ which refers to a situation in which there is mostly darkness but some light, as opposed to one of pitch-black darkness.

Terminologically, tadlîs is the act of hiding a discontinuity in the chain of a report’s narrators.

The Categories of Tadlis

Tadlîs has three main categories: Tadlîs Al-Isnâd (The Hiding of a Narrator), Tadlîs Al-Taswiyah (The Omission of Narrators (anywhere in the chain in order to remove weak narrators)), and Tadlîs Al-Shuyûkh (The Intentional Hiding of the Identity of One’s Shaykh).[1]

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Tadlis Al-Isnad

The scholars of ḥadîth have defined this kind of tadlîs with a number of definitions. Perhaps the definition of Al-Bazzâr is the best: A transmitter (râwy) narrates on the authority of someone (his principal shaykh), from whom he has heard at least one other ḥadîth. Yet he narrates another adîth which he did not hear directly from him, omitting the narrator-link between him and his shaykh.

The reason this is misleading is that the assumption is that someone who has directly heard a ḥadîth from his shaykh does not have any link between him and his shaykh. In this narration, he uses key phrases such as “on the authority of so and so” or “So and so said.” These words imply he has heard it directly from his shaykh, but do not explicitly state that he did so. The mudallis (one who does this) avoids using terms such as, “I heard” or “So and so told me,” so that he would not become a liar. Moreover, the mudallis may omit one or more narrators between him and his shaykh.

An example of this is the ḥadîth narrated by Al-Ḥâkim wherein it is mentioned that Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated a ḥadîth on the authority of Al-Zuhri (and it is established that Ibn ʿUyaynah has heard directly some a ḥadîth from Al-Zuhri). Then it was asked of Ibn ʿUyaynah: “Have you heard this ḥadîth from Al-Zuhri directly?” He replied: “No. Nor did I hear it from someone who heard it from Al-Zuhri. ʿAbd Al-Razzâq told me on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Al-Zuhri.”

In this example, Ibn ʿUyayanah omitted two narrators between him and Al-Zuhri, using the technical Arabic narration term ʿann, which translates “on the authority of,” which implies that he heard the ḥadîth directly from Al-Zuhri, from whom he has heard other a ḥadîth directly. This eases one’s assumption that he heard this ḥadîth directly from Al-Zuhri, which he did not. Yet he does not say: “Al-Zuhri told me,” which technically avoids any untruth in his statement.

Tadlis Al-Taswiyah

Linguistically, the Arabic word ‘taswiyah’ means to make something “flat” or “even.” Terminologically, it means to omit a weak narrator somewhere in the chain who comes between two reliable and trustworthy narrators. The chain of narrators is thus being “flattened” or “evened out.” It is necessary that the two trustworthy narrators whom the omission falls in between have met each other. This is because tadlîs is hiding something, and the people who study narrations are expected to know who met whom. Hence, if someone narrates a ḥadîth, and in the chain of narration there is a narrator who narrates on the authority of someone who he is not known to have met, it is expected that the mu ḥaddith will not be confused by this and will know that there is an omission. Hence, tadlîs is said to apply only in the case of reports wherein omission occurs between two reliable and trustworthy narrators who are known to have met each other.

Tadlîs Al-Taswiyah is the worst kind of tadlîs because for someone who is studying a chain of narrators it is the most difficult to perceive, since the omission occurs between two trustworthy narrators. The person scrutinizing the chain of narrators may not necessarily know that the one who omitted the narrator was someone who came later on in the chain of transmitters. Thus, he would assume that the trustworthy reporter had not omitted anyone.

The two people most famous for Tadlîs Al-Taswîyah were Baqîyah ibn Al-Walîd and Al-Walîd ibn Muslim.

An example of this is the ḥadîth narrated by Ibn Abî Ḥâtim in his book Al-ʿIlal, in which Baqîyah says: “Abû Wahb told me on the authority of Nâfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar…,” and then he proceeds to narrate the ḥadîth. However, Ibn Rahawayh, one of the links of this chain of transmitters, omitted a narrator between Abû Wahb and Nâfiʿ. The complete chain of narration is as follows: Abû Wahb on the authority of Is ḥâq on the authority of Nâfiʿon the authority of Ibn ʿUmar. Thus, Ibn Rahawayh omitted Is ḥâq, who is weak, whereas Baqîyah and Nâfiʿare both trustworthy and reliable. Moreover, Baqîyah did not omit the person directly above him in the chain, so this falls in the category of Tadlîs Al-Taswiyah.

Tadlis Al-Shuyukh

Tadlîs Al-Shuyûkh occurs when a narrator transmits a ḥadîth on the authority of his shaykh, which he has heard from him, but he gives him a name, kunya (nickname), nisba (attribution, such as his association with a place, Al-Baghdâdi, the man of Bagdad), or a description that he is not known by, in which case for all practical purposes he remains unidentified.

The explanation of this is that the mudallis narrator (the one who is covering or hiding one of the narrators in a chain of narration), although he has not technically omitted anything from the chain of narrations, has hidden one of the narrators.

So, for example, if the shaykh’s name was Ma ḥmûd ibn A ḥmad Al-Ta ḥân, his kunya is Abû Ḥafs and his nisba is Al-Ta ḥân, and his qualifying description is that his beard is white. So the mudallis would say: “Ibn A ḥmad told me,” or “Abû Suhayl,” or “Ma ḥmûd Al-Ḥalabi,” or “He of the white beard.” He is not lying because the shaykh is Ibn A ḥmad. Or, he may have a son named Suhayl. Or, he really is from the town of Ḥalab. Or, he really does have a white beard. Yet, the shaykh is not known when he is referred to by these names. So identifying the shaykh in this way is a kind of hiding or covering up of his true identity. This is done when there is discrepancy of the narrating shaykh such as weakness, or that the narrating shaykh is younger than the one coming after him, or other reasons, and the mudallis is doing this because he wants his report of this ḥadîth to be taken as strong or accepted.

An example of this is when Abû Bakr ibn Mujâhid says: “ʿAbdullâh ibn Abî ʿAbdillâh told us such and such…,” and he really means Abû Dâwûd [a widely known and extremely strong and reliable narrator], whose identity for some reason he is concealing.

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[1] This science may seem distant and theoretical to us. For the people actually narrating ḥadîth, there were real pressures that caused these kinds of behaviors. These pressures grew out of an understanding of the weightiness of the Sunnah; the meritorious prestige of being associated with the Prophet ﷺ; the desire for good deeds by way of one’s narration reaching people, according them a share in its reward; knowledge that the narrators names would be preserved for the whole community of Muslims to see after them; and awareness that narrators would be adjudged by us in this world and Allah in the Hereafter. This created a pressure and intensity in the field that explains why phenomena like these would occur.

Originally posted 2015-07-14 09:00:29.

Omar Abdl-Haleem

Omar Abdl-Haleem is a fourth generation Muslim in America. He has a BA from Al-Azhar University in Usul Al-Din, specializing in Hadith, and was about to finish his Master’s Degree from Al-Azhar in Hadith, when he had to leave Egypt for safety reasons in the fall of 2013. He has translated most of Ibn Al-Jawzi’s book: Sayd Al-Khatir into English, which he intends to complete (some episodes of Omar’s translation of this book have appeared in Aljumuah Website). He is also working on a Hadith book for English speakers that explains and teaches Mustalah Al-Hadith (Hadith Terminology) in common terms. His Arabic is native, having studied in Egypt since he was 14, and then full time after completion of High School in the US. He is invaluable for AlJumuah in accessing scholarly texts. He intends to complete his graduate studies in Hadith.

3 Comments

  • Abdul H Fauq

    July 7, 2018 - 3:54 pm

    I came to this website to learn to something about “Science of Hadith”. But I was immediately turned off by a small up “Do you want to know how easy is it to earn rewards in the month of Ramadan” with no X at the top and the two options YES (emphasized) and NO. This sign stays there occupying some space of the screen doesn’t go away unless you say YES or NO. Can a Muslim say NO?
    I thought these people are probably a cult that allures people to only direction. These people are deceptive and manipulative. I put my comments here and walk away from it with the speed of light!

  • Sayyad Yussuf Pasha

    May 28, 2020 - 12:09 pm

    Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu Shuyuq of this website.

    Maa-Sha-Allaah, very beneficial articles on MUstalah Al Hadith. Is the Lesson No.7 is the last lesson in this series? If there are more lessons, please suggest to me the link.

    Wassalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu.

  • Khalid

    November 8, 2020 - 1:23 pm

    An example of this is the ḥadîth narrated by Ibn Abî Ḥâtim in his book Al-ʿIlal, in which Baqîyah says: “Abû Wahb told me on the authority of Nâfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar…,”

    Is this example correct? I was looking for a complete translation of something similar but I’m not sure if this is the same narration.

    وسمعتُ أَبِي وَذَكَرَ الحديثَ الَّذِي رَوَاهُ إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ رَاهُوْيَهْ، عَنْ بَقِيَّةَ؛ قَالَ: حدَّثني أَبُو وَهْبٍ الأَسَدِيُّ؛ قَالَ: حدَّثنا نافعٌ، عَنِ ابْنَ عُمَرَ قَالَ: لا تَحْمَدوا إسلامَ امرئٍ حتى تَعرِفوا عُقْدَةَ رأيهِ.

    قَالَ أَبِي: هَذَا الحديثُ لَهُ علَّةٌ قلَّ مَنْ يَفْهَمُهَا؛ رَوَى هذا الحديثَ عُبَيدُ الله بنُ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ أَبِي فَرْوةَ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابن عمر، عن النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، وعُبَيدُ الله بنُ عمرو كنيتُهُ: أَبُو وَهْب، وَهُوَ أَسَدِيٌّ؛ فكأنَّ بَقِيَّةَ بن الوليد كنَّى عُبَيدَ الله بْنَ عَمْرٍو، ونَسَبه إِلَى بَنِي أَسَد؛ لِكَيْلا يُفْطَنَ بِهِ، حَتَّى إِذَا ترَكَ إسحاقَ بنَ أَبِي فَرْوَة مِنَ الوسَطِ لا يُهتَدَى لَهُ، وَكَانَ بَقِيَّةُ مِنْ أَفعَلِ الناسِ لِهَذَا.

    وأما ما قَالَ إسحاقُ فِي روايته عَنْ بَقِيَّة، عَنْ أَبِي وَهْب: «حدَّثنا نَافِع» ، فهو وَهَمٌ، غير أنَّ وجهه عندي: أن إِسْحَاق لعلَّه حفظَ عَنْ بَقِيَّةَ هَذَا الحديثَ، ولمَّا يَفْطَنْ لِمَا عَمِلَ بَقِيَّةُ من تركهِ إسحاقَ من الوسطِ، وتكنيتِه عُبَيدَ اللهِ بنَ عمرو، فلم يفتقدْ لفظَ بَقِيَّة فِي قوله: «حدَّثنا نَافِع»، أو «عَنْ نَافِعٍ».

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