Term of "Takhrij" Between Use of Earlier scholars And The Doctrines of Contemporary - Critical study

Abstract

The science of Takhrij (referring of hadiths) is one of the most important sciences of hadith due to its role in facilitating the access of the positions of a hadith in its authentic books, being aware of its Isnad (the chain of narrators going back to the companion of the prophet) and ascertaining its words. However, the essence and the boundaries of this science, which should be followed by those who name their works as Takhrij, have not been agreed upon by the scholars of hadith. There was no need for such a science among the earlier scholars of hadith because the full knowledge of the hadiths and their positions in the Musanafat (books of hadith collected according to their subjects) were quite common among them. The need for this science emerged because of disregarding hadith books and the emergence of Musanafat which quoted the hadiths without ascribing them to the books they are mentioned in.

Then, there were some scholars who authored some books about the boundaries of this science and its conditions according to what they have seen of Takharij (referring of hadiths) done by the prominent scholars of this science. Building on that, some scholars stipulated that hadiths should be judged (whether they are authentic or weak) or their Isnads (chain of narrators) as well as their words should be mentioned, whereas other scholars have not provided such conditions.

This study tries to examine the differences among the scholars’ conditions to adopt the appropriate ones according to the induction carried out to some of the most important Takhrij books and the opinions of prominent scholars of this science. The study concludes that Takhrij can be defined as the process of specifying the hadiths positions in their authentic books that mentioned them with their Isnads (chain of narrators).