What is ʿilm al-rijāl — the science of narrators?
Before any hadith could be accepted, its chain had to be validated. The scholars who dedicated their lives to this built a science — and preserved biographies of roughly a million narrators across the first six centuries.
9 passages from 8 books in the library
ʿIlm al-rijāl is the science of examining the narrators in a hadith's chain (isnād) so that a report can be accepted or rejected. Across al-Ghazali's works the verdicts of this science appear constantly: a report carried "with a strong isnad," another judged "good," and others discounted as carrying "a weak isnad," containing "unknown individuals" whom critics "considered weak," or resting on an isnād that is simply "doubtful." The passages also speak of preserving the biographies of the predecessors and scholars — the biographical record on which this verification depends.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 8 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"specifically 20 measures of grain. Ibn Majah reports 30 measures of barley with a strong isnad."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"it into three. The Isnad is considered good. There is no harm in this, for it is enlightening."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"They turn to Allah with complete effort as recounted in their biographies, when the caliphate"
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"mercy on him. The biographies of the predecessors concerning simplicity and the abandonment"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
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"Biographies of some scholars and notables of Egypt, among them is Shams al-Din al-Isfahani,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"Al-Bazaar has narrated from a hadith of Mu'ad with a weak isnad that the one who fasts for"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"We have mentioned the biographies of the Prophets and early generations' food and drink in"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Its isnad includes unknown individuals, and Ibn Adi considered it weak, though its core"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"shake hands, a hundred mercies descend between them, though its isnad is doubtful."
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