How Hadith Are Graded
A hadith is graded by looking at two things: the chain of narrators, and the text. This page explains the grades you will see in the library.
The main grades
Sahihصحيح
Authentic. The chain is connected from narrator to narrator through people who are upright and have a strong memory, and the hadith has no hidden defect and does not contradict a stronger report.
Hasanحسن
Good. It meets the conditions of sahih except that one or more narrators has a somewhat lighter memory. A hasan hadith can be used as evidence.
Daifضعيف
Weak. It fails one of the conditions, for example a break in the chain, or a narrator who is unknown or criticised. Weak hadith differ greatly: some are only slightly weak and can be strengthened by other chains, some are very weak.
Mawduموضوع
Fabricated. A report that was invented and attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It is not a hadith, and it may not be narrated as one except to warn against it.
Words you will see in the grades
- Isnad (chain)
- “Isnaad Sahih” or “Daif Isnaad” grades the chain only. The text may have other support.
- Lighairihi
- “Sahih lighairihi” or “Hasan lighairihi” means it is graded so because other chains support it, not on its own chain.
- Hasan Sahih
- A grade used by at-Tirmidhi, meaning the hadith has two chains, one hasan and one sahih, or that the scholar hesitated between the two.
- Mauquf and Maqtu
- A mauquf report is a saying or act of a Companion, and a maqtu report is of a Successor. They are not words of the Prophet ﷺ, even when the chain is sahih.
- Mursal
- A report in which a Successor quotes the Prophet ﷺ directly, leaving out the Companion.
- Shadh and Munkar
- Shadh is a report that an acceptable narrator gives against more reliable narrators. Munkar is a report of a weak narrator that goes against the reliable ones. Both are signs of weakness.
What to do with a weak hadith
Scholars have different views. Some say a weak hadith may not be used at all. Others, such as many scholars of earlier times, allowed narrating a mildly weak hadith to encourage good deeds, with conditions: that it is not very weak, that it falls under a principle already proven, and that one does not believe it is certainly from the Prophet ﷺ.
All agree that a fabricated hadith may not be attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, and that no ruling of halal and haram is built on a weak hadith alone.
When you meet a hadith that is widely shared, check its grade here and in the work of a scholar before you pass it on.
How the library groups hadith
- Accepted by all graders: every grader gave a sahih or hasan grade of some kind.
- Weak according to all graders: every grader gave a daif, munkar, shadh or mawdu grade.
- Graders differ: at least one accepts it and at least one weakens it. These need the most care, so each grade is shown with the scholar's name.
- Not graded: the database has no grade, which is the case for the two Sahih books and the two collections of forty.
The scholars in this library
The grades shown come from the work of these scholars, as recorded in the open database. The numbers show how many hadith each graded in this library.
- Zubair Ali Zai (19,033)
- Al-Albani (18,925)
- Shuaib Al Arnaut (6,409)
- Abu Ghuddah (5,574)
- Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid (5,169)
- Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi (4,309)
- Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (3,667)
- Bashar Awad Maarouf (2,384)
- Salim al-Hilali (1,829)
Questions about grades
Does “accepted by all graders” mean the hadith is certainly authentic?
It means that the scholars in this database all accepted it. It is a strong sign, but a grade is still the judgement of scholars, so for important matters read the full discussion in the books of hadith science.
Who decides the grade?
Hadith scholars study the narrators of each chain, their reliability and memory, whether the chain is connected, and whether other chains support or contradict it.
Why is a hadith in a Sunan book marked weak?
The authors of the Sunan collected hadith with different levels of strength and often pointed out weakness themselves. Later scholars graded them one by one.