Biographical evaluation (literally meaning 'Knowledge of Men', but more commonly understood as the Science of Narrators) refers to a discipline of Islamic religious studies within hadith terminology in which the narrators of hadith are evaluated. Its goal is to establish the credibility of the narrators, using both historic and religious knowledge, in order to distinguish authentic and reliable hadiths from unreliable hadiths. ʿIlm ar-rijāl is synonymous with what is commonly referred to as al-jarḥ wa al-taʿdīl (discrediting and accrediting) – the criticism and declared acceptance of hadith narrators.

Significance

In his Introduction to the Science of Hadith, Ibn al-Salah, a renowned hadith specialist, explained the importance of the study of hadith narrators. Introducing the chapter entitled, 'Recognizing the trustworthy, reliable narrators and those who are weak and unreliable,' Ibn al-Salah said, "This is from the most distinguished and noble types (of hadith study) as it results in recognizing the authenticity of a hadith or its weakness." He then explained that any criticism directed at a narrator was permissible due to the "maintenance of the Shariah, purging it of any mistakes or misinformation". Stressing the importance of biographical evaluation, Ali ibn al-Madini, an early authority on the subject, said, "Knowing the narrators is half of knowledge."

History

Time of the Companions

While many Companions narrated hadith, according to Ahmad ibn Hanbal there were six who were the most prolific narrators of them, who lived long lives enabling them narrate to a large extent. They were: Abu Huraira, Abdullah ibn Umar, Aisha, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Ibn Abbas and Anas ibn Malik with Abu Huraira being the most prolific of them. According to Ibn al-Salah the most prolific narrators from the Companions was Abu Huraira followed by Ibn Abbas. In spite of the Companions' efforts in narrating their hadith, there was no need for them to evaluate each other's narrating capabilities or trustworthiness. This is because, as Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said, that Allah and his Prophet declared the Companions to be upright and trustworthy, and, therefore, there is no need to investigate their reliability, however, one must investigate the condition of those after them. However, there are many established narrations originating from the Companions praising some of the Tabi'un with some criticism of specific individuals from them. and al-Baghdadi's stance is contrary to modern approaches like historical criticism.

After the Companions

As for the Tabi'un, the generation following the Companions, their praise of narrators was plentiful, while disparagement from them was seldom. Those narrators who were criticized from the Followers were not criticized for fabricating hadith, but, instead, due to heresy, such as the Kharijites, or due to weak memory or due to their condition as narrators being unknown. Evaluating the narrators of hadith began in the generation following that of the Companions based upon the statement of Muhammad Ibn Sirin, "They did not previously inquire about the isnad. However, after the turmoil occurred they would say, 'Name for us your narrators.' So the people of the Sunnah would have their hadith accepted and the people of innovation would not." The turmoil referred to is the conflicting ideology of the Shias after the passing of the Prophet, and later the Kharijites that had emerged at the time of the third Sunni Caliph Uthman ibn Affan's assassination and the social unrest of the Kharijites in opposition to the succeeding rulers, Ali and Muawiyah. The death of Uthman was in the year 35 after the migration. In the following generation, Tabi' al-Tabi'in, and afterward, the weak, unacceptable narrators increased in number, necessitating that a group of scholars clarify the condition of the narrators and distinguishing any narrations that were not authentic.

Early specialists

According to Ibn al-Salah, quoting an early religious authority, the first to specialize in the study of hadith narrators was Shuʿba Ibn al-Ḥajjāj, followed by Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan and then Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma'in. Al-Bulqini added some names to the aforementioned: Ali ibn al-Madini and 'Amr ibn 'Ali al-Fallas, and then mentioned Malik ibn Anas and Hisham ibn Urwah as having preceded them in evaluating narrators.

Overview

Narrator criteria

A hadith is subject to criticism on the basis of two matters. The first relates to the continuity of the hadith's chain of narration; if there is discontinuity between two or more narrators, that hadith is criticized on this basis as discussed in depth in the hadith terminology article. The second relates to criticism of a narrator, or more, in the chain of narration of a particular hadith. Hadith narrators are evaluated in light of two qualities in determining the overall grading of a hadith. These qualities are derived from the definition of a hadith that is sahih constituting two of its five conditions. The first, uprightness (al-ʻadālah), is defined as the ability an individual possesses to adhere to moralistic decorum (al-taqwā) and maintaining proper social graces (al-murūʼah). The second, precision (al-ḍabṭ), is of two types, the first is pertaining to memorization and the second to writing. Precision in memorization (ḍabṭ al-ṣadr) refers to the ability to retain the specified information, recalling and conveying it at will. Precision in writing (ḍabṭ al-kitāb) is the preservation of the written information from the time it was heard until its transmission.

Grounds for criticism

The grounds upon which a narrator is subject to criticism are numerous some relating to moral uprightness and others to precision. Ibn Ḥajr identified and enumerated ten qualities in which a narrator could be criticized. Five relate to trustworthiness and the other five to precision; however, he presented these ten qualities in order according to severity:

Methods of evaluation

Hadith scholars of the past employed various methods by which to evaluate the narrating abilities of a narrator. From these means are the following:

Evaluation terminology

As a result of the evaluation of narrators, each scholar would then conclude by describing the standing of each narrator. A system of terminology developed to codify the standing of each narrator, with some variation in usage of terms between the individual evaluators. These are divided into two categories, those terms that constitute praise (taʻdīl) and those that constitute criticism (jarḥ). al-Suyūṭī gathered the various terms and arranged them in order of strength. He quoted four levels of strength for praise from Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn al-Salah, adding that al-Dhahabi and Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-'Iraqi added an additional level and Ibn Ḥajr one above that. Thus according to al-Suyūṭī, there are six levels of praise. Similarly, al-Suyūṭī described six levels of terms used to criticize a narrator; he arranged them beginning with the least severe and concluding with the most severe criticism.

Levels of praise

Levels of criticism

Collections of narrator biographies

Sunni

Collections of narrator biographies are sometimes general and sometimes specific to particular categories of narrators. Among the most common of these categories are:

General evaluation

Chronologically ordered

Particular to a specific period of time

Books particular to the Companions:

General chronology

Geographically specific

Gender specific

Evaluation of the narrators of specific books

Shi'i

Early Shi'ite rijāl collections include: