Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 290
Do the majority of the Imams of Ḥadīth consider a Mursal narration valid in matters of rulings and issues, or do they classify it as weak? And are the Ḥanafī Muḥaddithīn included in the majority of Muḥaddithīn?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
According to the majority of Muḥaddithīn, a Mursal narration from a Tābiʿī is rejected in every respect.
◈ Imām Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Naysābūrī (d. 261H) said:
والمرسل من الروایات فی اصل قولنا وقول اهل العلم بالاخبار لیس بحجة
(Muqaddimah Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1/22 after ḥadīth no. 92, Fatḥ al-Mulhim 1/410)
"A Mursal narration, according to our fundamental stance (as Muḥaddithīn) and that of other people of knowledge, is not a proof."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Ḥusayn al-ʿIrāqī (d. 806H) said:
وردہ جماهیر النقاد للجهل بالساقط فی الاسناد
(Alfiyyah al-ʿIrāqī with Fatḥ al-Mughīth 1/134)
"The majority of ḥadīth critics have rejected the Mursal narration because the missing link in the chain is unknown."
◈ ʿAllāmah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī (d. 643H) wrote:
وما ذکرناه من سقوط الاحتجاج بالمرسل و الحکم بضعفه هو المذهب الذی استقر علیه آراء جماهیر حفاظ الحدیث ونقاد الاثر
(ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth with al-Taqyīd wa’l-Īḍāḥ p. 74 / verified ed. p. 130)
"The abandonment of using the Mursal narration as proof and ruling it weak is the settled position upon which the views of the majority of ḥadīth preservers and critics rest."
◈ Imām al-Tirmidhī (d. 279H) said:
والحدیث اذا کان مرسلا فانه لا یصح عند اکثر اهل الحدیث
(Kitāb al-ʿIlal, Dār al-Salām ed. p. 896–897; Sharḥ ʿIlal al-Tirmidhī by Ibn Rajab 1/273)
"When a ḥadīth is Mursal, it is not authentic according to most people of ḥadīth."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463H) said:
وعلی ذلک اکثر الائمة من حفاظ الحدیث و نقاد الاثر
(Al-Kifāyah fī ʿIlm al-Riwāyah p. 384)
"Most of the Imams from among the preservers of ḥadīth and the critics of reports agree that a Mursal narration is not a proof."
◈ ʿAllāmah Ibn Khalafūn al-Andalusī (d. 636H) stated:
ولا اختلاف اعلمه بینهم انه لا یجوز العمل بالمرسل اذا کان مرسله غیر متحرز یرسل عن غیر الثقات
(Al-Nukat ʿalā Muqaddimat Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ by al-Zarkashī p. 158)
"I know of no disagreement among them that acting upon a Mursal narration is impermissible if the one sending it is not cautious and narrates from unreliable transmitters."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (d. 676H) wrote:
ثم المرسل حدیث ضعیف عند جماهیر المحدثین و کثر من الفقهاء و اصحاب الاصول
(Taqrīb al-Nawawī with Tadrīb al-Rāwī 1/198)
"A Mursal ḥadīth is weak according to the majority of Muḥaddithīn, many jurists, and scholars of Uṣūl."
In Risālah Abī Dāwūd ilā Ahl Makkah fī Waṣf Sunanih, it is mentioned:
واما المراسیل فقد کان یحتج بها العلماء فیما مضی مثل سفیان الثوری
"As for Mursal narrations, scholars in the past, like Sufyān al-Thawrī, used them as proof."
ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1304H) narrated it as:
واما المراسیل فقد کان اکثر العلماء یحتجون بها فیما مضی مثل سفیان الثوری
However, the original text of Risālah Abī Dāwūd does not contain the words "most scholars."
Ḥāfiẓ al-Zarkashī (d. 794H) commented:
وینبغی ان یکون مرادهم اکثر اهل الاصول
"It should be understood that they meant most scholars of Uṣūl and Fiqh acted upon it."
For the refutation of a false statement attributed to Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī regarding Mursal narrations, see Al-Nukat ʿalā Muqaddimat Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (1/568) and other sources.
Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAlāʾī (d. 761H) commented:
ان دعوی الاجماع فی ذلک باطل قطعا
"The claim of consensus on the validity of Mursal narrations is certainly false."
① Mursal narrations from the Ṣaḥābah are categorically accepted.
② Mursal narrations from the Tābiʿīn are weak and unacceptable according to the majority of Muḥaddithīn.
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150H) did not consider Mursal narrations a proof.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Ṭaḥāwī al-Ḥanafī (d. 321H) summarized:
"Imām Abū Ḥanīfah did not consider a Mursal (or disconnected) narration to be a proof."
(Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār 2/164, Kitāb al-Siyar, Bāb al-Rajul Yuslim fī Dār al-Ḥarb wa ʿIndahu Akthar min Arbaʿ Nisāʾ)
Ḥāfiẓ al-Ṭaḥāwī further stated:
وهم لا یحتجون بالمرسل
(Maʿānī al-Āthār 2/6, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ, Bāb al-Nikāḥ Bighayr Walī ʿAṣabah)
"The majority of Muḥaddithīn do not consider Mursal narrations a proof."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Andalusī (d. 463H) summarized:
"Ḥanafī and Mālikī scholars in debates do not accept Mursal narrations as proof."
◈ Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (d. 456H) strongly criticized those who accept Mursal narrations as proof but reject them when they contradict personal desires.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Question:
Do the majority of the Imams of Ḥadīth consider a Mursal narration valid in matters of rulings and issues, or do they classify it as weak? And are the Ḥanafī Muḥaddithīn included in the majority of Muḥaddithīn?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
The Position of the Majority of Muḥaddithīn Regarding Mursal Narrations
According to the majority of Muḥaddithīn, a Mursal narration from a Tābiʿī is rejected in every respect.
◈ Imām Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Naysābūrī (d. 261H) said:
والمرسل من الروایات فی اصل قولنا وقول اهل العلم بالاخبار لیس بحجة
(Muqaddimah Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1/22 after ḥadīth no. 92, Fatḥ al-Mulhim 1/410)
"A Mursal narration, according to our fundamental stance (as Muḥaddithīn) and that of other people of knowledge, is not a proof."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Ḥusayn al-ʿIrāqī (d. 806H) said:
وردہ جماهیر النقاد للجهل بالساقط فی الاسناد
(Alfiyyah al-ʿIrāqī with Fatḥ al-Mughīth 1/134)
"The majority of ḥadīth critics have rejected the Mursal narration because the missing link in the chain is unknown."
◈ ʿAllāmah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī (d. 643H) wrote:
وما ذکرناه من سقوط الاحتجاج بالمرسل و الحکم بضعفه هو المذهب الذی استقر علیه آراء جماهیر حفاظ الحدیث ونقاد الاثر
(ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth with al-Taqyīd wa’l-Īḍāḥ p. 74 / verified ed. p. 130)
"The abandonment of using the Mursal narration as proof and ruling it weak is the settled position upon which the views of the majority of ḥadīth preservers and critics rest."
◈ Imām al-Tirmidhī (d. 279H) said:
والحدیث اذا کان مرسلا فانه لا یصح عند اکثر اهل الحدیث
(Kitāb al-ʿIlal, Dār al-Salām ed. p. 896–897; Sharḥ ʿIlal al-Tirmidhī by Ibn Rajab 1/273)
"When a ḥadīth is Mursal, it is not authentic according to most people of ḥadīth."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463H) said:
وعلی ذلک اکثر الائمة من حفاظ الحدیث و نقاد الاثر
(Al-Kifāyah fī ʿIlm al-Riwāyah p. 384)
"Most of the Imams from among the preservers of ḥadīth and the critics of reports agree that a Mursal narration is not a proof."
◈ ʿAllāmah Ibn Khalafūn al-Andalusī (d. 636H) stated:
ولا اختلاف اعلمه بینهم انه لا یجوز العمل بالمرسل اذا کان مرسله غیر متحرز یرسل عن غیر الثقات
(Al-Nukat ʿalā Muqaddimat Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ by al-Zarkashī p. 158)
"I know of no disagreement among them that acting upon a Mursal narration is impermissible if the one sending it is not cautious and narrates from unreliable transmitters."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (d. 676H) wrote:
ثم المرسل حدیث ضعیف عند جماهیر المحدثین و کثر من الفقهاء و اصحاب الاصول
(Taqrīb al-Nawawī with Tadrīb al-Rāwī 1/198)
"A Mursal ḥadīth is weak according to the majority of Muḥaddithīn, many jurists, and scholars of Uṣūl."
Some Early Statements and Their Commentary
In Risālah Abī Dāwūd ilā Ahl Makkah fī Waṣf Sunanih, it is mentioned:
واما المراسیل فقد کان یحتج بها العلماء فیما مضی مثل سفیان الثوری
"As for Mursal narrations, scholars in the past, like Sufyān al-Thawrī, used them as proof."
ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1304H) narrated it as:
واما المراسیل فقد کان اکثر العلماء یحتجون بها فیما مضی مثل سفیان الثوری
However, the original text of Risālah Abī Dāwūd does not contain the words "most scholars."
Ḥāfiẓ al-Zarkashī (d. 794H) commented:
وینبغی ان یکون مرادهم اکثر اهل الاصول
"It should be understood that they meant most scholars of Uṣūl and Fiqh acted upon it."
A Claim Attributed to Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī and Its Rejection
For the refutation of a false statement attributed to Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī regarding Mursal narrations, see Al-Nukat ʿalā Muqaddimat Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (1/568) and other sources.
Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAlāʾī (d. 761H) commented:
ان دعوی الاجماع فی ذلک باطل قطعا
"The claim of consensus on the validity of Mursal narrations is certainly false."
Summary:
① Mursal narrations from the Ṣaḥābah are categorically accepted.
② Mursal narrations from the Tābiʿīn are weak and unacceptable according to the majority of Muḥaddithīn.
The Position of Ḥanafī Muḥaddithīn
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150H) did not consider Mursal narrations a proof.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Ṭaḥāwī al-Ḥanafī (d. 321H) summarized:
"Imām Abū Ḥanīfah did not consider a Mursal (or disconnected) narration to be a proof."
(Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār 2/164, Kitāb al-Siyar, Bāb al-Rajul Yuslim fī Dār al-Ḥarb wa ʿIndahu Akthar min Arbaʿ Nisāʾ)
Ḥāfiẓ al-Ṭaḥāwī further stated:
وهم لا یحتجون بالمرسل
(Maʿānī al-Āthār 2/6, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ, Bāb al-Nikāḥ Bighayr Walī ʿAṣabah)
"The majority of Muḥaddithīn do not consider Mursal narrations a proof."
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Andalusī (d. 463H) summarized:
"Ḥanafī and Mālikī scholars in debates do not accept Mursal narrations as proof."
◈ Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (d. 456H) strongly criticized those who accept Mursal narrations as proof but reject them when they contradict personal desires.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
