The Meaning of the Terms: Mawdhu'
Marfu', Hasan Gharib and others

Question :

Some terms are mentioned at the end of a Hadith, such as Mawdu' and Marfu'; often one finds, for instance, that At-Tirmithi or An-Nisa'i says, "Hasan Gharib," or "Munkar." Please explain the meanings of these terms?

Answer:

Marfu Hadith is one that is ascribed to the Prophet either to his speech or to his actions. If a saying is ascribed to a Companion of the Prophet, scholars of Hadith will call that saying Mawquf, if it is a saying of a Tabi'i (a person who met one of the Companions), then they call it Maqtu'.

The Mawdhu' Hadith is one that is fabricated; someone purposely lied and claimed that the Prophet said something that he did not say; one is not permitted to relate such a Hadith unless one makes clear that it is Mawdhu'.

A Gharib Hadith is a Hadith that is related through one path only, which means that only one of the Companions related it, and only one person related it from that Companion, and so on.

If by Munkar, one is referring to a Hadith, then it is one that is contrary or goes against authentic and established Hadiths - when, for example, a weak person narrates it as opposed to an acceptable narrator who related the established Hadith. If by Munkar, one is referring to the narrator himself, then this means that he is weak in his narrations. To further understand these terms and their uses, the questioner should refer both to books. written on the Science of Hadith and to scholars who are specialized in the area.

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