Introduction to the Science of Hadith Introduction to the Science of Hadith (Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ's) Introduction to the Science of Hadith () is a 13th-century book written by `Abd al-Raḥmān ibn `Uthmān al-Shahrazūrī, better known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, which describes the Islamic discipline of the science of hadith, its terminology and the principals of biographical evaluation. A hadith is a recorded statement, action or approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad which serves as the second source of legislature in Islamic law. The science of hadith that this work describes contains the principles with which a hadith specialist evaluates the authenticity of individual narrations. "The Introduction" comprises 65
Introduction to the Science of Hadith chapters, each covering a hadith related issue. The first 33 chapters describe the various technical terms of hadith terminology which describe the conditions of a hadith's authenticity, or acceptability as a basis for Islamic jurisprudence. The following chapters relate to the "isnād", or chain of narration. Next are a series of chapters pertaining to the etiquette to be observed by hadith scholars and manners of transcription. The last chapters describe various issues relating to the narrators of hadith including naming conventions. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ began the "Introduction" as a series of lectures he dictated to his students in Damascus ending in