Categories of Hadith a khabar and, therefore, a hadith can be a true report or a concoction. It is on the basis of this premise that the Muslim scholars hold that a hadith offers a "ẓannī" (inconclusive/probably true) evidence. It is as though a hadith may have many possibilities on the plane of reliability. In one of the major works in the science of hadith, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi has divided the individual narratives in the following categories, according to their epistemic value: Categories of Hadith Different categories of hadith (sayings attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad) have been used by various scholars. Experts in
Criticism of Hadith highly of Mutawatir: However, orthodox hadith scholars find non-mutawatir hadith adequate. "According to the majority of the ulama of the four Sunni schools, acting upon ahad is obligatory even if ahad fails to engender positive knowledge. Thus, in practical legal matters," but not in "matters of belief", "a preferable "zann" [meaning, speculative] "is sufficient as a basis of obligation." Ibn al-Salah ( (d. 643/1245), "one of the most distinguished traditionists of the muta'akhkhirun", argues (according to Farooq), that because mutawatir type hadith is rare, "for much of Islamic praxis, certainty of knowledge is neither feasible nor required. Rather, probable or