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
Hadith terminology its source. This provides confirmation that the "hadith" is authentically attributed to its source at a level above reasonable doubt. This is due to its being beyond historical possibility that narrators could have conspired to forge a narration. In contrast, an "ahaad hadith" is a narration the chain of which has not reached a number sufficient to qualify as "mutawatir". "Hadiths" can be "mutawatir" in both actual text and meaning: The second category, "ahaad" ( meaning "singular") narration, refers to any "hadith" not classified as "mutawatir". Linguistically, "hadith ahad" refers to a "hadith" narrated by only one narrator. In "hadith"