Two parts of every Hadith: Every Hadith has two parts.
The Sanad, the chain: The first part is the Sanad — the chain of narrators. It is the list of people who passed the words on: "A heard it from B, who heard it from C, who heard it from the Imam (as)."
The Matn, the text: The second part is the Matn — the text itself, the actual words of the Hadith.
Scholars check both parts: Scholars check both parts. They check the Sanad by studying the narrators. They check the Matn by asking: does this text agree with the Quran? Does it agree with other reliable Hadith? Does it make sense?
Accepted only when both are sound: A Hadith is only accepted when both parts are sound.
Example
A parcel delivered home: Think of a parcel delivered to your home. The Sanad is like the delivery route — who carried the parcel, from which shop, through which hands.
What is inside the parcel: The Matn is what is inside the parcel. Even if the route was safe, you still check what is inside: is it really what you ordered?
Check the route and the parcel: Scholars check both the route and the parcel.
Key Terms
- Sanad (سند) — the chain of narrators
- Matn (متن) — the text of the Hadith
Quran or Hadith
None used in this topic.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A Hadith shown as two boxes: the top box labelled "Sanad — the chain of people" with five faces in a row, and the bottom box labelled "Matn — the words".
- Every Hadith has two parts: Sanad (the chain) and Matn (the text).
- Scholars check the Sanad by studying the narrators.
- Scholars check the Matn against the Quran and other reliable Hadith.
- A Hadith is accepted only when both parts are sound.