The loosely attributed report (mursal)

الحديث المرسل

For Ibn Hajar the loosely attributed report (mursal) is one from whose chain the link after the Successor has dropped, the Successor saying 'The Messenger of God said...'; it is rejected because the omitted narrator is unknown, and scholars differed on using it when the Successor is known to omit only trustworthy narrators: most hadith scholars suspended judgement, the Malikis and Kufans accepted it outright, and al-Shafi'i accepted it when supported ¹.

Overview

The second kind of drop in Ibn Hajar's [[work/nuzhat-al-nazar|Nuzhat al-Nazar]] is the loss of the link at the end of the chain, after the Successor: this is the mursal. Its form is a Successor, senior or junior, saying: "The Messenger of God said such-and-such", or "did such-and-such", or "such-and-such was done in his presence". ²

Why it counts among rejected reports

The mursal is listed among rejected reports because the omitted narrator is unknown. He might be a Companion or a Successor; if a Successor, he might be weak or trustworthy; if trustworthy, he might have taken it from a Companion or from another Successor; and so the possibilities multiply. In theory they are endless; in practice, by survey, they reach six or seven, the most found of Successors transmitting from one another. ²

The dispute over using it as proof

If the Successor is known to omit only trustworthy narrators, scholars differed: ¹

Abu Bakr al-Razi of the Hanafis and Abu al-Walid al-Baji of the Malikis report agreement that if a narrator omits both trustworthy and other narrators, his mursal reports are not accepted. ³

Opinions on the question

The question: Is the mursal report usable as proof?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni: most hadith scholars, and one of Ahmad's two viewsMain reference

judgement is suspended, since the uncertainty remains. ²

More opinions (2)

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni: the Malikis and the Kufans, and Ahmad's second viewMain reference

it is accepted outright. ²

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni: al-Shafi'iMain reference

it is accepted if supported by its coming through another route distinct from the first, with a full chain or loosely attributed, making it likelier that the omitted narrator was in fact trustworthy. ¹

Sources

Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar: Nuzhat al-Nazar fi Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahl al-Athar — Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, ed. Nur al-Din 'Itr, Maktabat al-Bushra, Karachi 2011 , p. 78-79

Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar: Nuzhat al-Nazar fi Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahl al-Athar — Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, ed. Nur al-Din 'Itr, Maktabat al-Bushra, Karachi 2011 , p. 78

Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar: Nuzhat al-Nazar fi Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahl al-Athar — Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, ed. Nur al-Din 'Itr, Maktabat al-Bushra, Karachi 2011 , p. 79

The obscured (mu'dal) and the interrupted (munqati') report

For Ibn Hajar the obscured report (mu'dal) is one with two or more consecutive narrators missing from its chain, and the interrupted report (munqati') one with two non-consecutive narrators missing in two places, or one, or more than two, provided they are not consecutive. For Ibn al-Salah mu'dal is a name for a special kind of munqati': a chain from which two or more narrators have dropped out, which some also call mursal. Examples are a Follower of the Successors saying 'the Messenger of God said', jurists writing 'the Messenger of God said such-and-such', and Malik's 'it reached me from Abu Hurayra'. Al-Hakim also counted as mu'dal a Follower's report stopping at a Successor when others transmit it connected to the Prophet, which Ibn al-Salah approved. He treats chains with 'an' and suspended chains as appendices to this type.