Connected Hadith

1. In this lesson

Has a narrator been omitted, or is the chain connected? This lesson explains a report with a connected chain: a muttaṣil Hadith.

2. What does muttaṣil mean?

A muttaṣil Hadith has a connected chain with no narrator omitted.

Here, connection concerns the chain of transmission.

3. A chain example

قَالَ مَالِكٌ عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ عَنْ سَالِمِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ ......

This is a chain example; the Hadith's wording after it is not supplied here.

4. Who narrated from whom?

• Mālik narrated from Ibn Shihāb.
• Ibn Shihāb from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh.
• Sālim from his father.
• His father from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The chain is connected in this example; that is why it illustrates muttaṣil.

5. Connection and authenticity

Muttaṣil tells us that the chain is connected. The label alone does not establish that the Hadith is sound.

It is also incorrect to treat it solely as a kind of rejected Hadith.

6. The status of a connected report

Depending on the narrators' condition, a connected Hadith may be sound or weak.

A connected chain and the report's status in light of its narrators are distinct matters.

7. Summary

• A muttaṣil Hadith has a connected chain with no narrator omitted.
• The example presents the transmission sequence from Mālik to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
• Connection alone does not establish soundness; a connected report may be sound or weak.