Gharīb Muṭlaq and Gharīb Nisbī

1. What will we learn?

A gharīb Hadith has just one narrator in a generation. Here, a ṭabaqah (طبقہ) means narrators of one transmission period or generation.

We will identify where the single narrator occurs: at the start of the sanad or in a later generation. This distinguishes gharīb muṭlaq (غریب مطلق) from gharīb nisbī (غریب نسبی).

2. Companion and Successor

• Companion (صحابی): someone who met the Prophet ﷺ as a believer and died upon faith.
• Successor (تابعی): someone who was not a Companion but met a Companion as a believer. The plural is tābiʿīn (تابعین).

In this division, the start of the sanad refers to the generation of Successors receiving the Hadith from the Companion.

3. The Hadith about faith and modesty

The Prophet ﷺ said:

الْإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسَبْعُونَ شُعْبَةً وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الْإِيمَانِ (Sahih Muslim: 35a)
Meaning: Faith has seventy-some parts, and ḥayāʾ (modesty)1 is a part of faith.

Abu Ṣāliḥ alone transmitted this Hadith from the Companion Abu Hurayrah. Abu Ṣāliḥ is a Successor, so here there is one narrator in the Successors' generation.

1. Ḥayāʾ (حیا): a sense of modesty that encourages good and restrains a person from wrongdoing.

4. The definition of gharīb muṭlaq

Gharīb muṭlaq (غریب مطلق) is a Hadith with a single narrator at the start of its sanad: that is, just one Successor in the Successors' generation transmitted it.

In the faith-and-modesty example, Abu Ṣāliḥ alone transmits from Abu Hurayrah. Under this division, the single narrator in the Successors' generation illustrates gharīb muṭlaq.

It is also called fard muṭlaq (فرد مطلق).

5. The definition of gharīb nisbī

Gharīb nisbī (غریب نسبی) is a Hadith that is not limited to one narrator at the start of its sanad, but has just one narrator in a later generation.

• In the Successors' generation, transmission is not limited to one narrator.
• In a generation after that, one narrator transmits it alone.

It is also called fard nisbī (فرد نسبی). Looking only at a later generation is not enough; the condition at the start also matters.

6. Two types, alternative names

Hadith scholars commonly use the word fard (فرد) for these two types:

• Gharīb muṭlaq — fard muṭlaq
• Gharīb nisbī — fard nisbī

These are not four separate types. Each line gives two names for the same type.

7. Lesson summary

• Gharīb muṭlaq / fard muṭlaq: just one Successor transmits in the Successors' generation.
• Gharīb nisbī / fard nisbī: transmission is not limited to one narrator at the start, but a later generation has just one.
• The key difference: does the single narrator occur at the start of the sanad or later?

In this division, the start of the sanad means the Successors' generation.