Where was the narrator omitted? Read the bilingual lesson for Muʿallaq and Mursal and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. In this lesson
When narrators are omitted from a chain, we need to identify where the omission occurs. • In muʿallaq, narrators are omitted from the beginning of the chain. • In mursal, the intermediary after a Successor is not stated. Two actual examples will help us distinguish these forms and understand the relevant conditions.
2. Muʿallaq: definition and example
A muʿallaq report has one, several, or all narrators omitted consecutively from the beginning of its chain. Abū Mūsā reports: غَطَّى النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ حِينَ دَخَلَ عُثْمَانُ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, chapter on the thigh) Translation: The Prophet ﷺ covered both knees when ʿUthmān entered.
3. Why is this example muʿallaq?
• The wording begins with قَالَ أَبُو مُوسَى, meaning “Abū Mūsā said.” • The narrators between al-Bukhārī and Abū Mūsā are not stated here. • Omission of this initial portion makes this a muʿallaq example. 1. Beginning of the chain: Here this means the end nearest the compiler. 2. Omitted: A name or intermediary left unstated in the report.
4. The missing chain in muʿallaq
• Whether one narrator or several are omitted, the omission starts at the beginning of the chain. • If several are omitted, the omission is consecutive. • Connection is not established by this incomplete chain; this form alone is not sufficient evidence for practice. The reason concerns lack of chain connection, not the brevity of the text.
5. Mursal: the definition
A mursal report omits the intermediary after a Successor, who attributes the report directly to the Messenger ﷺ. In the next example, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib reports a prohibition of the Messenger ﷺ without naming the narrator between himself and the Prophet ﷺ. 1. Successor (tābiʿī): A Muslim who met a Companion and died as a Muslim. 2. Intermediary: A narrator through whom a report was transmitted.
6. The mursal example
عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيِّبِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَهَى عَنِ الْمُزَابَنَةِ Translation: Ibn Shihāb narrates from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib that the Messenger ﷺ prohibited muzābanah. 1. Muzābanah: One form is selling dates still on the palm trees in exchange for dried dates.
7. Which intermediary is unstated?
• Ibn Shihāb narrates from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib. • Saʿīd is a Successor; here he reports a statement of the Messenger ﷺ. • The intermediary after him is unstated, so this chain is mursal. Saying “the Messenger ﷺ prohibited” does not name the intermediary.
8. Two possibilities in a mursal omission
When a Successor leaves the following intermediary unstated: • The omitted intermediary may be a Companion alone. • Or both another Successor and a Companion may be omitted. These are the two possibilities explained for the Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib example. The shortened chain does not supply the omitted narrator's name.
9. Mursal: ruling and Hanafi conditions
A mursal chain is counted as weak because an intermediary is omitted. However, Hanafi scholars accept the mursal report of a Successor who: 1. is himself trustworthy (thiqah); 2. and consistently narrates only from trustworthy narrators. 1. Hanafi scholars: Scholars of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. 2. Thiqah: A reliable narrator whose integrity and ability to preserve reports are dependable.
10. Keep both conditions
It is not correct to say that Hanafi scholars accept every mursal report from every Successor. • The Successor must himself be trustworthy. • He must also consistently narrate only from trustworthy narrators. Being a Successor alone does not replace these two conditions.
11. Summary
• Muʿallaq: One, several, or all narrators are omitted consecutively from the chain's beginning, as in the Abū Mūsā example. • Mursal: The intermediary after a Successor is omitted, as in the Saʿīd example. • The omission may involve a Companion alone, or a Successor and a Companion. • Omission matters when considering an incomplete chain; retain both stated Hanafi conditions for accepting mursal reports.