Narrator Count: Mutawātir and Khabar Āḥād

The Basis of This Division: Narrator Count

● According to narrator count, reports have four categories: mutawātir, mashhūr, ʿazīz, and gharīb.

● Mashhūr, ʿazīz, and gharīb are collectively called khabar āḥād.

Mutawātir Report

● A mutawātir report has so many narrators in every generation and at every level of the chain that their agreement upon a lie is ordinarily impossible.

● The report is based on something perceived, such as hearing or seeing.

● Narrator abundance must continue throughout the chain; one crowded level is not enough.

An Example of Mutawātir

● Example: “مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ”

● Simple meaning: Whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, let him take his seat in the Fire.

● Reason: Its narrators are numerous in every generation and at every level of the chain, so it is mutawātir.

Why Is This Example Mutawātir?

One condition of mutawātir is that the report is based on something perceived, such as hearing or seeing. A merely rational or inferential claim does not fulfil this condition.

Khabar Āḥād

● The three narrator-count categories that do not reach mutawātir are collectively called khabar āḥād: mashhūr, ʿazīz, and gharīb.

● Being khabar āḥād does not by itself determine authenticity or weakness.

Lesson Summary

● A mutawātir report has very many narrators at every level.

● Mashhūr, ʿazīz, and gharīb have fewer narrators than mutawātir and are collectively called khabar āḥād.