Rāwī and Ruwāt: Hadith Narrators

The learner can recognize Hadith as a report of the Prophet's ﷺ saying, action, tacit approval, or state. Read the bilingual lesson for Rāwī and Ruwāt: Hadith Narrators and test your understanding with a focused quiz.

Lesson

1. What will we learn?

We have learned the difference between sanad and matn. Now we will look at the people who transmit a Hadith. • Who reported the Hadith? • From whom did that person hear it? • How does one person differ from the whole sanad? Goal: Explain who transmitted from whom in a given example.

2. The saying and the person reporting it

The Prophet ﷺ said: إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ (Sahih al-Bukhari: 1) Translation: Actions are judged by intentions. Umar heard this saying from the Prophet ﷺ and reported it to others. • The saying is the Prophet's ﷺ. • Umar heard and reported it.

3. What is a rāwī?

A rāwī (راوی), or narrator, is a person who transmits a Hadith. Here, transmitting means reporting the Hadith to others. In the previous example, Umar is a rāwī because he heard the Prophet's ﷺ saying and reported it. A narrator transmits the saying; he does not compose it himself.

4. Who heard from whom?

In this same Hadith, Alqama ibn Waqqas1 heard Umar and reported it. • Umar heard the Prophet ﷺ. • Alqama heard Umar. Alqama is also a narrator. He heard this Hadith from Umar, not directly from the Prophet ﷺ. This is one part of the sanad of this Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari. (Sahih al-Bukhari: 1) 1. Ibn (بن): In an Arabic name, it means “son of”; Alqama ibn Waqqas means Alqama, son of Waqqas.

5. What does ruwāt mean?

Ruwāt (رواۃ) is the plural of rāwī: people who transmit a Hadith. Our example mentions Umar and Alqama. Both are among the narrators of this Hadith because both reported it to others. • For one person: rāwī (راوی). • For the people transmitting a Hadith: ruwāt (رواۃ).

6. Rāwī, sanad and matn

The sequence of narrators is called the sanad (سند). It tells us who transmitted the Hadith from whom. In this example: • Rāwī: A person transmitting the Hadith, such as Umar or Alqama. • Part of the sanad: Alqama heard Umar, and Umar heard the Prophet ﷺ. • Part of the matn: The Prophet's ﷺ words about intentions that we read. Listing names alone is not enough; we also need to understand who transmitted from whom.

7. Reporting and adding an explanation

Umar reported the Prophet's ﷺ saying, so he is a narrator of this Hadith. By contrast, when a teacher explains a Hadith in the teacher's own words, that explanation does not become the Prophet's ﷺ original wording. Keep the reported words of the Hadith separate from the teacher's own explanation.

8. Lesson summary

• Rāwī (راوی): A person who transmits a Hadith. • Ruwāt (رواۃ): The plural of rāwī; the people transmitting it. • Sanad (سند): The sequence of narrators—who transmitted from whom. • Matn (متن): The wording that follows the sanad. You can now distinguish the person, the transmission sequence and the Hadith's wording in a given example.

Practice questions

Question 1

Umar heard the saying about intentions from the Prophet ﷺ and reported it. Why is he called a rāwī here?

  • Because he explained the saying's meaning in his own words.
  • Because he passed on the saying he had heard.
  • Because the saying about intentions was his own statement.

Question 2

Alqama heard this Hadith from Umar and reported it. What does this tell us about Alqama?

  • He is a narrator, but he heard this Hadith from Umar.
  • He is a narrator, so he heard this Hadith directly from the Prophet ﷺ.
  • He is not a narrator of this Hadith because he heard it from Umar.

Question 3

Match each description to its appropriate term.

Question 4

If we know the names of two narrators of a Hadith, their names alone also tell us who heard from whom.

  • True
  • False

Question 5

A learner wrote only “Umar, Alqama” from the example. Which addition is most needed to explain this part of the sanad?

  • Adding a simple translation of the saying about intentions.
  • Writing both people's names fully and clearly.
  • Stating that Alqama heard this Hadith from Umar.

Question 6

A teacher reads the Hadith about intentions and then adds an explanation. A learner wants to write the matn separately. What should the learner do?

  • Include the teacher's own explanation in the matn along with the Hadith wording.
  • Write the reported Hadith wording separately from the teacher's own explanation.
  • Label the teacher's own explanation as matn and the Hadith wording as its explanation.

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