Ṣaḥīḥ li-Dhātihi: A Bukhari Example and Its Ruling

1. Introduction

We will read an actual example of ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi. Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim heard the Prophet ﷺ reciting in prayer and transmitted it.

We will:
• Distinguish the narrators' sequence from the report's content.
• Understand the ruling on acting upon sound Hadith.

2. The report

Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim reports:

سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَرَأَ فِي الْمَغْرِبِ بِالطُّورِ. (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 765)
Translation: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite Sūrah al-Ṭūr in the Maghrib prayer.

The matn (متن) is the report's content. Here it describes the Prophet's ﷺ recitation.

3. The sanad of this report

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ مُطْعِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ

Meaning: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf narrated to us: Mālik informed us, from Ibn Shihāb, from Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, from his father, who said:

Then comes 'I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ…'. The narrators' sequence above is the sanad (سند).

4. From his father

عَنْ أَبِيهِ means 'from his father'.

Here Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim transmits from his father, Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim.

Jubayr is the speaker saying 'I heard'. He heard the Messenger's ﷺ recitation; these are not the Prophet's own words 'I heard'.

5. An example of ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi

This report is an example of ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi. That classification brings together all five conditions:

• Every narrator is trustworthy and preserves the Hadith very carefully, with its sanad, in memory or writing.
• No narrator is omitted.
• No hidden defect affects soundness.
• A trustworthy narrator's report does not contradict a more reliable narrator's report.

Reading the names alone is not a scholarly investigation of these conditions.

6. Acting upon sound Hadith

Acting upon ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi is obligatory. Wājib (واجب) here means required.

This is the general ruling on acting upon sound Hadith. Do not insert it as extra wording into the example.

The report describes the Prophet ﷺ reciting Sūrah al-Ṭūr. Its text does not say 'Sūrah al-Ṭūr must be recited in every Maghrib prayer'.

7. Summary

• Sanad: the sequence of narrators in this example.
• Matn: Jubayr hearing the Prophet ﷺ recite Sūrah al-Ṭūr in Maghrib.
• Classification: an example of ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi, requiring all five conditions.
• Ruling: acting upon ṣaḥīḥ li-dhātihi is obligatory.

Distinguish what the report says, its classification, and the ruling on acting upon it.