Ṭarīq and Ṭuruq: Chains of One Hadith

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

Lesson

1. What will we learn?

We know that a narrator transmits a Hadith and that the sequence of narrators is its sanad. Now we will see that one Hadith can have more than one sanad. Goal: Identify where two given chains differ and explain why they are counted separately.

2. The Hadith about intentions

The Prophet ﷺ said: إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ (Sahih al-Bukhari: 1) Translation: Actions are judged by intentions. Umar heard and reported this saying from the Prophet ﷺ. We have studied this example before. Now we will look at a short part of two chains transmitting this Hadith.

3. Selected parts of two chains

Look at the people transmitting the Hadith about intentions from Yahya ibn Sa'id: • In one chain: Sufyan transmitted it from Yahya ibn Sa'id. (Sahih al-Bukhari: 1) • In another chain: Malik transmitted it from Yahya ibn Sa'id. (Sahih al-Bukhari: 54) Yahya ibn Sa'id appears in both, but the person transmitting from him is Sufyan in one and Malik in the other. These are only the relevant parts, not the complete chains.

4. What are ṭarīq and ṭuruq?

• Ṭarīq (طریق): One sequence of people transmitting a Hadith: one sanad.1 • Ṭuruq (طُرُق): The plural of ṭarīq: more than one transmission chain of a Hadith. The previous example showed part of two chains of the intentions Hadith. They illustrate two ṭuruq of that Hadith. 1. Ṭarīq: In ordinary language this word can mean “path”; here we are using its scholarly meaning, a sanad.

5. Why count them separately?

• In one chain, Sufyan transmits from Yahya ibn Sa'id. • In the other, Malik transmits from Yahya ibn Sa'id. This difference in the transmitter sequence makes them two distinct ṭuruq. Two ṭuruq do not have to differ in every narrator. Yahya ibn Sa'id appears in both chains here.

6. Two translations are not two chains

A teacher writes an Urdu translation of a Hadith and then an English translation of the same Hadith. Only the language has changed; no second sequence of transmitters has been stated. Two translations are not two ṭuruq. To understand ṭuruq, we examine the chains, not the number of translations.

7. Narrator count and chain count

Our example mentioned three names: Sufyan, Malik and Yahya ibn Sa'id. But it showed parts of two chains: • Sufyan transmitting from Yahya ibn Sa'id. • Malik transmitting from Yahya ibn Sa'id. Three names do not make three ṭuruq. Narrator count concerns people; the count of ṭuruq concerns distinct chains of the Hadith.

8. Lesson summary

• Ṭarīq (طریق): One transmission chain of a Hadith. • Ṭuruq (طرق): More than one chain of the same Hadith. • Two chains may share some narrators and still be distinct ṭuruq. • Counting narrators or translations is not the same as counting ṭuruq. You can now compare relevant parts of two given chains and identify where their transmitter sequences differ.

Practice questions

Question 1

Sufyan transmits the intentions Hadith from Yahya ibn Sa'id in one chain; Malik transmits it from Yahya ibn Sa'id in another. Why are these two distinct ṭuruq?

  • Because Yahya ibn Sa'id is named in both.
  • Because one Hadith has been explained in two languages.
  • Because the transmitter from Yahya differs between the chains.

Question 2

A learner says, “Sufyan, Malik and Yahya are three names, so our example shows three ṭuruq.” What is the mistake?

  • The learner counted people, not distinct transmission chains.
  • Only Yahya should be counted, because he appears in both.
  • Yahya should be counted again in each chain, giving four ṭuruq.

Question 3

Match each description with the appropriate term.

Question 4

If two chains share a narrator, they cannot be two distinct ṭuruq.

  • True
  • False

Question 5

A teacher keeps the same Hadith and the same sanad, but adds an English translation alongside Urdu. Does that addition alone create another ṭarīq?

  • Yes; each different language counts as a separate ṭarīq.
  • No; a translation was added, not another narrator sequence.
  • Yes; writing another translation has added a new narrator to the sanad.

Question 6

You are given two chains of a Hadith. What should you compare first to understand how their ṭuruq differ?

  • The number of sentences in the Hadith translations.
  • The meanings of the Hadith's Arabic words.
  • The narrators and who transmitted from whom.

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