Isnad / Hadith Chain of Transmission (إِسْنَاد)

Definition

Isnad (إِسْنَاد) — "support, linking" — is the chain of narrators through which a hadith is traced back to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is the distinctive methodological device of Islamic hadith science, unique among historical-critical traditions in its systematic documentation of transmission pathways. Each narrator in the chain must be identified by name, evaluated for trustworthiness (tawthiq) and precision (dabt), and scrutinized for continuity and consistency. Qaradawi devotes extensive attention to isnad analysis in Approaching the Sunnah, treating it as the essential mechanism by which the Muslim community preserves the authenticity of Prophetic tradition and guards against fabrication. ^[raw/extracted/

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