All this...

All this, avoiding further elaboration, bears testimony to the role played by `ilm al-hadith in expansion of the sciences."[^3] According to al-Suyuti, al-Hazimi considered `ilm al-hadith to consist of more than a hundred disciplines; Ibn Salah has mentioned 65 of these various disciplines.[^4] Ibn Khaldun, in his work on history, mentions the following branches of `ilm al-hadith: the study of the nasikh and mansukh verses of the Qur'an, `ilm al-rijal, `ilm istilahat al-hadith, study of the text of hadith and its peculiarities, study of the qualifications necessary for a narrator to transmit hadith, knowledge of veracity of transmitters, and `ilm fiqh al-hadith.[^5] However, Hakim Abi `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah Hafiz al-Nishaburi, in his book Ma`rifat `ulum al-hadith, mentions fifty-two disciplines in the science of hadith.

In view of its importance, we mention them here: Recognition of al-hadith al-`ali: On page 5 of his book, he says that recognition of the hadith `ali al-'asnad (a tradition all of whose narrators are known and veracious) is a part of `ilm al-hadith. He mentions further that besides the condition that the chain of transmitters of a hadith `ali should be as short as possible, the transmitters must, in addition, be all veracious.

Recognition of al-hadith al-nazil: On page 7, he says that identification of al-hadith al-nazil is also a branch of `Ilm al-hadith. Some have defined al-hadith al-nazil as the opposite of al-hadith a/-'ali, but this definition is insufficient. In fact, there are various degrees of the al-hadith al-nazil recognizable only for the experts. In this category are included the ahadith which require more than the ordinary amount of learning and scholarship.

Study of the veracity of narrators: On page 14, he includes this also as part of `Ilm al-hadith. Biographical details, level of knowledge and degree of carefulness of a narrator are issues related to this subject. Knowledge of masanid of hadith: On page 17, he says that knowledge of the masanid (first narrator in the chain of transmission) of a hadith is an important subject. There is a disagreement among leading Islamic jurists about the validity of ahadith which are not musnadah.

Al-hadith al-musnad is one which has reached us from one of the well-known of the Messenger of God (S). Study of al-riwayat al-mawqufah: On page 19, he discusses the study of al-riwayat al-mawqufah. Al-riwayat al-mawqufah is one whose primary source is one of the of the Prophet (S).