Instructions:
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Watch the video carefully and take clear, organized notes while watching.
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Review the concepts covered in the video and then attempt all the given exercises independently.
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If you feel stuck on any question, go back to your notes and re-watch the relevant part of the video before moving on.
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Do not skip difficult questions—use your notes to understand the method or concept step by step.
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Write down any questions or confusions in your notebook so you can ask the lecturer during the next class.
Good morning students. Today, we’re going to talk about something very important in Hadith studies: the Isnād and the Matn. Don’t worry if these sound like big words, I’ll break them down simply so you can understand.
First, let’s start with Isnād. Isnād means the chain of narrators. Imagine you hear a story from your best friend, who heard it from her older brother, who heard it from his teacher. That’s a chain. In Hadith, scholars wanted to make sure that the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, were passed down by trustworthy people. If one person in the chain was unreliable, the Hadith could not be accepted. The Prophet himself warned us, “Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Hellfire.” That’s why Muslims took the chain of narrators so seriously.
Now, at the beginning, during the Prophet’s lifetime, people didn’t need Isnād because they could directly hear from him. But after his passing, and as Islam spread far and wide, false reports started appearing. That’s when scholars said: “Name your narrators so we can check them.” They began studying the lives of narrators—were they honest? Did they have a good memory? Did they actually meet the person they claimed to narrate from? All of this became part of the science of Hadith.
Next, let’s talk about Matn. Matn is the actual text of the Hadith, the words themselves. Scholars checked carefully to see if the Hadith matched the Qur’an, other authentic Hadith, and the character of the Prophet, peace be upon him. For example, if someone claimed the Prophet said something that sounded exaggerated or went against the Qur’an, scholars would reject it. So, Isnād checks the people, while Matn checks the content.
By the second and third centuries of Islam, scholars had developed this into a full science. They wrote books about narrators, recorded their biographies, and built systems for checking both the chain and the text. Great scholars like Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, and Imam Ahmad dedicated their entire lives to this. Imam Bukhari, for example, memorized thousands of Hadith but only accepted a few thousand as authentic after applying strict rules.
This careful process protected Islam from fake Hadith. At times, people tried to invent sayings for political reasons or to promote their own ideas. But scholars caught these fabrications by analyzing both the chain and the wording. This is unique to Islam—no other religion has such a detailed and scientific way of preserving its founder’s teachings.
So, to wrap up: Isnād is the chain of narrators, Matn is the text. Together, they made sure Hadith were preserved accurately. Isnād checks who passed it on, Matn checks what was said. Thanks to this system, the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is still intact and authentic today.
