al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil bayna al-Rāwī wa al-Wāʿī

Among the earliest known works dedicated specifically to the discipline of ḥadīth nomenclature (muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth) is al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil bayna al-Rāwī wa al-Wāʿī by Imām Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Rāmhurmuzī (d. after 360 AH). This seminal work represents a pioneering attempt to compile the principles of ḥadīth transmission and reception into a coherent treatise, distinguishing the roles and etiquettes of the transmitter (rāwī) and the recipient (wāʿī).

Before this, the theoretical underpinnings of ḥadīth criticism and classification were addressed incidentally in the writings of jurists and early scholars without being systematised into standalone works. One of the most prolific contributors to early discussions in this field was Imām ʿAlī b. al-Madīnī (d. 234 AH), whose insights are scattered across various transmissions. Shaykh ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah (d. 1417 AH) even identified him as the first to independently author on aspects of ḥadīth sciences, though no full work of his in the form of a systematic muṣṭalaḥ manual has survived.

It is commonly misconceived that al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil was the first book ever written on muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth, whereas, in fact, leading scholars such as Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī (d. 1014 AH), Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn ʿIṭr (d. 1442 AH), and Shaykh ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Raḥīlī have clarified that it is merely among the earliest surviving examples, not the absolute first.

This text was not originally intended to be a comprehensive manual on ḥadīth terminology. Rather, Imām al-Rāmhurmuzī sought to provide guidance on the proper manners and methodology involved in acquiring and transmitting ḥadīth, addressing both students and teachers. His preface begins by lamenting the rise of a faction that expresses enmity toward ḥadīth and its scholars. He responds by asserting the honour and virtue of ḥadīth and those devoted to its service.

Despite his greater fame as a linguist and grammarian, al-Rāmhurmuzī’s insights into ḥadīth methodology were highly esteemed. Imām adh-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH) and Imām Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī (d. 576 AH) both praised the work; the latter was so enamoured with the book that he is reported to have carried it with him wherever he went.

Modern critical editions of al-Muḥaddith al-Fāṣil include:

• The edition of Muḥammad ʿAjāj al-Khaṭīb (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah), 678 pages

• The edition of Abū Hammām al-Bayḍānī (al-Nāshir al-Mutamayyiz), 821 pages

• The edition of Muḥammad Muḥibb al-Dīn Abū Zayd (Dār al-Dhakhāʾir), 800 pages

  
  

The book remains an indispensable early source for tracing the development of ḥadīth methodology and pedagogy, even if it does not follow the systematic framework established by later scholars such as Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.