Muhaddith
/muˈhɑːdɪθ/noun
A Muslim scholar who specializes in collecting, evaluating, and transmitting hadith reports about the Prophet Muhammad and early Islam.
Did you know?A muhaddith could scrutinize not only a report’s wording but also the biographies, memory, and reliability of every narrator in its chain of transmission.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḥdṯ
“A reconstructed root associated with newness, occurrence, and something that has recently happened or been related.”
Pre-Islamic Arabic
Arabic
ḥadatha
“To happen, occur, or come into being; the root also developed senses connected with relating or reporting.”
7th Century
Classical Arabic
ḥadīth
“A report, narrative, conversation, or account; in Islamic usage, a transmitted report about the Prophet Muhammad’s words, actions, or approvals.”
7th–9th Centuries
Classical Arabic
muḥaddith
“A person who transmits or relates reports, especially a specialist in preserving and examining hadith.”
19th–20th Centuries
English
muhaddith
“A scholarly loanword in English referring to a specialist in hadith criticism and transmission.”