The Authentication of Ḥadīth: Ibn Ḥibbān’s Introduction to His Ṣaḥīḥ

Ibn Ḥibbān was a prominent scholar and critic of Ḥadīth. He seems to have collected Ḥadīth in his hometown of Bust in AH 270–300/881–911. He then travelled and made several journeys between Tashkent and Alexandria for about 40 years before returning to his native Sijistan in 340/951. By focusing on Ibn Ḥibbān’s introduction to his al-Taqāsim wa-l-anwāʿ (“Divisions and Categories”), better known as Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, the primary goal of this article is to examine Ibn Ḥibbān’s theory of Ḥadīth authentication. Ibn Ḥibbān’s theory of authenticity was established upon a set of formulas pertaining to transmission and knowledge that revolved almost entirely around the examination of isnād (chain of transmission). Since the aspiration of Ḥadīth studies is to distinguish between authentic and weak Ḥadīths, this article draws on evidence showing that Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān could be considered as a pioneering attempt to systemise the authentication of Ḥadīth in the first three centuries of hijra.