What are the procedures that should be taken when trying to identify a fabricated Hadith?

Question

When trying to look to see if a Hadith is Fabricated, one looks at two aspects

1. The narrator
2. The narration/the actual Hadith/The Matan

So when looking at the narrator, what are we looking for? What are the steps, and manners that should be taken and considered? What categories should the narrator fall under to consider the Matan as Fabricated?

Answer 1

ANSWER TO THE QUESTION : HOW TO DETECT MAWDOO' HADEETH ?

Firstly, it is when the narrator himself admits that he has fabricated this Hadeeth. For example, Abdul Kareem Ibn Abi Al-'Awjaah said that I have fabricated 4000 Hadeeth.

Secondly, it is when in the Isnaad (chain of narration) of the Hadeeth, there is a narrator whom the scholars of Jarh wat Ta'deel considered as liar. For example, the narrator Sulaymaan Ibn Amr.

Thirdly, it is when we find that a Hadeeth praises a Mazhab (school of thought). For example, the following Hadeeth : Among my Ummah, there will come a man called Abu Hanifa. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be the light of my Ummah....

But, we must know that detecting / searching for mawdou' Hadeeth, it is the work of the Muhadditheen, and not "common people" like us. So, we must always refer to Ulamaa in our Deen.

Allaahu 'Alam.

Answer 2

Well,

I came across a few information which could provide you the answer what you are looking for,

Al-Shafi`i states the following requirement in order for a hadith which is not Mutawatir to be acceptable:

"Each reporter should be trustworthy in his religion; he should be known to be truthful in his narrating, to understand what he narrates, to know how a different expression can alter the meaning, and report the wording of the hadith verbatim, not only its meaning. This is because if he does not know how a different expression can change the whole meaning, he will not know if he has changed what is lawful into what is prohibited. Hence, if he reports the hadith according to its wording, no change of meaning will be found at all. Moreover, he should be a good memoriser if he happens to report from his memory, or a good preserver of his writings if he happens to report from them. He should agree with the narrations of the huffaz (leading authorities in hadith), if he reports something which they do also. He should not be a Mudallis, who narrates from someone he met something he did not hear, nor should he report from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) contrary to what reliable sources have reported from him. In addition, the one who is above him (in the isnad) should be of the same quality, [and so on,] until the hadith goes back uninterrupted to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) or any authority below him."

-al-Shafi'i, p. 370f (Eng. trans., pp. 239- 240).

Ibn al-Salah, however, defines a Sahih hadith more precisely by saying:

"A Sahih hadith is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of reporters of trustworthy memory from similar authorities, and which is found to be free from any irregularities (i.e. in the text) or defects (i.e. in the isnad)."

Answer 3

To know about Science of hadith, one can read the “books of men” i.e., narrators (kutub al-rijaal), the books which state which narrators are sound or otherwise (kutab al-jarh wa’l-ta’deel) and the books of the science of hadeeth (kutub mustalah al-hadeeth).

Many scholars have compiled fabricated and weak ahaadeeth in books devoted solely to these type of reports, so that it is easy to find out about them – then one can beware of them and warn others about them. These books include al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah by Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Manaar al-Muneef by Ibn al-Qayyim, al-La’aali’ al-Masnoo’ah fi’l-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdoo’ah by al-Suyooti, al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo’ah by al-Shawkaani, al-Asraar al-Marfoo’ah fi’l-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdoo’ah by Ibn ‘Arraaq, and Da’eef al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer and Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Da’eefah wa’l-Mawdoo’ah, both by Shaykh al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy on him.

-Extracted from fatwa of Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid https://islamqa.info/en/6981

Read fatwa of Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid for more details :: How can we tell the saheeh ahaadeeth from the fabricated ones?

Answer 4

The ultimate test of whether a hadeeth is fabricated would be:

1. If it clearly contradicts the Quran in a demonstrable way.

2. If its presentation or the implication of its message disparages or disrespects the Prophet Mohammad in any way. By "presentation" I mean if it uses inappropriate language or depicts the Prophet in an inappropriate way.

Or

3. If it depicts the Prophet as disobeying any law or rule given by Allah. Or if it makes the Prophet seem to contradict himself as based on the whole of the Sunnah.

Any of these points, if true, would disqualify a hadeeth and indicate the fabricator to have a desire to disparage the religion of Islam by injecting falsehoods.

The chain of narration itself could be fabricated and therefore cannot be used for this particular case.