al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Amal bil-Hadith al-Mursal

al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Amal bil-Hadith al-Mursal (The Decisive Word on Acting upon the Mursal Hadith) is a scholarly treatise on hadith methodology and legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by the Iraqi scholar Hasan Muzhaffar Rizq of Mosul Majallat al-Jami'a al-Isl…+1. The work examines the legal probative value (hujjiyyah) of mursal narrations—reports in which a Successor (tabi'i) narrates directly from the Prophet ﷺ without naming the intermediary—and analyzes the conditions under which such hadiths may be acted upon al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama…+1.

Purpose and Approach

The author states in the introduction that because uninterrupted transmission (ittisal al-isnad) is the benchmark for distinguishing sound from flawed reports, omission in the chain (irsal) represents a defect that creates uncertainty al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama…. Due to the divergent and conflicting stances among classical and later authorities regarding whether to rely on mursal reports, the work aims to clarify the most sound methodology by synthesizing the approaches of hadith specialists (ahl al-hadith), legal theorists (usuliyyun), and jurists (fuqaha) al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….

Structure and Core Themes

The treatise addresses the topic across several key sections and themes:

• Linguistic and Technical Definitions: The work examines the linguistic roots and derivations of the term irsal (such as release, trust, speed, or detachment) and contrasts its usage with technical definitions al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama…. It highlights the distinction between the terminology of hadith scholars—who primarily designate as mursal what a Successor raises to the Prophet ﷺ—and the broader definition of legal theorists and jurists, which often encompasses any broken chain, including munqati' and mu'dal al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama…+1.
• Tiers of Mursal Narrations: The author classifies mursal reports into distinct hierarchical ranks, beginning with narrations from Companions, followed by veteran figures (mukhadramun), meticulous senior Successors (such as Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab), scholars who scrutinized their teachers (like al-Sha'bi and Mujahid), down to those who transmitted widely from various sources or were junior Successors whose transmissions were largely from other Successors al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….
• Doctrinal Positions and Theoretical Foundations: The treatise surveys the major scholarly stances regarding the acceptance, total rejection, or conditional acceptance of mursal narrations al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama…+1. It traces the divergence of opinions back to broader foundational principles in legal theory, including:
  1. The acceptance and legal weight of narrations from an unidentified or unvetted transmitter (majhul al-'adalah) al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….
  2. Whether transmission by an upright narrator inherently implies endorsement (ta'dil) of the unnamed source al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….
  3. The status of an ambiguous statement such as "a person not suspected of falsehood narrated to me" al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….
  4. Whether endorsement must be accompanied by explicit explanation of its grounds al-Qawl al-Fasl fi al-Ama….

Publication

The study was published as a specialized research article in the Journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bil-Madinah al-Munawwarah) in issue 62 Majallat al-Jami'a al-Isl…+1.