Brief History and Takhrij Methods in Hadith Science

First: Takhrij by knowing the narrator of the hadith from the companions

            This method is specific if we want to know the name of the companion who narrated the hadith, then we seek help from three types of hadith works, including:

• Al-Masanid (musnad-musnad): in this book there are hadiths narrated by each companion. When we already know the name of the companion who narrated the hadith, then we will look for the hadith in the book al-Masanid until we get instructions in one musnad from the collection of musnad.
• Al-Ma'ajim (mu'jam-mu'jam): the arrangement of the hadith in it is based on the order of the musnad of the companions or syuyuk (teachers) or the nation (place of origin) according to the dictionary letters (hijiyyah order). By knowing the name of our companion, this will make it easier for us to refer to a hadith.
• The Book  of Al-Athraf: The books  of Al-Athraf are mostly compiled based on the musnad of the Companions in the order of their names according to the letters of the dictionary. If a hadith researcher knows part of the hadith, he can refer to the sources provided by the books  of al-athraf to then take the complete hadith.

Second: Takhrij by knowing the beginning of the hadith

            This second method can be helped by many reference books. Here are the books that can help us in using this second takhrij.

• Books that contain hadiths that are quite famous, such as: "Ad-Durar Al-Muntatsirah fil Ahadist Al-Masyurah" written by Imam As-Suyuti, "Al-Laali' Al-Mantsurah fi Ahadist Al-Masyurah" written by Ibn Hajar, "Al-Maqashid Al-Hasanah fi Bayani Katsiriin min Al-Ahadist Al-Musytahirah 'ala Alhasinah", which was written by Imam As-Sakhawy, "Tamyiizu At-Thayyib min At-Tayyib min Al-Khabits Fima Yadurru 'Ala Alsinati An-Naas min Al-Hadith", authored by Ibn Ad-Dabi' As-Shaibany, "Kasyifaul Khafa' wa Muziilu Al-Ilbaas 'amma Isytahara min Al-Ahadist 'Ala Alsinati An-Nas", authored by Al-'Ajluni.
• Hadith books are arranged based on the order of the letters of the dictionary, for example: "Al-Jami'u As-Shaghir min Ahadits Al-Basyir An-Nadzir" which was composed by Imam As-Shuyuti.
• Instructions and indexes compiled by scholars for certain books, such as: "Miftahu Ash-Shahihain" by At-Tauqidi, "Miftahu At-Tartiibi li Ahadits Tarikh Al-Khatib" by Sayyid Abdulaziz bin Al-Ghumari, "Fihris li Tartibi Ahadist Saheeh Muslim" and "Miftah Muwattha' Malik" by Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi.

Third: Takhrij by knowing the word that is rarely used by people from any part of the hadith

            This method can be assisted by books such as: Al-Mu'jam Al-Mufahras li Al-Faadzi Al-Hadith An-Nawawi, which contains nine books that are most known among the hadith books, namely: Kutubus Sittah, the book of Muwattha' written by Imam Malik, Musnad Ahmad and Musnad Ad-Darimi. This book was compiled by an orientalist, namely DR. AJ Wensink (died in 1939 AD), an Arabic teacher at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

Fourth: Takhrij by knowing the topic of the hadith discussion

            If the topic and object of the hadith discussion are known, then it can be helped in the takhrij with hadith works that are arranged based on discussions or titles. This method is greatly helped by the book"Miftah Kunuz As-Sunnah" which contains a list of hadiths based on certain discussions in order or titles. It was also compiled by DR. AJ Wensink, which includes a list of 14 famous hadith books, namely:

• Saheeh Bukhari
• Saheeh Muslim
• Jami' At-Tirmidhi
• Sunan Abu Dawud
• Sunan An-Nasa'i
• Sunan Ibn Majah
• Muwattha' Imam Malik
• Musnad Ahmad
• Musnad Imam Abu Dawud At-Thayalisi
• Sunan Ad-Darimi
• Musnad Zaid bi Ali
• Sirah Ibn Hisham
• Maghazi Al-Waqidi
• Thabaqot Ibn Sa'ad

In compiling the book, DR. AJ Wensink spent 10 years, then translated into Arabic and disseminated by Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi, who dedicated it for four years.