A Study of the Irregularities of Hadith, Judgement and the Way to Encounter Them

In Islam, tradition has a special place; for it is the second source of understanding religion after the holy Quran. Muslim scholars use their best endeavours to keep and study traditions, and compose hundreds of books to recognize and understand the contents of traditions and their chains of transmission. Some of the narrations in the hadith sources do possess irregularity in texts or chain. What is meant by irregularity, here, is that a tradition has been narrated in different versions and texts or diverse chains of transmission. So, it is necessary for every teacher in the field to know the method of encountering such kind of traditions. Sometimes after using an exact and accurate method, an irregular tradition becomes a true one, and sometimes remains in its previous state. This article deals with the accurate methods of irregular traditions and explains the way of employing them. The necessity of this subject for the researchers of the religious issues is completely clear; for, one of the main sources in the historical, moral, theological, interpretive and legal researches in traditions, some of which have been irregular. As a result, knowing how to encounter these kinds of narrations is necessary for the scholars of the above-mentioned fields of knowledge.