agreed upon (مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْه)
الحديث
التعريف :
- a description of a hadith implying that the two shaykhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, relate it in their two Ṣaḥīḥ anthologies, narrating it from the same companion of the prophet.
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
A Hadith that is narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, who converge on the text and the Companion-narrator.
الشرح المختصر :
"Muttafaqun `alayh" (agreed upon) is a well-known terminology in Hadith science. It means that a certain Hadith was narrated by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim with two conditions: 1. The origin of the Hadith should be the same, although it could have similar or different wordings. 2. The first narrator in the chain of narration, i.e. the Companion, must be the same. The "muttafaqun `alayh" Hadith assumes the highest degree of authenticity among the scholars of Hadith. The next degree is such Hadiths which are narrated by Al-Bukhari only, then by Muslim only, then those Hadiths which fulfill the conditions of both but are not narrated by them, then those which meet the conditions of Al-Bukhari alone, then those which meet the conditions of Muslim alone, then those which are authentic according to other competent Hadith scholars, but do not fulfill the conditions of either.