The Definition of Khabar (Report) and Its Relationship to Hadith

The science of hadith begins with defining its primary subject matter. Ibn Hajar opens Nuzhat al-Nazar by establishing the conceptual vocabulary that underlies the entire discipline. Central to this vocabulary are two terms: khabar (report or news) and hadith (tradition or narration). Understanding how scholars have defined and distinguished these terms is the essential first step.

A khabar, in Arabic linguistics, is any piece of information conveyed from one person to another — it is a report of a state of affairs, past or present. In the technical usage of Islamic scholars, khabar refers to any narration or report transmitted through a chain of narrators, whether it originates from the Prophet ﷺ, from a Companion, from a Successor (tabi'i), or from later authorities. The term is therefore broad in scope.

A hadith, in the technical sense (istilah), refers specifically to what has been transmitted from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — his words (aqwal), his actions (af'al), his tacit approvals (taqrirat), and descriptions of his physical or moral character (sifat). Some scholars extend the definition slightly to include reports from the Companions and Successors, which are then classified as hadith mawquf (reports stopping at a Companion) and hadith maqtu' (reports stopping at a Successor), respectively.

The relationship between khabar and hadith has been a point of scholarly discussion. Three positions are recorded: first, that they are synonymous (mutaradifan); second, that khabar is broader, encompassing hadith as a subset; third, that they are distinct — hadith relates to the prophetic and early Islamic reports while khabar relates to historical reports more generally. The majority of hadith scholars favor the second position.

Related to these terms is athar (trace or remnant), which some scholars use as a synonym for hadith and others restrict to reports from Companions and Successors specifically. Understanding this terminological landscape prepares the student for the precise technical language that governs the rest of the discipline. Ibn Hajar's text proceeds from this definitional foundation to the primary classification of all reports: the division into mutawatir and ahad.