COMPONENTS OF HADITH

A hadith is composed of two main parts that are quite different from each other: the sanad (chain of narrators) and the matn (text).

Sanad is the list of narrators - back to the Prophet (pbuh) - provided that one narrator transmits it from another and then to another. In a sense, this part is the chain of narrators. In fact, it is called the isnad, "the chain of narrators". Actually, the words sanad and isnad are used interchangeably now. Sanad is also known as tariq or wach.

The matn is "the main part of the hadith, the verbal part with which the sanad ends."