Mawquf

Mawquf is a term used in Islamic hadith studies to describe a report whose chain of transmission ends with a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad. The Arabic term mawqūf literally means “stopped.” In a mawquf, the matn (the text of the report) is attributed to a Companion as saying, doing, or approving something, but the chain does not extend to the Prophet himself.

A mawquf can take the form of a Companion’s qaul (saying) or fi’l (action), or of tacit approval attributed to the Companion. It is distinguished from marfu’ reports, which are raised to the Prophet, and from mursal reports, where a Successor narrates something as if it were from the Prophet but without a direct chain linking to the Companion who heard it or transmitted it.

Judicially, the reliability of a mawquf depends on the integrity and reliability of the Companion in the chain, as well as the compatibility of the matn with established Islamic principles and other evidence. Mawquf reports may be considered authentic (sahih) or good (hasan) if the chain is strong and the matn is sound, but they are often viewed with more caution than marfu’ reports. Weak mawquf reports may be deemed da’if (weak) if there are problematic narrators or matn issues, and some scholars exclude mawquf reports from legal rulings unless corroborated.

In practice, mawquf appears in both Sunni and Shia hadith literature, where it is analyzed and weighed alongside other categories to determine its usefulness as evidence in jurisprudence and theology.