Skip to content
قQuranicpediaEncyclopedia of the Glorious Qur’an

Hadith الْحَدِيث

In review — pending scholar verification

A report of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — his sayings, actions, or tacit approvals — together with its chain of narrators (isnad); the second source of Islamic law and ethics after the Quran.

Overview

A hadith (Arabic: الْحَدِيث, "report" or "narrative") is a transmitted account of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — his sayings (qawl), actions (fiʿl), or his silent approval of something done in his presence (taqrīr) — preserved together with its chain of transmitters (isnād). The body of these reports as a whole is called the Sunnah; in scholarly Arabic the two terms are sometimes interchangeable, sometimes contrasted, with ḥadīth emphasising the textual report and sunnah the normative practice it preserves.

Within Sunni Islam, hadith are the second source of Islamic doctrine, law, and ethics, after the Quran. The Quran itself directs Muslims to take the Prophet ﷺ as their model and to obey him alongside obeying Allah:

"Whatever the Messenger gives you, take; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from." — Surah Al-Hashr 59:7

The science of hadith (ʿulūm al-ḥadīth or muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth) developed in the first three Islamic centuries to authenticate, classify, and preserve hadith. The collections of al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH) and Muslim (d. 261 AH), called collectively aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥān, are the two most authoritative books in Sunni Islam after the Quran. Together with the four Sunan — Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasaʾi, and Ibn Majah — they form the canonical "al-Kutub as-Sittah" (the Six Books).

Etymology and meaning

The Arabic word ḥadīth literally means "new" or "talk, narrative" — anything related as news or conversation. In technical religious usage, it has been narrowed to denote a transmitted report from the Prophet ﷺ. The Quran uses the word for revelation itself (Surah At-Tur 52:34, "Then let them produce a statement (ḥadīth) like it") and for narratives in general (Surah Yusuf 12:111, "It was not a fabricated narrative (ḥadīth)"). Specialised vocabulary developed alongside: khabar (report), athar (trace, often used for reports of Companions and Successors), and riwāyah (narration).

Structure of a hadith

A standard hadith record has two essential parts:

  • Isnād (the chain) — the list of narrators, traced backward in time, e.g., "X told us that Y told him, on the authority of Z, who said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say…"
  • Matn (the body / text) — the substantive content of the report.

Editorial parts also include the takhrīj (where the hadith is found), the grading of each narrator (jarḥ wa-taʿdīl — "criticism and praise"), and the resulting overall ḥukm (judgement). Classical Companions, when narrating, often included the names of their teachers ("I heard Abu Bakr say…"); this practice was institutionalised in the second generation, the Tābiʿūn, and became the universal documentary backbone of the discipline.

Classification of hadith

By route of transmission (number of paths)

  • Mutawātir — narrated through so many independent chains that collusion in fabrication is impossible. Highest evidentiary status.
  • Mashhūr — well-known, narrated by three or more chains in any single generation.
  • ʿAzīz — narrated through at least two chains in a generation.
  • Gharīb — narrated through a single chain in some generation.

(Mutawātir hadith — those whose transmission is overwhelmingly secure — are accepted in essence by all Sunni jurists; the bulk of hadith material is āḥād, narrated by limited chains, requiring case-by-case scrutiny.)

By acceptability (overall verdict)

  • Ṣaḥīḥ ("authentic") — connected chain of upright (ʿadl) and accurate (ḍābiṭ) narrators, free of irregularities (shudhūdh) and concealed defects (ʿillah). Highest grade.
  • Ḥasan ("good") — meets all criteria of Sahih except a slight reduction in the precision of one or more narrators. Acceptable as evidence.
  • Ḍaʿīf ("weak") — fails one or more criteria; not used as primary legal evidence, though some scholars accept it for matters of virtue (faḍāʾil al-aʿmāl) under conditions.
  • Mawḍūʿ ("fabricated") — known to be a deliberate invention falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. Forbidden to relate as authentic; classical works (e.g., Ibn al-Jawzi's Mawḍūʿāt; al-Suyuti's al-Laʾāliʾ al-Maṣnūʿah) catalogue them.

By attribution

  • Marfūʿ — attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.
  • Mawqūf — attributed to a Companion's own statement.
  • Maqṭūʿ — attributed to a Successor (Tābiʿī).
  • Qudsī — a hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ relates Allah's words in his own phrasing (distinct from Quran, which is Allah's exact wording). See Hadith Qudsi.

Quranic basis for the Sunnah

  • Surah Al-Hashr 59:7 — "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from."
  • Surah An-Nisa 4:80 — "He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah."
  • Surah An-Nisa 4:59 — "O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you."
  • Surah Aal Imran 3:31 — "Say: If you should love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins."
  • Surah An-Najm 53:3–4 — "Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed." Used by classical scholars to argue that the Prophet's ﷺ teaching is divinely guided.
  • Surah Al-Ahzab 33:21 — "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example."
  • Surah An-Nahl 16:44 — "And We revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them." The Sunnah as the Quran's appointed clarifier.

Hadith on the preservation of hadith

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever lies upon me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire." — Sahih al-Bukhari 110; Sahih Muslim 3
Abdullah ibn ʿAmr reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Convey from me, even if it is one verse." — Sahih al-Bukhari 3461
Zayd ibn Thabit reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "May Allah make radiant the face of one who hears my words, learns them by heart, and conveys them as he heard them; for many a bearer of knowledge conveys it to one more knowledgeable than himself." — Jami at-Tirmidhi 2656 (graded Sahih by al-Albani); Sunan Abi Dawud 3660

Compilation history

In the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, hadith were primarily preserved orally, with some written dictation: ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs is reported to have kept a written collection called aṣ-Ṣaḥīfah aṣ-Ṣādiqah; ʿAli ibn Abi Talib kept a ṣaḥīfah. Brief written notes increased in the time of the Companions and Successors. Caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz (r. 99–101 AH) issued a state-wide directive to collect hadith systematically, fearing the loss of knowledge as Companions and Successors aged.

The codification of hadith as books proceeded in stages:

  • Early Muṣannaf works (2nd century AH) — topically arranged collections including hadith and Companions' fatwas: ʿAbd al-Razzaq al-Ṣanʿani's Muṣannaf, Ibn Abi Shaybah's Muṣannaf.
  • Imam Malik's Muwaṭṭaʾ (mid-2nd century AH) — early Madinan hadith and practice; foundational for the Maliki school.
  • Musnad works — arranged by Companion narrator: Imam Ahmad's Musnad (~30,000 narrations), al-Tayalisi, al-Bazzar.
  • The Ṣaḥīḥān (mid-3rd century AH) — al-Bukhari and Muslim restricted themselves to material meeting their authentic-grade conditions, giving the discipline its two highest-authority canonical books.
  • The four Sunan — Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah — late 3rd century AH; primarily juristic, including authentic, good, and weak material with classifications often given by the compilers.
  • Later anthologies — al-Bayhaqi's Sunan al-Kubrā, ad-Daraqutni, ad-Darimi, al-Tabarani's three Muʿjam works, al-Hakim's al-Mustadrak.

Major Sunni collections

CollectionCompilerApprox. countNote Sahih al-BukhariMuhammad ibn Ismaʿil al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH)7,275 (with repetitions)Highest-authority book after the Quran. Sahih MuslimMuslim ibn al-Hajjaj an-Naysaburi (d. 261 AH)~7,500Topically organised; highest authority alongside Bukhari. Sunan Abi DawudAbu Dawud as-Sijistani (d. 275 AH)~5,300Juristic emphasis. Jami at-TirmidhiMuhammad ibn ʿIsa at-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH)~3,956Includes grading and juristic comparison. Sunan an-NasaʾiAhmad ibn Shuʿayb an-Nasaʾi (d. 303 AH)~5,761Strictest Sunan in standards. Sunan Ibn MajahMuhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah (d. 273 AH)~4,341Includes some weaker material than the others. Muwaṭṭaʾ MalikMalik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH)~1,720Earliest extant. Musnad AhmadAhmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH)~27,500Largest single-author collection. Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīnal-Nawawi (d. 676 AH)~1,896Anthology of authentic ethical hadith. Bulūgh al-MarāmIbn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani (d. 852 AH)~1,600Juristic anthology widely studied.

Hadith Qudsi

A Hadith Qudsi ("sacred hadith") is one in which the Prophet ﷺ relates Allah's words in his own phrasing — distinct from the Quran, whose exact wording is also Allah's. There are roughly 100 such hadith in the canonical collections; the Forty Hadith Qudsi compilation by an-Nawawi and al-Mundhiri is the best-known anthology. Famous examples include the Hadith Qudsi of mercy ("My Mercy prevails over My Wrath", Sahih al-Bukhari 7553) and of nearness ("I am as My servant thinks of Me", Sahih al-Bukhari 7405; Sahih Muslim 2675).

Significance

Hadith govern almost every detail of Muslim life that the Quran addresses in principle but not in detail. The Quran commands prayer — the hadith specify its number of units, postures, recitations. The Quran legislates zakat — the hadith fix its rates and minima. The Quran commands fasting — the hadith define the limits of imsāk, the rules of intention, and the practices of the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan. The four classical Sunni schools of jurisprudence — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafiʿi, Hanbali — differ on minor matters but are unanimous on this central principle: the Sunnah, preserved in hadith, is binding alongside the Quran.

The discipline of hadith authentication — built by the Companions, then systematised by the Successors and the great muḥaddithūn — is widely regarded by Muslim scholars as the most rigorous oral-historical preservation effort attempted in any culture. Modern critical scholarship (e.g., Ibn Hajar's Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb; al-Mizzi's Tahdhīb al-Kamāl; al-Albani's 20th-century gradings) continues the same craft.

See also

References

  1. The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Aal Imran 3:31; An-Nisa 4:59, 4:80; Al-Hashr 59:7; An-Najm 53:3–4; An-Nahl 16:44; Al-Ahzab 33:21.
  2. Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith nos. 110, 3461, 7405, 7553. Trans. M. Muhsin Khan.
  3. Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 3. Trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqui.
  4. Jami at-Tirmidhi 2656, graded Sahih by al-Albani.
  5. Ibn al-Salah ash-Shahrazuri, Muqaddimat Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ (translated as An Introduction to the Science of the Ḥadīth, trans. Eerik Dickinson, Garnet, 2006).
  6. Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani, Nukhbat al-Fikar fī Muṣṭalaḥ Ahl al-Athar; Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb.
  7. al-Suyuti, Tadrīb ar-Rāwī (commentary on al-Nawawi's at-Taqrīb).
  8. al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-Kifāyah fī ʿIlm ar-Riwāyah.
  9. al-Mizzi, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ ar-Rijāl.
  10. Mustafa al-Aʿzami, Studies in Early Hadīth Literature (American Trust, 1978); The History of the Quranic Text (UK Islamic Academy, 2003), early chapters on the parallel preservation of hadith.
  11. Jonathan A. C. Brown, Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (Oneworld, 2009) — modern academic survey.