Hadith- The Important Source in Islam

Hadith is an Arabic word which means “report or account” whereas according to the Muslim world the word “hadith” is interpreted as “a saying of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), whether it is   approval or disapproval “. After Quran Majeed the hadith is the second most important and basic source in Islam, the source which guides us the right way of Islam.

                Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) to this world with the most important task which was to explain the message of Allah to the people and guide them the right path which is perfect for all of us. That explanation of Muhammad (P.B.U.H) became hadith, and by hadith we mean the sayings and the silent permissions. That is the reason why it is impossible to explain a hadith without referring it to Quran.

Kutub al Sittah:

                Kutub AL Sittah sometimes referred as “Al Sihah Al Sittah” an Arabic word which means “The Authentic Six”. In the ninth century Sunni Muslim scholars compiled six books having all the ahadith in it. In the beginning they were originally five books but in 11^th century “Ibn al Qaisarani” added another to the list called as “Ibn Majah”. Some Sunni scholars disagreed on the addition of this book because it contains ahadith which do not have any reference in other five books. The other sixth book “Al Muwatta” collected by” Imam Malik” was considered the sixth by some scholars because it contains all the ahadith which are all present in other five books.

Following are the six books of ahadith but their order of legitimacy differs in different sects:

1-Sahih Bukhari:

               Sahih Al Bukhari is the one most authentic book according to Sunni Muslim. Sahih Bukhari book was compiled by a Persian Muslim Muhammad Al-Bukhari in 854 AD and it was in Arabic language. According to Hafiz Ibn Hajar, the name of the book was “Al-Jami’us Sahih Al-Musnad min Hadith Al-Rasool Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam WA Sunanihi wa Ayyamihi” whereas according to Ibn Salah the name of the book is “Al-Jami’ul Musnad Al-Sahih Al-Mukhtasar min Umoorir Rasool Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam wa Sunanihi wa Ayyamihi”. This book contains 7275 ahadith which has many repeating ahadith. After excluding the repeating ahadith the number remains 4000. Now-a-days Sahih Bukhari is available for smart phones to keep this precious thing with you all the time and get benefits from it. Download Sahih Bukhari app for Android and iOS devices.

2-Sahih Muslim:

               Sahih Muslim, the second most authentic book after Sahih al Bukhari and it was written by “Muslim IBn-al-Hajjaj”. Its full name is “Al-Musnadu Al-Sahihu bi Naklil Adli”. Sahih Muslim is divided into 43 books and theses books contains 7190 ahadith. According to “Muhammad Amin” there are 1400 authentic ahadith which are present in other books. The collection, Sahih Muslim is also available in the form of app for Android and iOS user. Download Sahih Muslim app for Android and iOS devices.

3-Sunan Abu Dawood:

                Sunan Abu Dawood, the book that belongs to Kutub al Sittah was collected by “Abu Dawud”. Abu Dawud collected 500000 ahadith but according to him only 4800 were authentic which he included in his book. He made effort for 20 years to complete the collection of ahadith. Sunan Abu Dawood has been translated in many languages especially in Urdu Arabic and Indonesian language.

4-Jami Al-Tirmadhi:

                Jami al-Tirmadhi collected by “Abu Isa Muhammad Ibn Isa At-Tirmadhi”. He started his collection after 250 AH. The complete title for the book is “Al-Jāmi` al-Mukhtaṣar Min as-Sunan ‘An Rasūl Allah Wa Ma’rifat al-Saheeh Wal-Ma’lool Wa Mā ‘Alaihil ‘Amal”. This book is divided in to 50 chapters and it has total of 3956 ahadith. According to Sunni Muslim this book is at 5^th place.

5-Sunan An-Nasai:

                Sunan An-Nasai is also known as “Al-Sunan Al Sughra” and it was collected by Al-Nasai. It contains 5270 ahadith which includes the repeated ahadith also. According to Sunni this book is at third place.

6-Sunan Ibn Majah:

                Sunan ibn Majah, one of the kutub al sittah and it was collected by “Ibn- Majah”. This collection is divided in to 32 books and contains more than 4000 ahadith and these ahadith are further divided in to 1500 chapters. According to some sunni scholars this book is at sixth position in strength where as some other scholars replace it with “Muwatta” of “Imam Malik”.

Classification of Hadith:

                As a Muslim it is our religious duty to understand guidance behind the hadith so we can be on the right path set by our Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and it is only possible when we have a source to gain knowledge about hadith. May ALLAH bless all the Muslims and guide us the right and the true way of Islam. Ameen