Hadith

Hadith^[b] is a form of Islamic oral tradition containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the prophet Muhammad. Each hadith is associated with a chain of narrators (a lineage of people who reportedly heard and repeated the hadith, from which the source of the hadith can apparently be traced).^[4] Compilations of hadith were aggregated into distinct collections by Islamic scholars (known as Muhaddiths) beginning one or two centuries after Muhammad's death. Hadith are widely respected in mainstream Muslim thought and are central to Islamic law. They are at the center of a major scholarly discipline in Islam known as the hadith sciences, in addition to a contemporary field of historiography known as hadith studies.

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Related topics Ahl al-Hadith Criticism Sheikh al-Hadith
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Ḥadīth is the Arabic word for things like a report or an account (of an event).^{[3][5][6]: 471} For many, the authority of hadith is a source for religious and moral guidance known as Sunnah, which ranks second only to that of the Quran^[7] (which Muslims hold to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad). While the number of verses pertaining to law in the Quran is relatively small, hadith are considered by many to give direction on everything from details of religious obligations (such as Ghusl or Wudu, ablutions^[8] for salat prayer), to the correct forms of salutations^[9] and the importance of benevolence to slaves.^[10] Thus for many, the "great bulk" of the rules of Sharia are derived from hadith, rather than the Quran.^{[11][Note 1]} Among scholars of Sunni Islam the term hadith may include not only the words, advice, practices, etc. of Muhammad, but also those of his companions.^[13][14] In Shia Islam, hadith are the embodiment of the sunnah, the words and actions of Muhammad and his family, the Ahl al-Bayt (The Twelve Imams and Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah).^[15]

Unlike the Quran, not all Muslims believe that all hadith accounts are divine revelation; in fact, scholars have thoroughly examined hadith to sort them into accuracy categories ever since the early period following the Prophet Muhammad's death. Different collections of hadīth would come to differentiate the different branches of the Islamic faith.^[16] A minority of Muslims believe that Islamic guidance should be based on the Quran only, thus rejecting the authority of hadith; some further claim that many hadiths are fabrications (pseudepigrapha) created in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, and which are falsely attributed to Muhammad.^[17][18] Historically, some sects of the Kharijites also rejected the hadiths, while Mu'tazilites rejected the hadiths as the basis for Islamic law, while at the same time accepting the Sunnah and Ijma.^[19][20]

Because some hadith contain questionable and contradictory statements, the authentication of hadith became a major Islamic discipline known as the hadith sciences.^[21] In its classic form a hadith consists of two parts—the chain of narrators who have transmitted the report (the isnad), and the main text of the report (the matn).^{[22][23][24][25][26]} Individual hadith are classified by Muslim clerics and jurists into categories such as sahih ('authentic'), hasan ('good'), or da'if ('weak').^[27] However, different groups and different scholars may classify a hadith differently. Historically, some hadiths deemed to be unreliable were still used by Sunni jurists for non-core areas of law.^[28]

Western scholars participating in the field of hadith studies are generally skeptical of the value of hadith for understanding the true historical Muhammad, even those considered sahih by Muslim scholars. Among other reasons, this is due to the late date for when the hadith compilations were made (at least 1 century and usually multiple centuries between his death and the surviving compilations), difficulties in verifying their chains of transmission, the prevalence of falsified hadith, and skepticism concerning whether the methods of the traditional hadith sciences can reliably discriminate between authentic and inauthentic hadith.^[4][29]

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