Hadith

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Hadith is what was passed down from the Prophet ﷺ, his words, deeds or approvals, and it reaches us through a chain of narrators. It is the second source of Islam after the Qur'an.

Hadith is what was passed on from the Prophet ﷺ: his words, his deeds, his approvals or his description. It was kept by a chain of narrators, each linked to the one before. It is the second source after the Qur'an, and it explains the details of worship and of good conduct.

Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.

Hadith is what is transmitted of the Prophet ﷺ's words, deeds, tacit approvals and descriptions, reaching us through a chain of narrators ending at him. It is the second source after the Qur'an, explaining its generals and fixing the details of worship, dealings, biography and conduct. It was gathered into works arranged by legal chapter or by narrator, the most famous being the six books. The science of the isnad shows who passed a report and how it came down, and on it judgements of soundness are based. The museum gives each hadith with its source and its grade, and does not grade a hadith itself.

Overview

The prophetic hadith is what is reported from the Prophet in word, deed, tacit approval, or description, and reaches us through a chain of transmission (sanad) that ends with him. ¹ ²

Its standing

It is the second source of Islam after the Qur'an. It explains what the Qur'an states in general terms, and it sets out the details of worship, dealings, the conduct of life, and ethics.

How it has come down to us

The hadith comes through the chain of transmission. It was gathered in books arranged by chapters or by the musnads of transmitters, and the best known of these are the six canonical collections.

The hadith is linked to the discipline of the Prophetic biography. Further detail needs a further source.

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Hadith methodology (mustalah al-hadith)

Mustalah al-hadith is the science of the states of chain and text — sahih, hasan, da'if; mawquf, marfu', maqtu'; muttasil, munqati', mu'dal, mursal — and the reconciliation and hidden defects of transmissions. It began in the early muhaddithun's obiter dicta, then gained its own manuals; the earliest surviving systematic statement is Muslim's introduction to his Sahih, later epitomised in works like Ibn al-Salah's Muqaddima.

At a glance

Overview

Its standing

How it has come down to us

Connections

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Sources

Ideas

Hadith methodology (mustalah al-hadith)