?ad?th
Ḥadīth (Arab., ‘narrative’). Muslim tradition—accounts of the ‘words, deeds or silent approval' of Muḥammad during the period of his preaching, but especially after the beginning of the Qurʾān revelations. Although the plural is ahādith, Hadith is used in English as a collective for ‘traditions’, as well as the word for a single tradition.
A ḥadīth—a single item of tradition—consists of two parts: matn (‘text’) and isnād or sanad (‘chain of authorities’). An elaborate science of ḥadīth criticism grew up, mainly to ensure the authenticity of any given ḥadīth. Of the major collections of Ḥadith, the best known and most quoted is the Ṣaḥīḥ (Sound Collection) of al-Bukhārī (d. 870). A second important collection is the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim b. al-Hajjāj (d. 875), and those two are known as the ‘two Ṣaḥīḥ’. Next in importance are those of al-Tirmidhī (d. 892), al-Nasāʾī (d. 915), Ibn Māja (d. 886), and Abū Dāwūd (d. 888). Together these form the ‘six books’ of reference.
The Shīʿa have their own collections of ḥadīth, which they accuse the Sunnis of having deliberately ignored or concealed, which extol the virtues of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and the Twelve Imāms. The earliest authoritative collection is Al-kāfīfī ʿIlm al-Dīn, of Abu Jaʿfar.
A ḥadīth—a single item of tradition—consists of two parts: matn (‘text’) and isnād or sanad (‘chain of authorities’). An elaborate science of ḥadīth criticism grew up, mainly to ensure the authenticity of any given ḥadīth. Of the major collections of Ḥadith, the best known and most quoted is the Ṣaḥīḥ (Sound Collection) of al-Bukhārī (d. 870). A second important collection is the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim b. al-Hajjāj (d. 875), and those two are known as the ‘two Ṣaḥīḥ’. Next in importance are those of al-Tirmidhī (d. 892), al-Nasāʾī (d. 915), Ibn Māja (d. 886), and Abū Dāwūd (d. 888). Together these form the ‘six books’ of reference.
The Shīʿa have their own collections of ḥadīth, which they accuse the Sunnis of having deliberately ignored or concealed, which extol the virtues of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and the Twelve Imāms. The earliest authoritative collection is Al-kāfīfī ʿIlm al-Dīn, of Abu Jaʿfar.
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