Hadith

Hadith^[b] (Arabic: حديث, romanized: ḥadīṯ) or athar (Arabic: أثر, ʾaṯar, lit. 'remnant' or 'effect')^[4] is a form of Islamic oral tradition containing the sayings, actions, and approvals of the prophet Muhammad as relayed through a sequentially corroborated chain of narrators (multiple linkages of attested individuals who heard and repeated the hadith, from which the source of the hadith can be traced).^[5] Compilations of hadith were aggregated into distinct collections by Islamic scholars (known as Muhaddiths) in the centuries after Muhammad's death. Hadith are widely respected in mainstream Muslim thought and are central to Islamic law.

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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][6][7]: 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^[8] (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^[9] for salat prayer), to the correct forms of salutations^[10] and the importance of benevolence to slaves.^[11] Thus for many, the "great bulk" of the rules of Sharia are derived from hadith, rather than the Quran.^{[12][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.^[14][15] 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).^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18][19] 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.^[20][21]

Because some hadith contain questionable and ambiguous statements, the authentication of hadith became a major field of study in Islam.^[22] 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).^{[23][24][25][26][27]} Individual hadith are classified by Muslim clerics and jurists into categories such as sahih ("authentic"), hasan ("good"), or da'if ("weak").^[28] 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.^[29]

Western scholars are generally skeptical of the value of hadith for understanding the true historical Muhammad, even those considered sahih by Muslim scholars, due to their first recording centuries after Muhammad's life, the unverifiability of the claimed chains of transmission, and the widespread creation of fraudulent hadiths. Western scholars instead see hadith as more valuable for recording later developments in Islamic theology.^[30]

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