Hadith

Hadith ({{lang-ar|الحديث}}, Arabic pl. ahadith; in English academic usage, hadith is often both singular and plural) are traditions relating to the sayings and doings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions, or sahaba. Hadith collections are regarded as important tools for determining the Sunnah, or Muslim way of life, by all traditional schools of jurisprudence.

Hadith accepted by Sunni Islam

The Sunni canon of hadith took its final form four to five centuries after the death of Muhammad. Later scholars may have debated the authenticity of particular hadith but the authority of the canon as a whole was not questioned. This canon includes:

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• al-Bukhari (d. 870) included 7275 hadiths
• Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875) included 9200.
• Abu Da'ud (d. 888)
• al-Tirmidhi (d. 892)
• al-Nasa'i (d. 915)
• Ibn Maja (d. 886).

al-Bukhari and Muslim are usually considered the most reliable of these collections. There is some debate over whether the sixth member of this canon should be Ibn Maja or the Muwatta of Imam Malik, which is the earliest hadith canon but predates much of the methodology developed by the classic hadith scholars.

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While there are still many traditional Muslims who rely on the ulema and its long tradition of hadith collection and criticism, other contemporary Sunni Muslims are willing to reconsider tradition.

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Some believe that even the ordinary Muslim should be able to read hadith and use his/her own judgement to judge what is acceptable (halal) and what is forbidden (haram). Uncertainty as to which of the conflicting traditions to follow is reduced when the believer uses only Bukhari and Muslim, the commentators deemed to be most correct (sahih), and ignores the collections of weak hadith. Liberal Muslims are most apt to trust the individual conscience, but there are also Salafis who demand the same freedom.

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Other groups, such as many of the Salafi groups, trust their leaders to reconsider the hadith tradition and using their own judgement (ijtihad) come to a conclusion as to the real sunnah, the real historical practice of Muhammad and his earliest followers. These groups rely not only on the sahih hadith, but on other hadith collections like the Sunan Ad Darimee, Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, and the Sahih Ibn Hibban. They say that they do not follow any of the four madhabs, but follow only the sunnah as defined by the hadith they accept as reliable.

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