2. Agenda
• Defining Sunnah and Hadith
• Arguments for the authenticity of Hadith
• Compilation of Ahadith
• Classification of the Ahadith
3. Sunnah and Hadith: Literal Meaning
• Sunnah:
– Practice (practice of an individual)
– Custom (established practice of a society)
– Tradition (established practice of many generations of people)
• Hadith:
– A saying
– A piece of information
4. Sunnah and Hadith: Technical Meaning
• Sunnah includes:
– []قول Sayings of the Prophet (S.A.W)
– []فعل Practices of the Prophet (S.A.W)
– []تقرير Tacit approvals of the Prophet (S.A.W)
• Hadith:
– The reported and recorded form of Sunnah
– Also known as Khabar
5. Deductive Argument for the Authenticity of Hadith
َهللا ْاوُعيِطَأ َو
َونُمَح ْرُت ْمُكَّلَعَل َلوُسَّالر َو
And obey Allah and the Messenger, so that you may be graced
with mercy. [Al-Imran: 132]
6. Deductive Argument for the Authenticity of Hadith
َونُظِفاَحَل ُهَل اَّنِإ َو َرْكِالذ َانْلََّزن ُنَْحن اَّنِإ
Surely We have revealed this reminder (the Qur'an); and We will
surely preserve it. [Al-Hijr: 9]
ِإ َل ِ
زُن اَم ِ
اسَّنلِل َنِيَبُتِل َرْكِالذ َْكيَلِإ َانْلَنزَأ َو
ْمِهْيَل
We have sent down the reminder (the Qur’an) to you (O
Muhammad), so that you may explain clearly to mankind as to
what was sent to them. [Al-Nahal: 44]
7. Inductive Argument for the Authenticity of Hadith
• Argument based on historical facts: the history of the
compilation of hadith
• Utmost care has been taken by the successive generations of the
Muslim Ummah in order to preserve the authentic hadith of the
Prophet (S.A.W)
8. Three Periods in the Compilation of Hadith
1. Age of the Prophet (S.A.W) and the companions
2. Age of the Tabi‘een and the Taba Tabi‘een
3. Third Century Hijri (The Golden Period of Hadith
Compilation)
9. Preservation and Compilation of Hadith during the
time of the Prophet (S.A.W) and the companions
• Memorization
• Discussion
• Practice
• Writing:
– Compilation of Hazrat Ali (R.A)
– Compilation of Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn al-Aas (R.A)
– Compilation of Hazrat Abu Hurairah (R.A)
10. Compilation of Hadith in the time of Tabi‘een and
Taba‘ Tabi‘een:
• Compilation of Hassan al-Basri
• Compilation of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri
• Compilation of Hammam Ibn Munabbih [Student of Abu
Hurairah (R.A)]
• Al-Mu’atta of Imam Malik
• Musnad of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
11. Compilation of Hadith in the Third Century Hijri
• Books of Hadith:
1. Sahih Bukhari
2. Sahih Muslim
3. Sunan Abu Dawood
4. Sunan Nisaai
5. Jami‘ Tirmizi
6. Sunan Ibn Majah
• These six books are known as ستہ صحاح (The Six Authentic
Books)
12. Three Periods in the Compilation of Hadith
1. Age of the Prophet (S.A.W) and the companions
– Sahifas
2. Age of the Tabi‘een and the Taba Tabi‘een
– Musnads
3. Third Century Hijri
– Musannafs
13. Classification of Hadith (w.r.t the number of
narrators)
• Khabar Mutawatir (متواتر )خبر
– Narrated by such a large number of reliable individuals at each and
every stage of narration that the possibility of concoction is
inconceivable.
• Khabar Wahid (واحد )خبر
– A hadith which is narrated by one or two reliable individuals at any
stage of narration.
14. Two types of Khabar Mutawatir
• Verbal Mutawatir (باللفظ )متواتر:
– “Whoever invents a lie and attributes it to me intentionally, let him
prepare his seat in the Fire.”
– The Last Sermon of the Prophet (S.A.W)
• Conceptual Mutawatir (بالمعنى )متواتر:
– Ahadith about number of rak‘ats in daily prayers
– Ahadith about the punishment in the grave
15. Further Classification of Khabar Wahid
• Khabar Mash’hur: Narrated by at least three narrators at each
stage of narration
• Khabar Azeez: Narrated by at least two narrators at each stage
of narration
• Khabar Ghareeb: Narrated by at least one narrator at each stage
of narration
16. Two Parts of Hadith
• Hadith has two parts:
– Sanad ()سند: Chain of Narration
– Matan ()متن: Text of Hadith
Malik Ibn Anas heard from Nafi‘, who heard from Abdullah Ibn
Umar that the Messenger of Allah ()ﷺ said:
“Prayer in congregation is better than the prayer of a man by
himself by twenty-seven degrees.”
17. Conditions for Khabar Wahid Ahadith
• Analyzing the chain of narration ()سند of Hadith:
– The chain of narration should be complete and without flaws ()متصل
– All narrators of hadith should have good character ()عادل
– All narrators of hadith should have good memory (الضبط )كامل
18. Conditions for Khabar Wahid Ahadith
• Analyzing the text ()متن of the Hadith:
– The text of the hadith should be supported by evidence from the
Qur’an and other ahadith
– The text of the hadith should be supported by actual facts
19. Classification of Hadith (w.r.t the quality of the sanad and matan)
• Sahih ( صحيح – Authentic): A hadith which perfectly fulfills the criteria of evaluation
regarding the chain of narration and the text.
• Hassan ( حسن – Good): A hadith which fulfills the criteria like Sahih Hadith BUT
there is one narrator in the chain of narration who does not have good memory.
• Za‘eef ( ضعيف – Weak): A hadith which has a broken chain of narration OR there is
one narrator in the chain of narration who has committed sin.
• Mawzu‘ ( موضوع – Fabricated): A saying which is wrongly attributed to the Prophet
(S.A.W)
20. Important Categories of Hadith
• Only the Sahih and the Hassan ahadith are accepted in important
religious matters
• The Za‘eef ahadith can be used as supportive information but
not as a main source of knowledge
