The sources of

Islamic law & history of

compilation of
hadith books
 History of the
compilation of Hadith
 Hadith
Hadith is the second source of Islamic law after the
Holy Quran.
It means ‘news’ or ‘story.’
It is the record of the traditions or sayings of the
Holy Prophet (PBUH) received as a major source of
religious law and moral guidance.
These traditions & sayings in the life of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) & the early history of Islam were
passed down mostly orally for more than a hundred
years after the death of the Prophet in 632AD.
 Obligation to obey
Allah says:
‘Whoever does not believe in Allah and His
Messenger, We have prepared a blaze for the
unbelievers.’
This shows us that it is important to believe in
Allah & the teachings of the Holy Prophet
(PBUH). If we do not believe in these two
attributes, we will be punished by God.
 Compilation of Hadith
During the prophet hood of the Holy Prophet
(PBUH), he had forbade the writing down of the
Sunnah in fear that it would be mixed with the
teachings Holy Quran. However when that fear
was removed, the writing down & preservation
of Sunnah was practiced.
However, after his death the companions of the
Holy Prophet (PBUH) continued to discourage
the writing of the Sunnah for several reasons.
 Reasons
1. The Arabs were weak in writing hence if there
had been a major attempt to write the Sunnah,
there would have been many mistakes.
2. The Quran needed time to settle in the minds of
people before the work on Hadith was begun so
that it would not mix with the Quran in their
minds.
3. Pronunciation of words varied between the
Muslims. Hence the improper pronunciation
could lead to conflicts between the people &
disrupt the peace of the Muslim ummah.
 Hazarat Usman (RA)

The third caliph Hazarat Usman

(RA) is generally believed to urge
Muslims to record the hadith by
suggesting some of the followers to
write down the Holy Prophets
words and actions.
 Rules to check the authenticity of
Hadith
The rules to check the authenticity of Hadith
were made by Imam Bukhari & his
contemporaries.
They travelled far off to find the transmitters &
faced a lot of difficulties since a huge number of
Hadith were in circulation.
The solution they found was to test the
authenticity of Hadith by the rules of Isnad &
Matn.
 Isnad (chain of narrators)
Isnad is an Arabic word derived from ‘Sanad’
which means ‘support.’
The Isnad guarantees the that the Hadith
originated from the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Its reliability determines the validity of the
Hadith.
Rules of Isnad include:
 Rules for Isnad
1. Each transmitter must be honest & upright.
Once Imam Bukhari went to a Muslim who
knew a Hadith but when the Imam saw that the
person was deceiving his animal by showing it
an empty basket of food in order to get it inside
of its premises, he returned without collecting
Hadith as he considered him dishonest.
 Rules for Isnad
2. A public event must have more than one set of
narrators.
The first caliph of Islam Hazarat Abu Bakr (RA), a close
companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is said to have
reported that Muslims kissed their thumbs when the Holy
Prophet (PBUH)’s name was mentioned in the call to
prayer (Azaan). This report was rejected because no other
companion passed on anything like it. It was rejected
because the muhaddithun reasoned that such an action
would have had been very public & so other companions
too would be expected to mention it.
 Rules for Isnad
3. Each narrator must be a Muslim.
4. He must have a good memory.
5. He should report exactly what he last learnt from his
teacher & not to use his own words.
6. There should be no non-Muslim. Each transmitter must be
honest & upright. slim in the chain.
7. Each transmitter must have known the transmitter before
him & also the transmitter after.
8. The first transmitter in the chain must be a companion of
the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
9. There must be no gaps or weaknesses in the chain. (chain
should be unbroken)
 Matn (the actual words of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH))
Matn is the text of the hadith.
Some rules of Matn are:
1. The Hadith should not go in contradiction
with the Holy Quran nor the basic Islamic
teachings.
2. The Hadith should not contradict with any
(accepted) authentic hadith.
3. It should not go against common sense or the
normal experiences of the people.
 Rules for Matn
4. It should not praise an individual, a definite
location or tribe.
5. It should not give precise details of events
that happened after the death of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH).
6. It should not contain expressions that were
out of keeping with what the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) might be expected to use.
 Collection of Hadith
The number of hadiths collected is as much as
700,000. Several collections of Hadith include the
ones collected by:
1. Malik Ibn Anas collected about 500 hadiths in
his famous book, ‘Al-Muwattaa.’
2. Ahmed Ibn Hanbal collected about 40,000
hadiths, in his famous ‘Musnad.’
3. Bukhari collected about 600,000 hadiths.
4. Moslem collected 300,000 hadiths but only
accepted 4000 of them.
 Classification
Through these rules, the Hadith were classified into the following
types:
1. Sahih Hadith (genuine Hadith):
These Hadith are the Hadith that passes all the tests & can be
regarded without question as coming from the Holy Prophet
(PBUH).
2. Hasan Hadith (fair Hadith):
These Hadith are the Hadith which have doubts about their
authenticity.
3. Daif Hadith (weak Hadith):
These Hadith are the Hadith which raise questions regarding their
authenticity.
4. Al-Maida Hadith (false Hadith):
These Hadith are the Hadith which are false & incorrect.
 Musnad & Musanaf collections of
Hadith
Musnad collection Musanaf collection
Musnad is that collection of Hadith which Musanaf is the collection of Hadith
is according to the first narrator in the according to their themes.
chain of transmitters who is always a
companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
A Musnad collection will have chapters of It is divided into chapters according to the
Hadith according to the names of the topics.
narrators without considering their
themes.
Example: Hadith narrated by Abu Example: Hadith related to prayers will be
Hurairah (RA) will be collected in one in one chapter & Hadith of fasting will be
chapter & Hadith narrated by Hazarat in a separate chapter.
Ayesha (RA) will be compiled in a separate
chapter.
Musnad is useful when looking for Hadith Musanaf is useful when looking for Hadith
narrated by a particular person example on a certain topic example zakat & hajj
Abu Hurairah. etc.
 Sahih al Sitta
Sahih al Sitta are the six books containing collections of
hadith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) compiled by six
Sunni Muslim scholars in the ninth century. They are also
referred as ‘the authentic six.’
They include:
1. Sahih Bukhari
2. Sahih Muslim
3. Al Tirmidhi
4. Sunan-e-Abu Daud
5. Sunan-e-Nisai
6. Sunan-e-Ibn-e-Majah
 Shia collections of Hadith
Shia Muslims have separate collections of
Hadith consisting of Isnads & Matns.
There are six major books of Hadith used &
practiced by the Sunnis. The Shia typically don't
treat these collections with such esteem &
instead give preferential treatment to four of
their own books of Hadith.
Major Shia compilations of Hadith
Major Shia compilations of Hadith include the 4
books which are:
1. Mohammad al-Kulyani’s (The sufficient in
science of religion)
2. Mohammad al-Tusi’s (The revision of
judgment)
3. Mohammad al-Tusi’s (The perceptive)
4. Mohammad Ibn Babuya’s (He who has no
legal expert present)
 Importance of Hadith in practical life
The Quran cannot be understood and implemented
in ones life without the use of Hadith & Sunnah.
Example: In the Holy Quran, Allah tells His
believers to be affectionate towards each other, to
speak good words & to behave modestly. Believers
learn about the examples of how to actually
implement all these commands in their lives by
means of the practices of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
 Importance of Hadith in practical life
The Holy Quran states:
‘Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He
sent a Messenger to them from among themselves to recite
His Signs to them, purify them & teach them the Book &
Wisdom, even though before that they were clearly
misguided.’ (Surah Al-Imran)
This verse teaches us that Allah has led us to the right path
with the help of the guidance of the Holy Prophet
(PBUH). Hence if we want to achieve success in life, we
should practice & implement the teachings of the Holy
Quran, Hadith & Sunnah.
May Allah bless us all with a joyful & secure life. Ameen.