Hadith & Sunnah – An Introduction

Hadith or Sunnah are the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), Meaning communication or narrative, it is the record of an individual saying or action or approvals of Muhammad (Sal-Allaho-Alay-hay-Wasal-lam)   taken as a model of behavior by Muslims.  The sayings and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (Sal-Allaho-Alay-hay-Wasal-lam) are called Hadith.  These are the real explanation, interpretation, and the living example of the Prophet (Sal-Allaho-Alay-hay-Wasal-lam)  for teachings of the Quran.

Allah says “We have undoubtedly sent down the Reminder, and We will truly preserve it.” [Surah al-Hijr, 15:9]

The above promise made by Allah is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the Qur’anic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation. However, what is often forgotten by many Muslims is that the above divine promise also includes, by necessity, the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for it is the practical example of the implementation of the Qur’anic guidance, the Wisdom taught to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) along with the Scripture, and neither the Qur’an nor the Sunnah can be understood correctly without recourse to the other.

Hence, Allah preserved the Qur’an from being initially lost by the martyrdom of its memorisers, by guiding the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, endorsed by the consensus of the Messenger’s Companions (may Allah bless him and grant him peace and may He be pleased with them), to compile the ayat (signs, miracles, “verses”) of the Qur’an into one volume, after these had been scattered in writing on various materials and in memory amongst many faithful hearts. He safeguarded it from corruption by its enemies: disbelievers, heretics, and false prophets, by enabling millions of believers to commit it to memory with ease. He protected its teachings by causing thousands of people of knowledge to learn from its deep treasures and convey them to the masses, and by sending renewers of His Deen at the beginning of every century.

Similarly, Allah preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companions and those after them (may Allah be pleased with them) to memorise, write down and pass on the statements of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the descriptions of his Way, as well as to continue the blessings of practising the Sunnah. Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allah caused the Muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals of incredible memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of precious wisdom of their Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the enormous number of ‘ulama’, the Companions and those who followed their way, who had taught in various centres of learning and helped to transmit the legacy of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) – all of this achieved through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of Hadith. Action being the best way to preserve teachings, the renewers of Islam also revived the practice of the blessed authentic Sunnah.

hadith islam

Unfortunately however, statements will continue to be attributed to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) although the person quoting them may have no idea what the people of knowledge of Hadith have ruled regarding those ahadith, thus ironically being in danger of contravening the Prophet’s widely-narrated stern warnings about attributing incorrect/unsound statements to him. For example, here are some very commonly-quoted ahadith, which actually vary tremendously in their degree of authenticity from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

1) “Surah al-Ikhlas is worth a third of the Qur’an.”
2) The hadith about the Ninety-Name Names of Allah.
3) Allah says, “I was a hidden treasure, and I wished to be known, so I created a creation (mankind), then made Myself known to them, and they recognised Me.”
4) Allah says, “Were it not for you (O Muhammad), I would not have created the universe.”
5) When Allah completed creation, He wrote in a Book (which is) with Him, above His Throne, “Verily, My Mercy will prevail over My Wrath.”
6) Allah says, “Neither My heaven nor My earth can contain Me, but the heart of My believing slave can contain Me.”
7) “He who knows himself, knows his Lord.”
8) “Where is Allah?”
9) “Love of one’s homeland is part of Faith.”
10) “I have left amongst you two things which, if you hold fast to them, you will never stray: the Book of Allah, and my Sunnah.”
11) “I have left among you that which if you abide by, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah, and my Family, the Members of my House.”
12) The hadith giving ten Companions, by name, the good tidings of Paradise.
13) “If the iman (faith) of Abu Bakr was weighed against the iman of all the people of the earth, the former would outweigh the latter.”
14) “I am the City of Knowledge, and ‘Ali is its Gate.”
15) “My companions are like the stars: whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.”
16) “The differing amongst my Ummah is a mercy.”
17) “My Ummah will split up into seventy-three sects: seventy-two will be in the Fire, and one in the Garden.”
18) Prophecies about the coming of the Mahdi (the guided one), Dajjal (the False Christ, the Anti-Christ) and the return of Jesus Christ son of Mary.
19) Description of punishment and bliss in the grave, for the wicked and pious people respectively.
20) Intercession by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and the believers seeing Allah, on the Day of Judgment.
21) “Paradise is under the feet of mothers.”
22) “Paradise is under the shade of swords.”
23) “Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim.”
24) “Seek knowledge, even if you have to go to China.”
25) “The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr.”
26) “We have returned from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad (i.e. the struggle against the evil of one’s soul).”

The methodology of the expert scholars of Hadith in assessing such narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken/fabricated etc., forms the subject-matter of a wealth of material left to us by the muhaddithun (scholars of Hadith, “traditionists”).

The Muslims are agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is the second of the two revealed fundamental sources of Islam, after the Glorious Qur’an. The authentic Sunnah is contained within the vast body of Hadith literature.

{Ar. Sunnah: Way, Path, Tradition, Example. See An Introduction to the Sunnah by Suhaib Hasan (Understanding Islam Series no. 5, published by Al-Quran Society), for Qur’anic proofs of revelation besides the Qur’an, the importance of the Sunnah, and a brief history of the collections of Hadith. See also Imam al- Shafi’i’s al-Risalah for the authoritative position of the Sunnah (Eng. trans., pp. 109- 116).}

A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnad (chain of reporters). A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnad with reliable reporters to be acceptable; ‘Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers of Imam al-Bukhari, said, “The isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished to would have said whatever he liked.”

{Related by Imam Muslim in the Introduction to his Sahih – see Sahih Muslim (ed. M.F. ‘Abdul Baqi, 5 vols., Cairo, 1374/1955), 1:15 & Sahih Muslim bi Sharh an-Nawawi (18 vols. in 6, Cairo, 1349), 1:87. The existing English translation of Sahih Muslim, by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, does not contain this extremely valuable Introduction}

During the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and after his death, his Companions (Sahabah) used to refer to him directly, when quoting his sayings. The Successors (Tabi’un) followed suit; some of them used to quote the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) through the Companions while others would omit the intermediate authority – such a hadith was later known as mursal. It was found that the missing link between the Successor and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) might be one person, i.e. a Companion, or two people, the extra person being an older Successor who heard the hadith from the Companion. This is an example of how the need for the verification of each isnad arose; Imam Malik (d. 179) said, “The first one to utilise the isnad was Ibn Shihab al- Zuhri” (d. 124).

{Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, Al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil (8 vols., Hyderabad, 1360-1373), 1:20.}

The other more important reason was the deliberate fabrication of ahadith by various sects which appeared amongst the Muslims, in order to support their views (see later, under discussion of maudu’ ahadith). Ibn Sirin (d. 110), a Successor, said, “They would not ask about the isnad. But when the fitnah (trouble, turmoil, esp.civil war) happened, they said: Name to us your men. So the narrations of the Ahl al-Sunnah (Adherents to the Sunnah) would be accepted, while those of the Ahl al-Bid’ah (Adherents to Innovation) would not be accepted.”

{Sahih Muslim, 1:15. See Suhaib Hasan, Criticism of Hadith among Muslims with reference to Sunan Ibn Maja (Ta Ha publishers / Al-Quran Society, London, 1407/1986), pp. 15-17 for discussion of this statement of Ibn Sirin.}