Hadist
Hadith[b] is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account [of an event]' [3][4][5]: 471 and refers to
the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the
silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle
(companions in Sunni Islam,[6][7] Ahl al-Bayt in Shiite Islam).[8]
Each hadith is associated with a chain of narrators (isnad)—a lineage of people who
reportedly heard and repeated the hadith from which the source of the hadith can be
traced.[9] The authentication of hadith became a significant discipline, focusing on
the isnad (chain of narrators) and matn (main text of the report).[10][11][12][13][14] This process
aimed to address contradictions and questionable statements within certain narrations.
[15]
Beginning one or two centuries after Muhammad's death, Islamic scholars, known
as muhaddiths, compiled hadith into distinct collections that survive in the historical
works of writers from the second and third centuries of the Muslim era (c. 700−1000
CE).
For many Muslim sects, hadith was a reliable source for religious and moral guidance
known as sunnah, which ranks second to that of the Quran in authority,[16] widely
respected in mainstream Islamic thought, so that the majority of Sharia rules derived
from hadith rather than the Quran.[17][Note 1] However in the early Islamic society and the
use of hadith as it is understood today (documentation, isnads, etc.) came
gradually. Sunnah originally meant a tradition that did not contain the definition of good
and bad.[19][20][21][22][23] Later, "good traditions" began to be referred to as sunnah and the
concept of "Muhammad's sunnah" was established.[19] Muhammad's sunnah gave way to
the "hadiths of Muhammad"[3] which were being transmitted orally, then recorded in the
corpuses that continued to be collected, classified and purified according to various
criteria in the following centuries. Scholars have categorized hadith based on their
reliability, sorting them into classifications such as sahih ('authentic'), hasan ('good'),
and da'if ('weak').[24] This classification is subjective to the person doing this study[25] and
differences in classification have led to variations in practices among the
different Islamic schools and branches.[26] The study of hadith is a central discipline in
Islam, known as the hadith sciences, and is also examined in the contemporary
historiographical field of hadith studies.
After being compiled in the 10th and 11th centuries, the Hadith were originally imposed
in the 14th century by socio-political and spiritual authorities.[27] A minority of
Muslims criticise the hadith and reject them, including Quranists, who assert that Islamic
guidance should rely solely on the Quran. They argue that many hadith are fabrications
(pseudepigrapha) from the 8th and 9th centuries, falsely attributed to Muhammad.[28]
[29]
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.[30][31] Western scholars participating in the field of
hadith studies are generally skeptical of the value of hadith for understanding the
true historical Muhammad, even those considered sahih by Muslim scholars. Reasons
for skepticism include the late compilation of hadith (often centuries after Muhammad’s
death), difficulties in verifying chains of transmission, the prevalence of hadith
fabrication, and doubts about the traditional methods of hadith authentication. This
skepticism extends even to hadith classified as sahih by Muslim scholars, as such
narrations may still reflect later historical or theological concerns rather than the
authentic teachings of Muhammad.[9][32]
