In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
What is a Hadith?
In the Arabic language the word hadith (plural ahadith, or hadiths) means ‘news’; it also means ‘saying, report, speech or story’. In the context of Islam, when we speak of hadith we mean the Prophet Muhammad’s 
sayings, deeds, advice, and the actions approved in his presence, as recorded by his Companions. Ahadith are sometimes referred to as Traditions. A related word is Sunnah, which means ‘way of life.’ It is used to mean the Way of the Prophet . We learn about his Sunnah from ahadith, as well as from the customs and rulings of his pious Companions, who modelled their lives after his.
Why are Ahadith important?
After the Qur’an itself – God’s Last Testament and revelation to mankind – the Sunnah is the second source of Islam. The Qur’an lays down basic principles, while the Sunnah clarifies those principles and explains how to put them into practice. For instance, Allah states in the Qur’an that Muslims must pray, give charity, fast and make pilgrimage, but the details of how to fulfil those essential obligations were taught by the Prophet Muhammad . It would be impossible to practise Islam correctly without knowledge of the Prophet’s Sunnah. The importance of the Prophet’s role as a teacher, advisor and lawgiver is emphasised in the Qur’an in many verses. Allah says:
Whatever the Messenger (of Allah) gives you, take it;
and whatever he forbids, avoid. (al-Qur’an 59: 7)
Obey Allah and the Messenger... (al-Qur’an 3:132)
He does not speak from his own desire (al-Qur’an 53:3)
How do we know what the Prophet Muhammad said and did?
The Prophet’s Companions were utterly devoted to him, and out of their love for him they tried to emulate his way of doing things, and to remember his every word. They also knew that Allah would hold them responsible for passing on the Prophet’s teachings to the next generation of Muslims.
The Prophet instructed them, ‘Pass on knowledge from me, even if it is only one sentence,’ and ‘those who are present should convey the message to those who are absent’ (Bukhari). He made this easier for them by speaking in short sentences and sometimes repeating important points three times. Those Companions who had good memories would spend some time each day repeating what they had heard from Allah’s Messenger; some formed study circles for this purpose or wrote down his teachings in books for their personal reference. Abu Hurayrah 
, who transmitted thousands of ahadith, used to divide his night into three parts: one third for sleeping, one third for praying, and one third for memorising ahadith. Other Companions including ʿUmar, ʿAli, Abu Musa al-Ashʿari, Ibn Masʿud, Ibn ʿAbbas, and ʿA’ishah also devoted much time to memorising the Prophet’s words and teaching them to others (may Allah be pleased with them all). They were extremely cautious not to make mistakes, because of the Prophet’s warning: ‘Whoever deliberately tells a lie about me will find his place ready in Hellfire’ (Tirmidhi).
How the teaching of Hadith spread
After the Prophet’s death, his Companions and their Successors continued to teach the Qur’an and hadith at mosques and study circles. Students everywhere, from India, China, and Afghanistan to Egypt, North Africa and Spain devoted themselves to memorising the Prophet’s words and following his blessed example. Scholars travelled from city to city to learn or to teach, quoting the sources of each hadith they knew. A scholar might say, ‘I heard from Ibn Wahb, who heard from ʿAmr, who heard from Bukhayr, who heard from Ibn al-Musayyab, who heard from Abu Hurayrah, that the blessed Prophet said…’ and he would narrate the hadith. The chain of narrators became known as the sanad, while the hadith itself was known as the matn, or text.
How the sciences of hadith were established
As Islam spread far and wide, and many different kinds of people had dealings with Muslims, it became increasingly difficult to be sure that all the things being said in the Prophet’s name were, in fact, true. Some hypocrites and enemies of Islam began to invent and to spread false ahadith, to try to get support for their own ideas and opinions. When this happened, scholars developed a scientific method for how to sort true ahadith from false ones. In order for a matn to be authentic it had to fulfil certain conditions; for instance, it must not contradict the Qur’an, must make sense, and must be in correct Arabic. An accurate way of investigating the sanad was also developed, and any hadith whose narrators were not totally trustworthy, pious Muslims with good memories was rejected. Scholars specialising in ahadith compiled their authentic collections into books, which have been used ever since. The most famous and authentic of these are the collections of Imams Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’i, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah (known as al-Sihah al-Sittah, or the six authentic collections), along with the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik. Most ahadith can be found in two or more of these collections; those which have been recorded by both Bukhari and Muslim are known as mutaffaqun ʿalayh (agreed upon), and are considered especially reliable.
Learning Hadith today
Muslims have continued the tradition of memorising ahadith as well as the Qur’an in Arabic up to the present day. Although one can learn about the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad through reading books, if one makes the effort to memorise hadith under the guidance of a teacher it has a stronger effect on the heart. It also helps to improve one’s knowledge of Arabic. A person who learns hadith in this way is more likely to remember the Prophet’s teachings, and be inspired to act on them. All Muslims, young and old, are encouraged to memorise at least forty ahadith in Arabic because, as the Prophet said: ‘Whoever memorises and preserves forty ahadith for my people relating to their religion, Allah will resurrect him among the scholars and martyrs on the Last Day.’ May Allah help us to attain this worthy goal. Success is through Him alone.
