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Important Articles on Sunni Hadith Books

Hadith terminology #

Hadith terminology (Arabic: “mustalah al hadith”) is the body of terminology which specify the acceptability of the narrations, hadith, attributed to the Islamic Prophet, Muhammad, as well as other early figures of religious significance. Individual terms distinguish between those hadith considered rightfully attributed to their source or detail the faults of those of dubious provenance. Formally, it has been defined by Ahmad ibn 'Ali Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, a renowned hadith specialist, as: "knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined." This page comprises the primary terminology used within hadith studies.

Number of termsThe individual terms are numerous, with Ibn al-Salah including sixty-five in his Introduction to the Science of Hadith and then commenting, "This is the end of them, but not the end of what is possible, as this is subject to further particularization to an innumerable extent." Al-Bulqini commented on this by saying, "We have added five more categories, making it seventy." Ibn al-Mulaqqin counted the various types as being "more than eighty" and al-Suyuti included ninety-three in Tadrib al-Rawi. Muḥammad al-Ḥāzimī acknowledged the numerous terms, reaching almost 100 by his own count, saying: "Be aware that the science of hadith consists of numerous types reaching almost 100. Each type is an independent discipline in and of itself and were a student to devote his life to them he would not reach their end."

Terminology relating to the authenticity of a hadith

Ibn al-Salah said, "A hadith, according to its specialists, is divided into sahih, ḥasan and ḍaīf." While the individual terms of hadith terminology are many, many more than these three terms, the final outcome is essentially determining whether a particular hadith is sahih and, therefore, actionable, or ḍaīf and not actionable. This is evidenced by al-Bulqini's commentary on Ibn al-Salah's statement. Al-Bulqini commented that "the terminology of the hadith specialists is more than this, while, at the same time, is only sahih and its opposite. Perhaps what has been intended by the latter categorization (i.e., into two categories) relates to standards of religious authority, or lack of it, in general, and what will be mentioned afterwards (i.e., the sixty-five categories) is a specification of that generality."

* Sahih

Sahih is best translated as authentic. Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is sahih lithatihi, sahih in and of itself, as a singular narration (ahaad – see below) conveyed by a trustworthy, completely competent person, either in his ability to memorize or to preserve what he wrote, with a muttaṣil (connected) isnād (chain of narration) that contains neither a serious concealed flaw (illah) nor irregularity (shādhdh). He then defines a hadith that is sahih ligharihi, sahih due to external factors, as a hadith "with something, such as numerous chains of narration, strengthening it."

This definition of Ibn Hajar illustrates that there are five conditions to be met for a particular hadith to be considered sahih.

1.Each narrator in the chain of narration must be trustworthy.

2.Each narrator must be reliable in his ability to preserve that narration – be it in his ability to memorize to the extent that he can recall it as he heard it, or, that he has written it as he heard it, and has preserved that written document unchanged.

3.The isnād must be connected, muttasil, in that each narrator could have at least conceivably heard from the previous narrator.

4.That the hadith, including its isnād be free of an 'illah or hidden, but detrimental, flaw – such as it being established that two narrators, while having been contemporaries, never, in fact, met thus causing a break in that 'chain'.

5.That that hadith be free of irregularity, meaning that it not contradict another hadith better established than it.

A number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion of only sahih hadith. According to Ahl al-Sunna, only the first two are considered to have achieved this. They are presented here arranged in descending order according to authenticity:

1.Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: Considered the most authentic book after the Quran.

2.Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: Considered the next most authentic book after Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.

3.Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Khuzaymah: Al-Suyuti was of the opinion that Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah was at a higher level of authenticity than Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān.

4.Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: Al-Suyuti also concluded that Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān was more authentic than Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Ṣaḥīḥain.

5.al-Mustadrak alā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, by Hakim al-Nishaburi.

6.Al-Āhādith al-Jiyād al-Mukhtārah min mā laysa fī Ṣaḥīḥain by Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī, authenticity considered.

* Hasan

Ḥasan linguistically means good and there exist somewhat convergent technical definitions, however, in general, it expresses the categorization of a hadith's authenticity as acceptable for use as a religious evidence, however, not established to the extent of sahih.

Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is ḥasan lithatihi, ḥasan in and of itself, with the same definition a sahih hadith except that the competence of one of its narrators is less than complete, while a hadith that is ḥasan ligharihi, ḥasan due to external factors, is determined to be ḥasan due to corroborating factors, such as numerous chains of narration. He then states that it is comparable to a sahih hadith in its religious authority. A ḥasan hadith may rise to the level of being sahih, in spite of its own minor deficiency, due to the support of having numerous chains of narration; in this case that hadith would be ḥasan lithatihi, ḥasan in and of itself, but when coupled with other supporting chains is sahih ligharihi, sahih due to external factors.

* Related Terms

* Musnad

The early scholar of hadith, Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hakim, defines a musnad, literally 'supported', hadith as:

A hadith which a scholar of hadith reports from his shaikh whom he has apparently heard hadith from at an age conducive to that, and likewise each shaikh having heard from his shaikh until the isnād reaches a well known Companion, and then the Messenger of Allah. An example of that is:

Abu 'Amr 'Uthman ibn Ahmad al-Samak narrated to us in Baghdad: al-Ḥasan ibn Mukarram narrated to us: Uthman ibn 'Umar narrated to us: Yunus informed us from al-Zuhri from Abdullah ibn Kab ibn Mālik from his father Ka'b ibn Malik who sought from ibn Abi Hadrad payment of a debt the latter owed the former while in the mosque. Their voices became raised to the extent that they were heard by the Messenger of Allah. He exited only by lifting the curtain of his apartment and said, 'O Kab! Relieve him of his debt,' gesturing to him in way indicating by half. So he Kab said, 'Yes,' and the man paid him."

To clarify this example I have given: my having heard from Ibn al-Samak is apparent, his having heard from al-Ḥasan ibn al-Mukarram is apparent, likewise Hasan having heard from 'Uthman ibn 'Umar and 'Uthamn ibn 'Umar from Yunus ibn Yazid – this being an elevated chain for 'Uthman. Yunus was known [for having heard from] al-Zuhri, as was al-Zuhri from the sons of Ka'b ibn Malik , and the sons of Ka'b ibn Malik from their father and Ka'b from the Messenger as he was known for being a Companion. This example I have made applies to thousands of hadith, citing just this one hadith regarding the generality [of this category].

* The musnad format of hadith collection

A musnad hadith should not be confused with the type of hadith collection similarly termed musnad, which is arranged according to the name of the companion narrating each hadith. For example, a musnad might begin by listing a number of the hadith, complete with their respective sanads, of Abu Bakr, and then listing a number of hadith from Umar, and then Uthman ibn Affan and so on. Individual compilers of this type of collection may vary in their method of arranging those Companions whose hadith they were collecting. An example of this type of book is the Musnad of Ahmad.

* Muttaṣil

Muttaṣil refers to a continuous chain of narration in which each narrator has heard that narration from his teacher.

* Ḍaīf

Ḍaīf is the categorization of a hadith as weak. Ibn Hajar described the cause of a hadith being classified as weak as "either due to discontinuity in the chain of narrators or due to some criticism of a narrator." This discontinuity refers to the omission of a narrator occurring at different positions within the isnād and is referred to using specific terminology accordingly as discussed below.

* Categories of discontinuity

* Muallaq

Discontinuity in the beginning of the isnād, from the end of the collector of that hadith, is referred to as muallaq, literally, 'suspended'. Muallaq refers to the omission of one or more narrators. It also refers to the omission of the entire isnād, for example, (an author) saying only: "The Prophet said..." In addition, this includes the omission of the isnād except for the companion, or the companion and successor together.

* Mursal

Mursal, literally means 'hurried'. If the narrator between the Successor and Muhammad is omitted from a given isnād, the hadith is mursal, e.g., when a Successor says, “The Prophet said ...” Since Sunnis believe in the uprightness of all Sahaba, they do not view it as a necessary problem if a Successor does not mention what Sahaba he received the hadith from. This means that if a hadith has an acceptable chain all the way to a Successor, and the successor attributes it to an unspecified companion, the isnād is considered acceptable. However, there are different views in some cases: If the Successor is a young one and it is probable that he omitted an elder Successor who in turn reported form a Sahaba. The opinion held by Imam Malik and all Maliki jurists is that the mursal of a trustworthy person is valid, just like a musnad hadith. This view has been developed to such an extreme that to some of them, the mursal is even better than the musnad, based on the following reasoning: "The one who reports a musnad hadith leaves you with the names of the reporters for further investigation and scrutiny, whereas the one who narrates by way of irsal (the absence of the link between the successor and the Prophet), being a knowledgeable and trustworthy person himself, has already done so and found the hadith to be sound. In fact, he saves you from further research." Others reject the mursal of younger Successor.

* Muḍal

From the categories of discontinuity is muḍal, or 'problematic', which is the omission of two or more consecutive narrators from the isnād .

* Munqaṭi

A munqaṭi, hadith, literally 'broken', is one in which the isnād of people reporting the hadith is disconnected at any point. The isnād of a hadith that appears to be muttaṣil, but one of the reporters is known to have never heard hadith from his immediate authority, even though they lived at the same time, is munqaṭi. It is also applied when someone says "a man told me".

* Other types of weakness

* Munkar

Munkar, literally means 'denounced'. According to Ibn Hajar, if a narration which goes against another authentic hadith is reported by a weak narrator, it is known as munkar. Traditionists as late as Ahmad used to simply label any hadith of a weak reporter as munkar.

* Shādhdh

Shādhdh, literally means 'anomalous'. According to al-Shafi'i, a shādhdh hadith is one which is reported by a trustworthy person who contradicts the narration of a person more reliable than he is. It does not include a hadith which is unique in its matn and is not narrated by someone else.

* Muḍṭarib

Muḍṭarib, literally means 'shaky'. According to Ibn Kathir, if reporters disagree about a particular shaikh, or about some other points in the isnād or the matn, in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others, and thus there is irreconcilable uncertainty, such a hadith is called muḍṭarib.

An example is the following hadith attributed to Abu Bakr:

"O Messenger of Allah! I see you getting older?" He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "What made me old are Surah Hud and its sister surahs."

The hadith scholar Al-Daraqutni commented: "This is an example of a muḍṭarib hadith. It is reported through Abu Ishaq, but as many as ten different opinions are held regarding this isnād. Some report it as mursal, others as muttasil; some take it as a narration of Abu Bakr, others as one of Sa'd or `A'ishah." Since all these reports are comparable in weight, it is difficult to prefer one above another. Hence, the hadith is termed as muḍṭarib.

* Mawḍū

A hadith that is mawḍū, is one determined to be fabricated and cannot be attributed to its origin. Al-Dhahabi defines mawḍū as a hadith the text of which contradicts established norms of the Prophet's sayings, or its reporters include a liar,

* Recognizing fabricated hadith

1.Some of these hadith were known to be spurious by the confession of their inventors. For example, Muhammad ibn Sa`id al-Maslub used to say, "It is not wrong to fabricate an isnād for a sound statement." Another notorious inventor, `Abd al-Karim Abu 'l-Auja, who was killed and crucified by Muhammad ibn Sulaiman ibn `Ali, governor of Basra, admitted that he had fabricated four thousand hadith declaring lawful the prohibited and vice-versa.

2.Mawḍū narrations are also recognised by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident. For example, when the second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab decided to expel the Jews from Khaybar, some Jewish dignitaries brought a document to Umar apparently proving that the Prophet had intended that they stay there by exempting them from the jizya (tax on non-Muslims under the rule of Muslims); the document carried the witness of two companions, Sa'd ibn Mua'dh and Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. Umar rejected the document outright, knowing that it was fabricated because the conquest of Khaybar took place in 6 AH, whereas Sa'd ibn Mua'dh died in 3 AH just after the Battle of the Trench, and Mu'awiyah embraced Islam in 8 AH, after the conquest of Mecca. Shaykh Albani has done significant works on exposing forged hadiths. His book 'Silsilatul Ahaadeeth Ad Da'eefah' is a very important source in the field of hadith. Other important books which are indeed available on the internet are '100 Fabricated Hadith' by Shaykh Abdullah Faisal and "More Than 700 Weak and Fabricated Hadeeths Exposed' by Shehbaaz Baurtally.

* Causes of fabrication

There are several factors which may motivate an individual to fabricate a narration, from them:

political differences

factions based on issues of creed

fabrications by heretics

fabrications by story-tellers

fabrications by ignorant ascetics

prejudice in favour of town, race or a particular leader

inventions for personal motives

proverbs turned into hadith

A number of hadith specialists[who?] have collected fabricated hadith separately in order to distinguish them from other hadith. From these books are:

Al-Maudu`at by Abul-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzi

Kitab al-Abatil by al-Jauzaqani

Al-La'ali al- Masnu'ah fi 'l-Ahadith al-Mawdu`ah by al-Suyuti

Al-Mawdu`at by Ali al-Qari

Al-Fawaid al-Majmu'ah fi al-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdu'ah by Muhammad ash-Shawkani

* Terminology relating to the number of narrators in an isnad

In hadith terminology, a hadith is divided into two categories based, essentially, upon the number of narrators mentioned at each level in a particular isnād. Consideration is given to the least number of narrators at any level of the chain of narration; thus if ten narrators convey a hadith from two others who have conveyed it from ten, it is considered `aziz, not mashhur.

* Mutawatir

The first category is mutawatir, or a 'successive' narration. A successive narration is one conveyed by narrators so numerous that it is not conceivable that they have agreed upon an untruth thus being accepted as unquestionable in its veracity. The number of narrators is unspecified. A hadith is said to be mutawatir if it was reported by a significant, though unspecified, number of narrators at each level in the chain of narration, thus reaching the succeeding generation through multiple chains of narration leading back to its source. This provides confirmation that the hadith is authentically attributed to its source at a level above reasonable doubt. This is due to its being beyond historical possibility that narrators could have conspired to forge a narration. In contrast, an ahaad hadith is a narration the chain of which has not reached a number sufficient to qualify as mutawatir.

* Types of mutawatir

Hadiths can be mutawatir in both actual text and meaning:

1. Mutawatir in wording: It is a hadith whose words are narrated by such a large number as is required for a mutawatir, in a manner that all the narrators are unanimous in reporting it with the same words without any substantial discrepancy.

Example: The hadith of Muhammad: "Whoever intentionally attributes a lie against me, should prepare his seat in the Fire." This is a mutawatir hadith in its wordings because it has a minimum of seventy four narrators. In other words, seventy four companions of Muhammad have reported this hadith at different occasions, all with the same words. The number of those who received this hadith from the Companions is many times greater, because each of the seventy four Companions has conveyed it to a number of his students. Thus the total number of narrators of this hadith has been increasing in each successive generation, and has never been less than seventy four. All these narrators who now are hundreds in number, report it in the same words without even a minor change. This hadith is therefore mutawatir in its wording, because it cannot be imagined reasonably that such a large number of people have colluded to coin a fallacious sentence in order to attribute it to Muhammad.

2. Mutwatir in meaning: It is a mutawatir hadith, which is not reported by the narrators in the same words. The words of the narrators are different. Sometimes even the reported events are not the same. But all the narrators are unanimous in reporting a basic concept, which is common in all reports. This common concept is also ranked as a mutawatir concept.

Example: On the other hand, it is also reported by such a large number of narrators that Muhammad enjoined muslims to perform two ra'kat in Fajr, four ra'kat in Dhuhr, Asr and Esha, and three ra'kat in the Maghrib prayer, yet the narrations of all the reporters who reported the number of ra'kat are not in the same words. Their words are different, even the events reported by them are different. But the common feature of all the reports is the same. This common feature, namely, the exact number of ra'kat is said to be mutawatir in meaning.

* Ahaad

The second category, ahaad, or singular narration, refers to any hadith not classified as mutawatir. Linguistically, hadith ahad refers to a hadith narrated by only one narrator. In hadith terminology, it refers to a hadith not fulfilling all of the conditions necessary to be deemed mutawatir.

Hadith ahad consists of three sub-classifications also relating to the number of narrators in the chain or chains of narration.

* Mashhur

The first category is mashhur, and refers to a hadith conveyed by three or more narrators but is not considered mutawatir.

* `Aziz`

Aziz, is any hadith conveyed by two narrators in any given level of a hadith's isnād.

* Gharib

A gharib, hadith is one conveyed by only one narrator. Al-Tirmidhi's understanding of a gharib hadith, concurs to a certain extent with that of the other traditionists. According to him a hadith may be classified as gharib for one of the following three reasons:

1.Firstly, a hadith may be classified as gharib since it is narrated from one chain only. Al-Tirmidhi mentions as an example a tradition from Hammad ibn Salamah from Abu 'Usharai on the authority of his father who enquired from the Prophet whether the slaughtering of an animal is confined to the gullet and throat. The Prophet replied that stabbing the thigh will also suffice.

2.Secondly, a tradition can be classified as gharib due to an addition in the text, though it will be considered a sound tradition, if that addition is reported by a reliable reporter. The example cited by al-Tirmidhi is a tradition narrated through the chain of Malik (d. 179 A.H.) from Nafi' (d. 117 A.H.) on the authority of Ibn 'Umar (d. 73 A.H.) who stated that the Prophet declared alms-giving at the end of Ramadan obligatory upon every Muslim, male or female, whether a free person or slave from the Muslims. However, this tradition has also been narrated by Ayyub Sakhtiyani and 'Ubaid Allah ibn 'Umar, without the addition "from the Muslims", hence the above mentioned example due to the addition of "from the Muslims" in the text is classified as gharib.

3.Thirdly, a tradition may be declared gharib since it is narrated through various chains of transmitters but having within one of its chains an addition in the isnād.

* Impact on Islamic Law

There are differing views as to the level of knowledge achieved by each of the two primary categories, mutawatir and ahaad. One view, expressed by Ibn Hajar and others, is that a hadith mutawatir achieves certain knowledge while ahad, unless otherwise corroborated, yields speculative knowledge upon which action is mandated. A second view, held by Dawud al-Thahiri, ibn Hazm and others, and reportedly the position of Malik ibn Anas, is that a hadith ahad achieves certain knowledge as well. Ibn Hazm stated, “The narration conveyed by a single, upright narrator conveying from another of a similar description until reaching the Prophet mandates both knowledge and action.”

See also: Punishment of the Grave

History of belief in the punishment of the grave

* Terminology pertaining to a narration's origin

Different terms are used for the origin of a narration. These terms specify whether a narration is attributed to the Prophet, a companion, a successor or a latter historical figure.

* Marfu

Ibn al-Salah said: "Marfo`, refers to a narration attributed to the Prophet specifically. This term does not refer to other than him unless otherwise specified. The category of marfu` is inclusive of narrations attributed to the Prophet regardless of their being muttasil, munqati` or mursal among other categories."

* Mawquf

According to Ibn al-Salah: "Mawquf, refers to a narration attributed to a Companion, whether a statement of that companion, an action or otherwise."

* Maqtu

Ibn al-Salah defined maqtu, as a narration attributed to a Tabi‘un (Successor of Prophet's Companion), whether a statement of that successor, an action or otherwise. In spite of the linguistic similarity, it is distinct from munqati`.

* A Concise History of Sunni Literature Pertaining to Hadith Terminology

As in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points of hadith studies. Ibn Hajar provides a summation of this development with the following: “Works authored in the terminology of the people of hadith have become plentiful from the Imams both old and contemporary:

1.From the first of those who authored a work on this subject is the Judge, Abū Muḥammad al-Rāmahurmuzī in his book, al-Muhaddith al-Faasil, however, it was not comprehensive.

2.And al-Hakim, Abū Abd Allah an-Naysaburi, authored a book, however, it was neither refined nor well arranged.

3.And following him, Aboo Nu’aym al-Asbahaanee, who wrote a mustakhraj upon the book of the later, (compiling the same narrations al-Hakim cited using his own isnād.) However, some things remain in need of correction.

4.And then came al-Khatib Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, authoring works in the various disciplines of the science of hadith a book entitled al-Kifaayah and in its etiquettes a book entitled al-Jami` Li `Adab ash-Sheikh wa as-Saami`. Scarce is the discipline from the disciplines of the science of hadith that he has not written an individual book regarding, as al-Hafith Abu Bakr ibn Nuqtah said: “Every objective person knows that the scholars of hadith coming after al-Khatib are indebted to his works.” After them came others, following al-Khateeb, taking their share from this science."

5.al-Qadi ‘Eyaad compiled a concise book naming it al-`Ilmaa'.

6.Abū Hafs al-Mayyaanajiyy authored a work giving it the title Ma Laa yasu al-Muhaddith Jahluhu or That Which a Hadith Scholar is Not Allowed Ignorance Of. There are numerous examples of this which have gained popularity and were expanded upon seeking to make plentiful the knowledge relating to these books and others abridged making easy their understanding.

7.This was prior to the coming of the memorizer and jurist Taqiyy ad-Deen Aboo ‘Amrin ‘Uthmaan ibn al-Salah ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ash-Shahruzuuree, who settled in Damascus. He gathered, at the time he had become a teacher of hadith at the Ashrafiyyah school, his well known book, editing the various disciplines mentioned in it. He dictated it piecemeal and, as a result, did not succeed in providing it with an appropriate order. He occupied himself with the various works of al-Khatib, gathering his assorted studies, adding to them from other sources the essence of their benefits. So he combined in his book what had been spread throughout books other than it. It is due to this that people have focused their attention upon it, following its example. Innumerable are those who rendered his book into poetry, abridged it, sought to complete what had been left out of it or left out any extraneous information; as well as those who opposed him in some aspect of his work or supported him."

Sahih al-Bukhari #

Sahih al-Bukhārī, is one of the Al-Kutub Al-Sittah (six major hadiths) of sunni Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Sunni Muslims view this as one of the three most trusted collections of hadith along with Sahih Muslim and al-Muwatta . In some circles, it is considered the most authentic book after the Quran. The Arabic word sahih translates as authentic or correct.

Actual titleThe actual title of the book commonly referred to as Sahih al-Bukhari, according to Ibn al-Salah, is: al-Jaami’ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar min Umur Rasool Allah wa sunanihi wa Ayyamihi. A word for word translation is: The Abridged Collection of Authentic Hadith with Connected Chains regarding Matters Pertaining to the Prophet, His practices and His Times. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned the same title replacing the word umur, matters, with hadith.

* Overview

Al-Bukhari traveled widely throughout the Abbasid empire from the age of 16, collecting those traditions he thought trustworthy. It is said that al-Bukhari collected over 300,000 hadith and included only 2,602 traditions in his Sahih. At the time when Bukhari saw [the earlier] works and conveyed them, he found them, in their presentation, combining between what would be considered sahih and hasan and that many of them included da’if hadith. This aroused his interest in compiling hadith whose authenticity was beyond doubt. What further strengthened his resolve was something his teacher, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Hanthalee – better known as Ibn Rahoyah – had said. Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel al-Bukhari said, “We were with Ishaq ibn Rahoyah who said, ‘If only you would compile a book of only authentic narrations of the Prophet.’ This suggestion remained in my heart so I began compiling the Sahih.” Bukhari also said, “I saw the Prophet in a dream and it was as if I was standing in front of him. In my hand was a fan with which I was protecting him. I asked some dream interpreters, who said to me, ‘You will protect him from lies.’ This is what compelled me to produce the Sahih.”

The book covers almost all aspects of life in providing proper guidance of Islam such as the method of performing prayers and other actions of worship directly from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Bukhari finished his work around 846, and spent the last twenty-four years of his life visiting other cities and scholars, teaching the hadith he had collected. In every city that he visited, thousands of people would gather in the main mosque to listen to him recite traditions. In reply to Western academic doubts as to the actual date and authorship of the book that bears his name, scholars point out that notable hadith scholars of that time, such as Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (855 CE/241 AH), Ibn Maīn (847 CE/233 AH), and Ibn Madīni (848 CE/234 AH), accepted the authenticity of his book and that the collection's immediate fame makes it unlikely that it could have been revised after the author's death without historical record.

During this period of twenty-four years, Bukhari made minor revisions to his book, notably the chapter headings. Each version is named by its narrator. According to Ibn Hajar Asqalani in his book Nukat, the number of hadiths in all versions is the same. The most famous one today is the version narrated by al-Firabri (d. 932 CE/320 AH), a trusted student of Bukhari. Khatib al-Baghdadi in his book History of Baghdad quoted Firabri as saying: "About seventy thousand people heard Sahih Bukhari with me".

Firabri is not the only transmitter of Sahih Bukhari. There were many others that narrated that book to later generations, such as Ibrahim ibn Ma'qal (d. 907 CE/295 AH), Hammad ibn Shaker (d. 923 CE/311 AH), Mansur Burduzi (d. 931 CE/319 AH) and Husain Mahamili (d. 941 CE/330 AH). There are many books that noted differences between these versions, the best known being Fath al-Bari.

* Distinctive Features

Amin Ahsan Islahi, the notable Islamic scholar, has listed three outstanding qualities of Sahih Bukhari :

1.Quality and soundness of the chain of narrators of the selected ahādīth. Imam Bukhari has followed two principle criteria for selecting sound narratives. First, the lifetime of a narrator should overlap with the lifetime of the authority from whom he narrates. Second, it should be verifiable that narrators have met with their source persons. They should also expressly state that they obtained the narrative from these authorities. This is a stricter criterion than that set by Imam Muslim.

2.Imam Bukhari accepted the narratives from only those who, according to his knowledge, not only believed in Islam but practiced its teachings. Thus, he has not accepted narratives from the Murjites.

3.The particular arrangement and ordering of chapters. This expresses the profound knowledge of the author and his understanding of the religion. This has made the book a more useful guide in understanding of the religious disciplines.

* Authenticity

Ibn al-Salah said: "The first to author a Sahih was Bukhari, Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel al-Ju’fee, followed by Aboo al-Husain Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Naisaabooree al-Qushairee, who was his student, sharing many of the same teachers. These two books are the most authentic books after the Quran. As for the statement of al-Shafi’i, who said “I do not know of a book containing knowledge more correct than Malik’s book,” – others mentioned it with a different wording – he said this before the books of Bukhari and Muslim. The book of Bukhari is the more authentic of the two and more useful."

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani quoted Aboo Ja’far al-‘Uqailee as saying, "After Bukhari had written the Sahih, he read it to Ali ibn al-Madini, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in as well as others. They considered it a good effort and testified to its authenticity with the exception of four hadith. Al-‘Uqailee then said that Bukhari was actually correct regarding those four hadith." Ibn Hajar then concluded, "And they are, in fact, authentic."

Ibn al-Salah said in his Muqaddimah: "It has been narrated to us that Bukhari has said, 'I have not included in the book al-Jami’ other than what is authentic and I did not include other authentic hadith for the sake of brevity.'" In addition, al-Dhahabi said, "Bukhari was heard saying, 'I have memorized one hundred thousand authentic hadith and two hundred thousand which are less than authentic.'”

* Number of hadith

Ibn al-Salah also said: "The number of hadith in his book, the Sahih, is 7,275 hadith, including hadith occurring repeatedly. It has been said that this number excluding repeated hadith is 4,000." This is referring to those hadith which are musnad, those from the Companions originating from the Prophet which are authentic.

* Commentaries

Several detailed commentaries on this collection have been written, such as:

1.Al-Kawkab al-Darari fi Sharh Al-Bukhari by al-Kirmani (died: 796H).

2.Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by al-Hafith Ibn Hajar (died: 852H).

3.Umdah al Qari fi Sharh Sahih al Bukhari' written by Badr al-Din al-Ayni and published in Beirut by Dar Ihya’ al-turath al-`Arabi

4.Irshad al-Sari li Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by al-Qastalani (died: 923H); one of the most well known of the explanations of Sahih Bukhari'.

5.Al-Tanqih by al-Zarkashi.

6.Al-Tawshih by al-Suyuti (died: 811H)

7.Sharh Ibn Kathir (died: 774H)

8.Sharh ‘Ala’ al-Din Maghlatay (died: 792H)

9.Sharh Ibnu al-Mulaqqin (died: 804H)

10.Sharh al-Barmawi (died: 831H)

11.Sharh al-Tilmasani al-Maliki (died: 842H)

12.Sharh al-Bulqini (died: 995H)

13.Fath al-Bari by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (died: 795H)

14.Sharh Ibni Abi Hamzah al-Andalusi

15.Sharh Abi al-Baqa’ al-Ahmadi

16.Sharh al-Bakri

17.Sharh Ibnu Rashid

18.Hashiyat ul Bukhari By Tajus Shariah Mufti Muhammad Akhtar Raza Khan Qaadiri Al Azhari;

19.Sharh Ibn Battaal By Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Khalaf ibn 'Abd al-Malik (died: 449H); published in 10 volumes with an additional volume containing indexes;

20.Al-Mutawari 'Ala Abwab al-Bukhari by Nasir al-Din ibn al-Munayyir (died: 683H): An explanation of select chapter titles; published in one volume.

21.Fayd al-Bari by Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri

* Translations

Sahih al-Bukhari has been translated into English by the Salafi scholar Muhammad Muhsin Khan in 9 volumes. The text used for this work is Fath Al-Bari, published by the Egyptian Press of Mustafa Al-Babi Al-Halabi in 1959. It is published by Al Saadawi Publications and Dar-us-Salam and is included in the USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts.

Categories of Hadith #

Different categories of hadith (sayings attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad) have been used by various scholars. The muhaddithun (experts in the science of hadith criticism) generally use two terms - taqrīr for tacit approvals, and khabar for sayings and acts ascribed to Muhammad.

The term taqrir implies that that, in the presence of Muhammad, a believer did something, which Muhammad noticed but did not disapprove or condemn. Thus, the act done by a believer acquired tacit approval from Muhammad. It is commonly acknowledged that a khabar can be true or false. The scholars of the science of hadith criticism hold that a khabar and, therefore, a hadith can be a true report or a concoction. It is on the basis of this premise that the Muslim scholars hold that a hadith offers a zannī (inconclusive/probably true) evidence. It is as though a hadith may have many possibilities on the plane of reliability.

* Categorization based on reliability

Ṣaḥīḥ - transmitted through an unbroken chain of narrators all of whom are of sound character and memory. Such a hadith should not clash with a more reliable report and must not suffer from any other hidden defect.

Ḥasan - transmitted through an unbroken chain of narrators all of whom are of sound character but weak memory. This hadith should not clash with a more reliable report and must not suffer from any other hidden defect.

Ḍaīf - which cannot gain the status of hasan because it lacks one or more elements of a hasan hadith. (For example, if the narrator is not of sound memory and sound character, or if there is a hidden fault in the narrative or if the chain of narrators is broken).

Mawḍū - fabricated and wrongly ascribed to Muhammad.

Maqlūb - It is that hadith, in two different narrations of which the names of narrators have been changed.

* Categorization based on number of narrators

Khabar-i mutawatir (also called khabar-i mashhur) - A mutawatir hadith is reported by such a large number of narrators that cannot be perceived to have jointly forged and narrated a tradition about an issue without a compelling force. Sometimes a hadith is believed to be khabar-i mashhur. But a little research reveals that it has been transmitted by a single narrator in each of first three layers in the isnād. Such narratives are reported by a large number of reporters in the third or fourth layer. In the opinion of Amin Ahsan Islahi, all such narratives which are usually termed as khabar-i mutawatir should be thoroughly investigated.

Khabar-i wāhid (pl.: akhbār-i āhād)- signifies a historical narrative that falls short of yielding certain knowledge. Even if more than one person reports the narrative, that does not make it certain and conclusive truth except when the number of narrators reporting it grows to the level that the possibility of their consensus on forging a lie is perfectly removed. Most of the hadith literature consists of individual isolated narratives.

* Classification by epistemic value

In one of the major works in the science of hadith, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi has divided the individual narratives in the following categories, according to their epistemic value:

Ahadith which are clearly genuine and acceptable

1.The narratives that contain reports testified by the "human intellect" (mimmā tadullu al-‘uqūl ‘alā mūjabihī) and that which are aligned with common sense.

2.The narratives that are a corollary of the Quranic text and the Sunnah.

3.The narratives that have been received as acceptable by the ummah as a whole.

Ahadith which are clear fabrications

1.The narratives that offend reason.

2.The narratives that contradict the Quran and the Sunnah.

3.The narratives that discuss issues of prime importance in the religion which require absolute certainty.

4.The individual narratives regarding issues which, by their very nature, demand that they should have been reported by a large number of people are also not acceptable.

According to the Hanafi jurists, in the issues of ‘umūm-i balwā (issues which by nature attract attention of the entire community. For example, the number and form of the Prayer by its position in the religion requires that it should be received, practiced and communicated by the entire generation. Such issues are not left on the choice of few individuals.), the individual narratives carry no weight. In such issues they prefer qiyas and ijtihad over these type of individual narratives.

Ahadith whose status is not clear

1.Narratives that give contradicting directives on a single issue and make it difficult to determine the final command in that regard form the third category. While deciding on the applicability of the directives contained in these type of ahadith, only such narratives should be accepted as valid which correspond to and accord with the wording of the collated narratives, textual evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah.

History of hadith #

Traditions regarding the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam were passed down both orally and written for more than a hundred years after the death of Muhammad in 632. According to Muslims, the collection of hadith or sayings by or about the prophet Muhammad was a meticulous and thorough process that began right at the time of Muhammad. Needless to say hadith collection (even in the written form) began very early on – from the time of Muhammad and continued through the centuries that followed. Thus, Muslims reject any collections that are not robust in withstanding the tests of authenticity per the standards of hadith studies. This article goes through the historical evolution of the hadith literature from its beginning in the 7th century to present day.

Writing in the Pre-Islamic Period

Prior to the advent of Islam, memorization was the primary means of conveyance of information amongst the Arabs. There were, however, some instances of writing present at that time, including promissory notes, personal letter, tribal agreements and some religious literature. There were very few Arabs that could read or write in the beginning of Muhammad's era: The majority were unlettered, and according to Sunni traditions, so was Muhammad.

* Prophetic Period

According to Ibn Hajar, “During the Prophet’s lifetime and into the time of the Companions and older Followers, the narrations of the Prophet were not transcribed in a systematic manner. This was due to two reasons. The first, was that early on they had been prohibited from doing so, as has been established in Sahih Muslim, lest the hadith become confused with the Quran. The second was due to expansive capability of their ability to memorize and because the majority of them were unable to write.”

A possible explanation of aforementioned hadith is that “the majority of the companions were illiterate with only a few individuals from them able to write. If they were to write, it was unrefined, not conforming to the written alphabet. Thus, the prohibition was due to the fear of erring while writing.” Another is that “the prohibition was of writing the Quran with other than it in one place so as to avoid the two from becoming mixed up confusing the one reading it. As for writing in its entirety having been prohibited, then this was not the case as we see from another hadith, 'Convey what I say.' Present within the command to convey is permission to write and record.”

* Writing of hadith

Despite this, there are a number of hadith that indicate the permissibility if not encouragement to write down hadith. From them:

The hadith of Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr who said, “I used write everything I heard from the Prophet wanting to preserve it. The Quraysh then prohibited me from doing so, saying, ‘Do you write down everything? And the Prophet is human who speaks while angry and pleased?’ So I refrained from writing and then mentioned this to the Prophet. He gestured to his mouth and said, ‘Write, by the one in whose hand is my soul! Nothing emanates from this except the truth.’”

Among the prisoners of war taken at the Battle of Badr those who were literate were released after each taught ten Muslims how to read and write. Sahih Bukhari states that Abd-Allah ibn Amr wrote down his hadith.

A man came to Muhammad and complained about his memory, saying: ‘O Messenger of Allah: We hear many things from you. But most of them slip our minds because we cannot memorize them’. Muhammad replied: Ask your right hand for help. Muhammad meant that he should write down what he heard.

When Rafi‘ ibn Khadij asked Muhammad whether they could write what they heard from him, the answer came: Write, no harm!. Another sources quotes Muhammad advising: "Record knowledge by writing."

During the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad gave a sermon. A man from the Yemen, named Abu Shah, stood up and said: "O Allah’s Messenger! Please write down these [words] for me!" Muhammad ordered: "Write for Abu Shah!"

Muhammad sent a letter which contained commandments about the blood money for murders and injuries and the law of retaliation to Amr ibn Hizam. This letter was handed down to his great grandson, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad. Among other things, like some of his letters other head of states, some scroll transferred to Abu Rafi was handed down to Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abd Al-Rahman ibn Harith, belonging to the first generation after the Companions.

Ibn Hajar summarized the different ways in which scholars have sought to reconcile those hadith prohibiting the writing of hadith and those permitting it, in the first of which he said, “The reconciliation between the two is that the prohibition was particular to the time in which the Quran was being sent down so that it would not become mixed up with other than it and the permission was during other than that time."

* Post-prophetic period

During the caliphate of Abu Bakr, the Muslim nation had to deal with the rebellion of several apostates. In all likelihood, the apostates began to forge hadiths to suit their purposes. For this reason, Abu Bakr, and his successor, Umar, were very strict in their acceptance of hadiths as authentic, for fear of accepting a forged hadith.

Among Sunnis, Umar ibn al-Khattab is the primary locus for many accounts about hadith collection. He is portrayed by Sunnis as desiring to initiate this project but unwilling to do so, fearing that Muslims might then neglect the Quran. Umar is also said by Sunnis that, due to fear and concerns, he sometimes warned people against careless narration of hadith.

Muslim historians say that it was the caliph Uthman (the third caliph, or successor of Muhammad, who had formerly been one of Muhammad's secretary's), encouraged Muslims to write down the hadith as Muhammad (in some instances) had encouraged Muslims to do likewise during his lifetime . Uthman's labors were cut short by his assassination, at the hands of aggrieved people who had come to the capital to seek redressal from the Caliph for the wrongs done by his secretary, Merwan ibn Hakam, on 17 June 656 A.D{}.The Muslim community (ummah) then fell into a prolonged civil war, termed the Fitna by Muslim historians. After the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, was assassinated, control of the Islamic empire was seized by the Umayyad dynasty in 660A.D/40 A.H. Illustrating the importance hadith in a written format had earned, Ibn Abbas left behind a camel-load of books, which mostly contain what he had heard from Muhammad and other Sahaba.

Of the many companions, Abu Hurairah taught hadith to students, one of whom was Hammam ibn Munabbih. Ibn Munabbih wrote down these hadith, the original manuscripts of which are present even to this day in the libraries of Berlin, Beirut and Damascus.

Starting the first Islamic civil war of the 7th century, those receiving the hadith started to question the sources of the saying, something that resulted in the development of the Isnad. Muhammad ibn Sirin (d. 110/728) stated:

"[the traditionalists] were not used to inquiring after the isnad, but when the fitna occurred they said: Name us your informants. Thus if these were Ahl al-Sunna their traditions were accepted, but if they were heretics, their traditions were not accepted."

* The beginning of systematic hadith collection

The beginning of the systematic collection and compilation of hadith began during the time of the second generation of Muslims, that of the Followers. Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubaydullah, commonly known as ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, was a prolific and prominent hadith narrator from the Followers whom Ibn Hajar identified as a tabi'i. According to Ibn Hajar, “Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri was the first to compile hadith at the beginning of the first century after the Migration acting on the order of Umar ibn AbdulAziz. It was after this that the compilation, then the authoring of books of hadith became commonplace, resulting in much good.”

Ummayad rule was interrupted by a second civil war (the Second Fitna), re-established, then ended in 758, when the Abbasid dynasty seized the caliphate, to hold it, at least in name, until 1517 (the last Caliph was Al-Mutawakkil III 1508–1517, in Cairo and not in Baghdad).

Muslim historians say that hadith collection and evaluation continued during the first Fitna and the Umayyad period. However, much of this activity was presumably oral transmission from early Muslims to later collectors, or from teachers to students.

The scholars of the Abbasid period were faced with a huge corpus of miscellaneous traditions, some of them flatly contradicting each other. Many of these traditions supported differing views on a variety of controversial matters. Scholars had to decide which hadith were to be trusted as authentic narrations and which had been invented for various political or theological purposes. For this purpose, they used a number of techniques in hadith studies. In AH 134 (751/752), paper was introduced into the Muslim world.

Generally, Umar II is credited with having ordered the first collection of hadith material in an official manner, fearing that some of it might be lost. Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Hazm and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, are among those who compiled hadiths at `Umar II’s behest.

* Early written hadith collections

List of collections of hadith, in chronological order:

1.Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri

2.Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Hazm

3.Musannaf of ibn Jurayj — ?-? CE

4.Musannaf of Ma`mar bin Rashid — ?-? CE

5.Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih — 670–720 CE

6.Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani — c. 700 CE

7.Muwatta of Malik bin Anas — 760–795 CE

8.Sufyan al-Thawri

* Canonical texts

The efforts culminated with the six canonical collections after having received impetus from the establishment of the sunna as the second source of law in Islam, particularly through the efforts of the famous jurist Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i.

The method of criticism and the conclusions it has reached have not changed significantly since the ninth century. Even much of modern Muslim scholarship, while continuing to debate the validity or authenticity of individual hadiths or perhaps the hadiths of a particular transmitter, employs the same methods and biographical materials.

The classification of Hadith into sahih (sound), hasan (good) and da'if (weak) was firmly established by Ali ibn al-Madini (d. 234 AH). Later, al-Madini's student Muhammad al-Bukhari authored a collection that he stated contained only sahih hadith. al-Tirmidhi was the first traditionist to base his book on al-Madini's classification.

* Contemporary Analysis

In 1848, Gustav Weil, noted that Muhammad al-Bukhari deemed only 4,000 of his original 300,000 hadiths to be authentic.He was soon followed by Aloys Sprenger, who also suggests that many of the hadiths cannot be considered authentic. However, this demonstrates a limited understanding by Non Muslims, of Bukhari's criterion for his Sahih. This is clarified by other statements of Bukhari in which he made it clear that he considered all of the hadith in his authentic, but not all authentic hadith are included in his Sahih. Al-Dhahabi quoted Bukhari as saying, "I have memorized one hundred thousand authentic hadith and two hundred thousand that are not authentic.'

Ignaz Goldziher was a large contributor of innovative theories to the West. The subsequent direction the Western debate took, a direction which has focussed on the role of hadiths in the origin and development of early Muslim jurisprudence, is largely due to the work of Joseph Schacht. The Common-Link Theory, invented by Joseph Schacht and widely accepted in modern scholarship, argues that hadith authorities knowingly and purposefully placed traditions in circulation with little care to support these hadiths with satisfactory isnads (chains of transmitters). G. H. A. Juynboll, Michael Cook and other Schachtians subsequently embraced and elaborated upon this theory. In 2006, Fahad A. Alhomoudi in his thesis “On the Common-Link Theory” challenges the accuracy of Schacht’s founding theory. Because of the interconnectedness of Schacht’s many theses about hadith and Islamic law, the findings of Alhomoudi’s thesis did not only challenge the significant Common-Link Theory in legal hadith studies, but also open the door for scholars to question other important theories held by Schacht and his followers with regard to larger issues in Islamic legal history.

The Turkish government's Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı has commissioned a team of scholars at Ankara University to draft a new compilation of hadith that would omit numerous hadith considered historically inauthentic by these scholars.

Criticism of Hadith #

Criticism of Hadith refers to critique directed towards canonised reports concerning the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, known as the Hadith. The criticism revolves primarily around the question of the authenticity of hadith reports and whether they are attributable to Muhammad.

Sunni and Shia Muslims accept the authenticity of the majority of the Hadith, though they often disagree over the authenticity of certain hadith or how others might be interpreted, and have different canonical collections. Shias also believe that narrations of the Fourteen Infallibles, especially Ali bin Abi Talib, are valid as hadith, whereas Sunnis accept only narrations traceable to Muhammad: Sunnis and Shias also have different methods of analysing the chain of transmitters, as Sunnis view all of the Companions of Muhammad to be upright individuals, and their narrations valid and free from defect of malicious intent, whereas Shias analyse the life of each Companion separately in determining whether their narrations are authentic. Quran alone Muslims, Quranists or those that just simply call themselves "Muslims", strictly follow the Quran and do not consider the hadith to be an integral part of Islam. Ahmadiyyas view the Holy Quran occupies central position in Islam and is a complete code of life. They accept all authentic Sunnah and Hadith which doesn't stand in conflict with Quranic injunctions.

BackgroundIt has been suggested that there exists around the Hadith three major sources of corruption: political conflicts, sectarian prejudice, and the desire to translate the underlying meaning, rather than the original words verbatim.

Orthodox Muslims do not deny the existence of false hadith, but believe that through the scholars' work, these false hadith have been largely eliminated.

Muslim critics of the hadith, Quranists, reject the authority of hadith on theological grounds, pointing to verses in the Quran itself: "Nothing have We omitted from the Book", declaring that all necessary instruction can be found within the Quran, without reference to the Hadith. They claim that following the Hadith has led to people straying from the original purpose of God's revelation to Muhammad, adherence to the Quran alone.

* Early prohibitions against hadith collection

Within the Hadith, Muhammad is reported to have forbidden his followers from writing down anything he said, with the exception of the Revelation he received from Angel Jibril, the Quran. After Muhammad's death, Omar is also reported to have stated that he had desired to write down a collection of the prophet's sayings, but refrained for fear of the Muslims choosing to abandon the teachings of the Quran in favour of the Hadith.

Early in Islamic history there was a school of thought that adhered to the view that the Hadith were incompatible with Islam, but it receded in importance after coming under criticism by al-Shafi'i.

In response to criticism, orthodox Muslims point to hadith that legitimise hadith collection. For example, a man was said to have come to Muhammad and complained about his memory, saying: "We hear many things from you, but most of them slip our minds because we cannot memorize them" and was encouraged to write them down to avoid forgetting them. Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr also said that the Quraysh had forbidden him to write down the words of Muhammad, noting that "the Prophet is human, who speaks while angry and pleased?", but was reassured when the prophet responded that "nothing emanates from [his mouth] except the truth,” but, again, these accounts are derived from the sources being criticised.

Within the Quran itself, a number of verses mention hadith. The following examples are from the Yusuf Ali translation, with the instances where the word hadith is translated and added in parenthesis which usually seems to referring to Quran:

4:87 Allah, there is no god but He; of a surety He will gather you together against the Day of Judgement, about which there is no doubt. And whose word can be truer than Allah's?

7:185 Do they see nothing in the government of the heavens and the earth and all that Allah hath created? (Do they not see) that it may well be that their terms is nigh drawing to an end? In what message after this will they then believe?

31:6 But there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah and throw ridicule (on the Path): for such there will be a Humiliating Penalty.

39:23 Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects)...

* Criticism of the Hadith by Muslims

A Muslim who denies the authority of the Hadith, following the Quran alone, is often called a Quran only Muslim, Quranist or just Muslim.

Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–1898) is often considered the founder of the modernist movement within Islam, noted for his application of "rational science" to the Quran and Hadith and his conclusion that the Hadith were not legally binding on Muslims. His student, Chiragh ‘Ali, went further, suggesting nearly all the Hadith were fabrications.

Ghulam Ahmed Pervez (1903–1985) was a noted critic of the Hadith and believed that the Quran alone was all that was necessary to discern God's will and our obligations. A fatwa, ruling, signed by more than a thousand orthodox clerics, denounced him as a 'kafir', a non-believer. His seminal work, Maqam-e Hadith argued that the Hadith were composed of "the garbled words of previous centuries", but suggests that he is not against the idea of collected sayings of the Prophet, only that he would consider any hadith that goes against the teachings of Quran to have been falsely attributed to the Prophet.

The 1986 Malaysian book "Hadith: A Re-evaluation" by Kassim Ahmad was met with controversy and some scholars declared him an apostate from Islam for suggesting that "“the hadith are sectarian, anti-science, anti-reason and anti-women".

* Western Criticism

John Esposito notes that "Modern Western scholarship has seriously questioned the historicity and authenticity of the hadith", maintaining that "the bulk of traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad were actually written much later." He mentions Joseph Schacht, considered the father of the revisionist movement, as one scholar who argues this, claiming that Schacht "found no evidence of legal traditions before 722," from which Schacht concluded that "the Sunna of the Prophet is not the words and deeds of the Prophet, but apocryphal material" dating from later. Though other scholars, such as Wilferd Madelung, have argued that "wholesale rejection as late fiction is unjustified".

* Impact of the Hadith

"So far from the Quran alone being the sole rule of faith and practice to Muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice are based on it alone". [Edward Sell, 1880]

Some Muslims, such as Kassim Ahmad, have suggested that the original prohibition against Hadith led to the Golden Age of Islam, as the Quran was able to stand up to critical thinking and questioning; and Muslims were thus schooled to be inquisitive and seek answers to every quandary. They posit that the increased reliance on Hadith, which was allegedly illogical and required the suspension of disbelief, led to the eventual downfall of scholastic pursuits in the religion.

In 1878, Cyrus Hamlin wrote that "Tradition, rather than the Quran, has formed both law and religion for the Moslems". In the early 20th century, a book was written in defence of the Hadith stating "Anyone who denies the role of Abu Hurayra denies half of the canonical law, for half of the hadiths on which judgments were based had their origin in Abu Hurayra".

Recently, the Pakistani judiciary has played down the importance of the Hadith compared to the Quran in its court rulings, pointing to theological reasons.

Hadith of Umar's ban on hadith #

Some recorded oral tradition among Muslims (Arabic: hadith) is about Umar's ban on hadith.

Although the narration is prominently quoted and referred to, it is not given any formal name, in contrast to other hadith such as the Hadith of the pond of Khumm or the Hadith of Quran and Sunnah.

Introduction

Most Sunnis view that Muhammad himself proclaimed that no hadith are to be recorded to ensure that people would not confuse any hadith with the Quran, and that this decision of Muhammad was upheld by his successors (Arabic: caliph), including Umar, the second Sunni Caliph. Although the Sunni view does not seem to be compatible with the fact that they have many books containing prophetic traditions. However, even during Umar's reign as kaliph, Hadith was still being recorded.

However, some sources state dispute this account, and claim that it was Umar himself who was the first person to ban hadith collection, a view upheld by Shias.

* Muslim view

Muslims view this hadith as notable and important on several accounts: several prominent persons are mentioned in the hadith and several controversial issues are dealt with.

* Sunni view

Muhammad Husayn Haykal

“ Umar ibn al-Khattab once tried to deal with the problem of committing the Hadith to writing. The companions of the Prophet whom he consulted, encouraged him, but he was not quite sure whether he should proceed. One day, moved by God's inspiration, he made up his mind and announced: "I wanted to have the traditions of the Prophet written down, but I fear that the Book of God might be encroached upon. Hence I shall not permit this to happen." He, therefore, changed his mind and instructed the Muslims throughout the provinces: "Whoever has a document bearing a prophetic tradition, shall destroy it." The Hadith, therefore, continued to be transmitted orally and was not collected and written down until the period of al-Mamun. ”

Dr. Mohammad Hamidullah

“ Abu-Dhahabi reports: The Caliph Abu-Bakr compiled a work, in which there were 500 traditions of the Prophet, and handed it over to his daughter 'Aishah. The next morning, he took it back from her and destroyed it, saying: "I wrote what I understood; it is possible however that there should be certain things in it which did not correspond textually with what the Prophet had uttered."

As to Umar, we learn on the authority of Ma'mar ibn Rashid, that during his caliphate, Umar once consulted the companions of the Prophet on the subject of codifying the Hadith. Everybody seconded the idea. Yet Umar continued to hesitate and pray to God for a whole month for guidance and enlightenment. Ultimately, he decided not to undertake the task, and said: "Former peoples neglected the Divine Books and concentrated only on the conduct of the prophets; I do not want to set up the possibility of confusion between the Divine Quran and the Prophet's Hadith."

”

* Shia view

Ali Asgher Razwy, a 20th century Shia Islamic scholar writes:

“ Muhammad, the Apostle of God, had expressed the wish, on his deathbed, to write his will, and as noted before, Umar had thwarted him by shouting that the Book of God was sufficient for the Muslim umma, and that it did not need any other writing from him.

Umar, it appears, actually believed in what he said, viz., a will or any other writing of the Prophet was redundant since Quran had the ultimate answers to all the questions. And if any doubts still lingered in anyone's mind on this point, he removed them when he became khalifa.

Muhammad lived in the hearts of his companions and friends. After his death, they wished to preserve all their recollections of his life. These recollections were of two kinds - his words and his deeds. The two together formed his Sunnah (the trodden path). Anything he said, and was quoted by a companion, is called a hadith or ‘tradition.'

But Umar did not want the companions to preserve any recollection of the words and the deeds of the Prophet. He, apparently, had many reservations regarding the usefulness, to the Muslim umma, of these recollections. He, therefore, forbade the companions to quote the sayings of the Prophet in speech or in writing. In other words, he placed the Hadith of the Prophet under a proscription.

List of Muslim reports #

Here is a list of famous Muslim reports:

By denomination

* Authenticated by both Shia and Sunnis

Hadith of the pond of Khumm — Shia and Sunni Mutawatir

Hadith of the two weighty things — Shia and Sunni Mutawatir

Hadith of the Twelve Successors — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the Cloak — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Mubahela — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Najd — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the pen and paper — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of position — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah — Sunni and Shia Sahih

* Differing views

Hadith of the prediction in Sura al-Rum — Sunni Sahih, unknown status among Shia

Hadith of Mut'ah and Sura Muminun — Shia Mawdo, Sunnis differ.

* Authenticated by only Sunnis

Hadith of Quran and Sunnah — Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of prohibition of Mut'ah at Khaybar — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

* Authenticated by only Shias

Sermon of the roar of a camel — Shia Sahih

Dua Sanamain Quraish — Shia Sahih and Sunni Mawdoo

Du'a al-Kumayl — Shia

Hadith of Umar's assassination

* Uncategorized

Hadith of the Umrah of Sa'd — Sunni Sahih

Hadiths related to Mut'ah

* By category

* Islam

* Quran

Hadith of Quran and Sunnah — Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the two weighty things — Shia and Sunni Mutawatir

Hadith of the prediction in Sura al-Rum — Sunni Sahih

* Sunnah

Hadith of Quran and Sunnah — Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah — Sunni Sahih

* Qiyama

Du'a al-Kumayl — Shia

* Fiqh

* Marriage

Hadiths related to Mut'ah — Shia and Sunni

Hadith of Mut'ah and Sura Muminun — Shia Mawdo, Sunnis differ.

Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah — Sunni and Shia Sahih

Hadith of prohibition of Mut'ah at Khaybar — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

* Persons

* Sunni Caliphs and Shia Imams

Hadith of the Twelve Successors — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Sermon of the roar of a camel — Shia Sahih

Dua Sanamain Quraish — Shia

Hadith of the pen and paper — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Umar's assassination

* Ahl al-Bayt

Hadith of the Cloak — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Mubahela — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the two weighty things — Shia and Sunni Mutawatir

* Sahaba

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

* Ali

Hadith of the pond of Khumm — Shia and Sunni Mutawatir

Hadith of position — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

* Abu Bakr

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of the prediction in Sura al-Rum — Sunni Sahih

* Uthman

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

* Umar

Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah — Sunni and Shia Sahih

Hadith of the ten promised paradise — Shia Mawdoo and Sunni Sahih

Hadith of Umar's assassination

* Jabir ibn Abd-Allah

Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah — Sunni and Shia Sahih

* Sa'd ibn Mua'dh

Hadith of the Umrah of Sa'd — Sunni Sahih

* Locations

* Najd

Hadith of Najd — Shia and Sunni Sahih

Introduction to Science of Hadith

Ibn Salah #

After the Quran itself, the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad form the most important foundation of Islamic thought. The hadith were accounts -- usually brief -- of the words and actions of the Prophet. As such, they were subjected to intense scrutiny by generations of Muslim scholars. Better known as the Muqaddimah, Ibn al-Salah (1181-1245) composed this work while serving as the head of the Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiya in Damascus, one of the most prestigious institutions for the study of hadith in the Islamic world. Here he provides a complete overview of the science devoted to the study of the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, and also a guide to the terminology and techniques of the scholars of hadith as it summarizes most of the previous work on the subject and forms the basis of almost all later activity in the field. The book enjoyed immense popularity and influenced most subsequent writing on the subject.

http://www.kalamullah.com/muqaddimah.html

Number of Sahih Hadith

In Arabic #

http://www.ibnamin.com/num_hadith.htm

Quranism #

Quranism (Arabic: Quraniyoon) is a denomination of Islam that holds the Quran to be the only canonical text in Islam. Quranists reject the religious authority of Hadith, libraries compiled by later scholars who catalogued narratives of what the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said and done. This is in contrast to mainstream Muslims who consider hadith essential for the Islamic faith. Quranism is similar to movements in other religions such as Karaite Judaism and the Sola scriptura.

History

Historically, such beliefs were expressed during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad while he was still alive. Although widely unnoticed, Umar ibn Khattab is regarded as the first person to make such claims. Al-Bukhari records in his Sahih:

" Narrated Ibn Abbas that the Prophet, Allah's blessings be upon him, was in his deathbed and there were some people in the house amongst whom was Umar Ibn Khattab. The Prophet, Allah's blessings be upon him, said, 'Bring for me a (pen and paper) so that I may write for you something so that you will not go astray after (me).' Umar said, 'Amongst us is the Quran and Allah's Book is sufficient for us.' ".

1-Arabic: 2-English version (slightly different translation which incorrectly states "the Prophet is seriously ill" instead of "His illness has dominated him (i.e. he is hallucinating)"):This tradition has also been recorded in Sahih Muslim (vol. 5, p. 76, Kitab al-Nadhr). What is inferred from Umar's words is that he believes the Quran is sufficient for guidance. Thus, he might be regarded as the first person in Islam to express Quranism beliefs. This conclusion is further supported by the historical claims that during his rule, Umar banned the narration of the Prophets traditions and hadiths.

* Etymology

Quranists may be referred to in various ways, for example Quraniyūn (Arabic: Quraniyyūn) and Ahl al-Quran / Ahle Quran, both translating to "Quranites" (which is also used in English), Submitters, and usually by their opponents munkirū al-ḥadīth (i.e. "negators of Hadith" / "hadith rejectors"), or Quranism, or Quran aloners, as well as other terms. Quranists may deride Sunni and Shia Muslims by referring to them as 'hadithists' and 'hadith-followers'.

* Doctrine

Quranists generally consider themselves to simply be "Muslims", a term directly from the Quran. They do not think of themselves as belonging to a sect, like Sunni or Shia, as they do not accept any of the narratives beside the Quran, thereby universally rejecting the authoritative status applied to hadith by orthodox Muslims as encoded in the various Sunnahs of the Sunni, Shia and other hadith-following sects in Islam. The extent to which Quranists reject the authenticity of the Sunnah varies, but the more established groups have thoroughly criticised the authenticity of the hadith and refused it for many reasons, the most prevalent being that hadith is not mentioned in the Quran as a source of Islamic theology and practice, was not recorded in written form until more than two centuries after the death of the prophet Muhammed, its perceived internal errors and contradictions, and repudiate fatwas on a hadith's authenticity and issues emanating from them.

Because of a lack of authoritative clergy in Quranism, ijtihad (independent reasoning) rather than institutionalised taqleed (imitation) is the most common method in use by Quranists.

* Examples

Quranist rejection of orthodox Muslim theologyDifferences in doctrine between Quranists and orthodox Muslims are extant from minor matters to the core of central beliefs such as the five pillars of Islam. Example areas of difference are:

Shahada (statement of faith)

Sunni Muslims recite the statement (lā ilāha illà l-Lāh, Muhammadun rasūlu l-Lāh) which translates to “There is no God but God and Muhammad is His Messenger”. Shias recite the statement (lā ilāha illà l-Lāh, Muhammadun rasūlu l-Lāh Aliyyun waliyyu l-Lāh) meaning “There is no god but God, Muhammad is His Messenger and Ali is God's vicegerent”.

The Quran only mentions 'lâ ilâha illallâh' so in general most Quranist followers, but not all, recite, lâ ilâha illallâh, meaning “There is no God but God” rather than the Sunni statement or Shia statement.

Prayer (salat)

Sunni pray five obligatory prayers a day, optional prayers such as those prayed by Prophet Muhammad know as sunnah salat or extra prayers known as nafl salat may be offered. Sunni Muslims touch their heads directly to the floor in contrast to Shias in prostration and fold their arms while standing in prayer. Shia Muslims pray three times a day as they join two prayers such as the evening prayer (Maghrib) and the night prayer (Isha) salat together. Shia Muslims use a plank of wood or a hard tablet made of clay from karbala to rest their heads during prostration. Orthodox Islam says menstruating women should not pray.

Regarding prayer Quranists fall into a few categories. There is a group who combine the five prayers into three prayers like Shias. There are those who pray five times a day like Sunnis. There are those who pray 2 times a day (dawn and dusk to include the times of night closest to these) because the Quran only mentions two prayers in the Quran by name. There are also the fringe groups who redefine the Arabic term used for prayer (salat) as something other than prayer. Some Quranists continue to pray in the orthodox manner while others just incorporate bowing and prostration without following the orthodox formula of movement. Night prayer, often referred to as tahajjud is encouraged in the Quran but not in a specific formula as with the orthodox salat in general. See Quranic references: 17:79, 32:16-17, 51:16-17, 52:49, 73:6, 76:26. Menstruating women can pray according to many Quranists due to the reasoning that surah 4:43 does not mention menstruation in its criteria.

Dress

Orthodox Muslims are encouraged to dress in the way of the prophet Muhammad or his wives. Some Sunni scholars emphasize covering of all body including the face in public whereas some scholars exclude the face from hijab. Shias believe that the hijab must cover around the perimeter of the face and up to the chin.

Clothing rules plays no part in Quranist theology other than that the person dress modestly as surah 24:30–31 says. For example hijabs or beards are not necessary.

Food

Orthodox Muslims consider food slaughtered by the Christians and Jews, to be religiously consumable. Some orthodox Muslims who generally forbid using the left hand. This is because the right hand is considered cleaner due to the tradition of using the left hand in order to clean oneself after having used the toilet.

Quranists can eat food produced by Christians and Jews, as instructed in the ayah 5:5. Some believe that animals produced by them still must be slaughtered with a blessing, prayer or praise to God alone before being slaughtered as is shown in the ayat 6:138. The Quran forbids that animals die by a blow, so techniques for animal slaughter common in Western countries are regarded as by Quranists as unlawful. Also Quranists can consume food with both hands, as there are no prohibitions on eating with the left hand in the Quran.

Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

Pilgrimage to Mecca is performed from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar.

Many Quranists object to touching the black stone of the kaaba during hajj or umrah, however all Quranists agree that it is not to be accorded any sort of special veneration or respect apart from the rest of the Ka'bah. Hajj according to some Quranists is a four month long season. This idea is held mostly by the submitters group. Pre-islamically the hajj was a three month season beginning at the end of Ramadan,. These three months are the "known months" that the Quran sanctions for the undertaking of pilgrimage. They are known in Arabic as 'Shawwal', 'Dhul-Qi'dah' and the entire month of 'Dhul-Hijjah.' The tradition of only performing pilgrimage during the first 10 days of 'Dhul-Hijjah' comes from the literature of hadith ascribing this practice as the preferred practice of the prophet Muhammad.

Emergence of Anti-Christ (Dajjal) and the Mahdi

Sunni Muslims believe that when the world has widespread corruption, the Mahdi will come and fight the Anti-Christ. Shias also believe in the emergence of the Mahdi, but unlike the Sunni doctorine, they claim that the Mahdi has already been born. Shias Muslims believe that the Mahdi is hiding for a period known as the occultation, and will emerge and fight the Anti-Christ (Dajjal) at a time prescribed by God.

Quranists generally do not believe in the emergence of the Imam Mahdi or dajjal, since they're not mentioned in the Quran.

Quranist rejection of orthodox Muslim punishments

Major punishments approved and applied by the orthodox Sunni and Shia madhabs for over a millennium that Quranists reject include:

Stoning for adultery. Instead, Quranists follow the quran's prescribed punishment of 100 lashings as the Quran does not differentiate between fornicators or adulterers in this punishment, by use of the word 'Zina' (Arabic: الزنا ) in surah 24:2. The orthodox Shariah law applies lashings only to fornicators as per the Quran, but stoning to adulterers as per Sunnah;

The requirement that the four witnesses of zina must have seen clear penetration during the coitus (though this stringent requirement is rarely applied in practice), as the Quran only requires four witnesses to zina.

Death penalty of homosexuals. The Quran mentions no punishment for homosexuality other than in a specific reference to prophet Lut's community, a punishment which God alone administers. Quranists instead tend to view that if homosexuality is a sin, that is punishable by God alone in the afterlife.

OverviewQuranists consider themselves to follow only the Quran.

Liberal movements within Islam include Quranists who interpret Islam as "a belief system committed to the liberal values of a democratic world" under narrow Hudud. Other quranists remain orthodox in their approach to human rights and broader in the application of rules and punishments, supporting punishments such as amputation of the hand for theft, cruficixion, amputation and execution of enemies

Most Quranists accept the same Arabic Quran used by other Muslims, with only the minority 'submitter' sect reverting to what they claim is the original Quran by removing ayats 9:128-9 to fit their 'Quran Code 19' theology.

Quranist groups are increasingly translating the Arabic Quran themselves into other languages, because most translations by orthodox Muslim groups contain perceived innovations and mistranslations to fit the orthodox ideology. Orthodox Qurans are replete with bracketed comments — based on the sunnah — throughout the ayats to lead the reader to interpret the Quran by the way of the translator, even though the bracketed comments are absent from the Arabic Quran, and such bracketed comments appear less frequently — if at all — in Quranist translations.

Some Muslims have suggested that the original prohibition against Hadith led to the Golden Age of Islam, as the Quran was able to stand up to critical thinking and questioning; and Muslims were thus schooled to be inquisitive and seek answers to every quandary. They posit that the increased reliance on Hadith, which was allegedly illogical and required the suspension of disbelief, led to the eventual downfall of scholastic pursuits in the religion.

* Notable

Ahmed Subhy Mansour is a recognised Islamic scholar and cleric, with expertise in Islamic history, culture, theology, and politics. He founded a small group of Quranists, but was exiled from Egypt and is now living in the United States as a political refugee. One of his followers, Egyptian blogger Reda Abdel-Rahman was freed on January 2009 after being detained for a year. Abdel-Rahman was imprisoned for writing blogs that reject the sunnah and hadith, and claimed he was tortured in order to reveal the password to his e-mail. Sheikh Mansour was fired from Al-Azhar University after expressing his hadith rejector views. One of Mansour's fellow Islamic scholars at Al Azhar University Sheik Jamal Tahir took up the same Quraniyūn stance.

Edip Yuksel is a Turkish advocate for the Quraniyūn movement and has gained much attention through his books and speeches.

Mohammed Shahrour also rejects Hadith and has his own methods of interpreting the Quran.

Shabbir Ahmed is the author of “The Quran As It Explains Itself”, or QXP, a non-literal translation of the meaning of the Quran in plain English. He interprets the meaning of the words and phrases in Quran by comparing them to other instances where they are used elsewhere in the Quran.

As many Quranists have a very individualistic interpretation of the Quran, rejecting sectarianism and organised religion as a general rule, it is difficult to gather an accurate estimate of the number of Quranists in the world today by doing a study of the Quranist organisations that exist. Another difficulty in determining their prevalence is the possible fear of persecution due to being regarded as apostates and therefore deserving of the death penalty by many traditional scholars like Yousef Elbadry, Mahmoud Ashour, Mohammed Ra'fat Othman and Mustafa Al-Shak'a.

Non-Muslim scholars of Islam, such as Maurice Bucaille, John Esposito, Joseph Schacht and Cyrus Hamlin also criticise Hadith.

* Quranist organisations and branches

* The Ahle Quran

"Ahle Quran" is an organisation formed by Abdullah Chakralawi, rely entirely on the chapters and verses of the Quran. Chakralawi's position was that the Quran itself was the most perfect source of tradition and could be exclusively followed. According to Chakralawi, Muhammad could receive only one form of revelation (wahy), and that was the Quran. He argues that the Quran was the only record of divine wisdom, the only source of Muhammad's teachings, and that it superseded the entire corpus of hadith, which came later. Ahle Quran scholars may use Tafsir when pursuing the interpretations of the Quran.

* Tolu-e-IslamMain

article: Tolu-e-Islam

Tolu-e-Islam ("Resurgence of Islam") is an organization based in Pakistan, with followers throughout the world. The movement was initiated by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, a Quranic scholar. In his writings and speeches, he re-interpreted Quranic verses with little or no emphasis on hadith. Tolu-e-Islam followers do not reject all hadiths; however, they only accept hadiths which "are in accordance with the Quran or do not stain the character of the Prophet or his companions". The organization is loosely controlled. The organization publishes and distributes books, pamphlets, and recordings of Pervez's teachings.

* United Submitters International

Main article: United Submitters International

Although different from other Quranists nowadays in many ways, like having faith that Rashad Khalifa was the Messenger of the Covenant mentioned in chapter 3 verse 81 and chapter 33 verse 7 of the Quran, the term Quranists was closely associated with the late Rashad Khalifa, founder of the United Submitters International. The group popularized the phrase: The Quran, the whole Quran, and nothing but the Quran. After Khalifa declared himself the Messenger of the Covenant, he was rejected by orthodox scholars as an apostate of Islam. Later, he was assassinated in 1990 by a sunni terrorist group. His followers believe that there is a mathematical structure in the Quran, based on the number 19.

* Criticism

The most important criticism of Quranist Muslims by the Orthodox establishment is that the Quran itself refers to statements by the Prophet, and to other concepts that are not fully explained within the Quran itself such as fasting, praying, and the hajj. There are many verses that state references towards aspects that are not from the Quran itself (historical references such as the situation and actions taken in the time of Prophet Muhammad) which requires explanations from sources outside of the Quran. The reference to the actions of Prophets are made throughout the Quran such as:

"Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah. " [33:21]

"Indeed Allâh conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur'ân), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'ân) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet (i.e. his legal ways, statements, acts of worship, etc.)], while before that they had been in manifest error." (3:164)

Quranist Muslims are also criticized about how they pick and choose which parts of the Quran they will adhere to. A simple problem being on which verses (Ayah) someone may hold more emphasis on than others and the issue of multiple belief systems within the same Quranist congregation.

Other simple criticism is the Quran was complied as one book after the death of Muhammad by the 3rd Caliphate Uthman ibn Affan during the same time the that hadith literature was being composed by the same scholars and passed unchanged under different Caliphate throughout the Islamic history.

According to mainstream Muslims, the hadith literature is an integral part of the Muslim faith. The 11th century Andalusian Maliki theologian and scholar Ibn Abd al-Barr wrote in his Jami' Bayan al-'Ilm wa Fadlihi (Compendium Exposing the Nature of Knowledge and Its Immense Merit):

The Sunna is divided into two types. The first is the consensus transmitted from the masses to the masses. This is one of the proofs that leave no excuse for denial and there is no disagreement concerning them. Whoever rejects this consensus has rejected one of Allah's textual stipulations and committed apostasy. The second type of Sunna consists in the reports of established, trustworthy lone narrators with uninterrupted chains. The congregation of the ulamas of the Community have said that this second type makes practice obligatory. Some of them said that it makes both knowledge and practice obligatory.

Contemporary scholars such as Gibril Haddad have commented on the apostatic nature of a wholesale denial of the probativeness of the Sunnah according to Sunni Orthodoxy, writing "it cannot be imagined that one reject the entire probativeness of the Sunna and remain a Muslim". In his essay, "The Probativeness of the Sunna", Haddad explains that the foundation of Islam is the Quran, which cannot be described as God's word when one unconditionally rejects the probativeness of the Sunna (since the fact that the Quran is God's Word was not established by other than Muhammad's explicit statement that this was God's Word and His Book). As this statement is part of the Sunna/Hadith Literature, to say that the Sunna is no proof is no different than a denial of an integral part of the religion according to Haddad. He also quotes from Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr, Ibn Hazm as well as other renowned early traditional scholars such as al-Shafi'i, al-Nawawi, Qadi Ayyad and Ibn Hajar.

The Grand Mufti of Pakistan Muhammad Rafi Usmani has also criticised Quranists in his lecture Munkareen Hadith (refuters of Hadith); he states:

The Quran, which they claim to follow, denies the faith of the one who refuses to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and does not accept his ruling: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.” [al-Nisa’ 4:65 – interpretation of the meaning] [Source: wiki, August 2012]

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