What Muslims believe
The hadith collections
Hadith are reports of what Muhammad said, did or approved, each with a chain of narrators. Sunni and Shia Muslims rely on different collections.
How a hadith works
A hadith has a text (matn) and a chain of narrators (isnad) back to the Prophet. Scholars graded reports as sahih (sound), hasan (good) or da'if (weak), judging mainly the narrators' reliability and the continuity of the chain.
The collections
Sunni Islam treats six books as canonical (al-Kutub al-Sitta): Sahih al-Bukhari (al-Bukhari died 870), Sahih Muslim (died 875), and the Sunan of Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah. The earlier Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas (died 795) is also highly regarded.
Twelver Shia Islam relies on the Four Books: al-Kafi of al-Kulayni, Man la yahduruhu al-faqih of Ibn Babawayh, and the Tahdhib al-ahkam and al-Istibsar of al-Tusi.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ فَإِن تَنَٰزَعْتُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا 59
59O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.
Quran 4:59 (Pickthall) · context
مَّن يُطِعِ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ ٱللَّهَ وَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا 80
80Whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed Allah, and whoso turneth away: We have not sent thee as a warder over them.
Quran 4:80 (Pickthall) · context
Sources
- Earliest source Jonathan A. C. Brown, Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (Oneworld, 2009).