Six main compilations of Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم ) -
[As-Sihah as-Sittah (الصحاح الستة )]
We keep reminding you that t here are only two sources of Islamic knowledge:
The Qur-an and the authentic Sunnah (Traditions of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) or Hadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم).
As mentioned earlier, Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) provide the most valuable source of Islamic knowledge after the Holy Qur-an.
There was a three pronged approach for compilation of Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم):
| 1. |
The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم passed on his traditions orally to his Sahabah (Companions).
He used to repeat everything thrice. He used to then listen it back from his
Sahabah (Companions) to make sure that they got it right. |
| 2. |
The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم dictated his traditions orally to his Sahabah (Companions) who used to write them down. |
| 3. |
The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم demonstrated his traditions to his Sahabah (Companions) . |
There are a couple of authentic Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) that say that he forbade writing them down.
Most 'Ulema" (Religious Scholars) agree that the instructions of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم were specifically for not writing down his sayings on the same sheet which was being used for recording the Qur-an so that they could not get mixed up. In the early days of Islam this prohibition was to keep total attention of the Qur-an that was in its early stages of revelation.
There is undisputed proof that scores of Sahabah (Companions of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) recorded Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) during the lifetime of the last Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Imam Malik who died in 179 H (Hijrah) (795 CE) was the first to make a systematic compilation of Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم). His work is known as al-Muwatta’ (The Trodden Path). All other compilations of Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) came into existence after it.
Six most authentic compilations are known as As-Sihah as-Sittah (الصحاح الستة ) - six correct compilations:
| 1. |
Sahih Bukhari - Compiled by Imam Bukhari who died in 256 H (Hijrah) (870CE).
It is accepted to be the most reliable and most prestigious of the collections of Ahadith.
Bukhari sought to list only Ahadith which possessed uninterrupted chains of credible authorities. He classified his collection very well and divided the book into almost 100 chapters with 3450 subsections, each with a heading to indicate its contents |
| 2. |
Sahih Muslim - Compiled by Imam Muslim who died in 261H (Hijrah) (875CE). It is considered to be one of the two most reliable collections of
Ahadith. It include about 12000 Ahadith (with 4000 repetitions). It does not contain a complete chapter on Tafsir. Muslim is stricter than Bukhari in pointing out the differences between narrations. |
| 3. |
Sunan Abu Dawud - Compiled by Abu
Dawud who died in 275H (Hijrah) (888CE).
It is among the six authentic collections of
Ahadith, it contains 4800 Ahadith mostly on legal matters. It was the first book of its type in Hadith literature and is considered to be the best Sunan. Abu
Dawud has pointed out the weakness and peculiarities in Ahadith and their
Isnad (Chain of Narration). It is one of the most comprehensive collections of Ahadith. |
| 4. |
Sunan of Ibn Majah - Compiled by Ibn Majah who died in 273H (Hijrah) (886CE): It contains 4341 Ahadith. Of these 3002 appear also in the collections of Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Nasa"i. It is also one of the six authentic collections of
Ahadith, although it is considered less authentic than the Muwatta of Imam Malik. It contains many Ahadith which are forged and he did not mention his criteria for their selection. |
| 5. |
Sunan of Nasa"i - Compiled by Nasa"i who died in 309H (Hijrah) (915CE). His Sunan is one with the smallest number of weak Ahadith after the two Sahih collections. The Sunan which is one of the six authentic collections of
Ahadith. It has a synopsis of a large collection of Ahadith which he considered to be fairly reliable. In the smaller collection he only included those Ahadith which he considered to be reliable. |
| 6. |
Jami' of Tirmidhi - Compiled by Tirmidhi who died in 279H (Hijrah) (852CE). It contains about 4000 Ahadith. After each Hadith he commented on its legal usage and the quality of its Isnad (Chain of Narration). He has personal notes on almost every page which mention the degrees of authenticity of each Hadith. This makes his Jami' unique. |
Besides the above mentioned six authentic compilations of Ahadith (Sayings of
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), following compilations are also considered very accurate:
Musnad Ahmad: Compiled by Ahmad ibn Hanbal who died in 241H (Hijrah) (855CE). It is the most important and most exhaustive of the Musnad (a collection of Ahadith arranged on the first authority basis of its Isnad). His aim was to record all traditions which were likely to prove genuine if tested and could serve as a basis for argument. He never claimed that contains only genuine or reliable Ahadith. His Musnad was respectively transmitted by his son 'Abdullah who died in 290H (Hijrah) (903CE) and the his student, Abu Bakr al Qati (died in 368H, 979CE), both of whom added some hadiths. It contains a total of 30,000 hadiths (with 10,000 repititions) narrated by 700 companions.
Muwatta of Imam Malik - He died in 179H (Hijrah) (795CE). It is the oldest and most authentic collection of Ahadith as well as Fiqh (Jurisprudence).
Sunan of Daraqunti - He died in 385H (Hijrah) (995CE). His selection of Ahadith was based on the criteria of Bukhari and Muslim. He added Isnad (Chain of Narration) and notes about the narrators. Its reliability is second only to the sound six collections. It was the basis for the collections of al Baghawi and at Tabrizi.
Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi - He died in 458H (Hijrah) (1066CE). The Ahadith in this compilation are arranged according to their legal status. They also include traditions that were not available in earlier compilations.
Sunan of Darimi - He died in 255H (Hijrah) (869CE). His book is a musannaf which is also called al Musnad al Jami, a misnomer. It contains 3550 Ahadith plus comments on the Isnad (Chain of Narration) and legal points. It has an introductory chapter on pre Islamic times and traditions connected to the life and character of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. It is considered to be quite reliable. It is an important collection of Ahadith and some 'Ulema" feel that it should have been a part of the six authentic compilations of Ahadith (Sayings of
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم). |
