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Sahih Hadith (Arabic: الحديث الصحيح, al-Hadith al-Ṣaḥīḥ) in Hadith terminology, may be translated as "authentic hadith (prophetic narration)"[1] or "sound hadith (prophetic narration)".[2] Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is ṣaḥīḥ lidhātihi ("ṣaḥīḥ 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[broken anchor] ("chain of narration") that contains neither a serious concealed flaw (ʻillah, Arabic:علة) nor irregularity (shādhdh). He then defines a hadith that is ṣaḥīḥ lighairihi ("ṣaḥīḥ due to external factors") as a hadith "with something, such as numerous chains of narration, strengthening it."[3][full citation needed] In the Sunni branch of Islam, the canonical hadith collections are the six books (Kutub al-Sittah) listed below.
Ibn Hajar's definitions indicate that there are five conditions to be met for a particular hadith to be considered ṣaḥīḥ:
A number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion of ṣaḥīḥ hadith alone.
Ḥasan (حَسَن meaning "good") is used to describe hadith whose authenticity is not as well-established as that of ṣaḥīḥ hadith, but sufficient for use as supporting evidence.
Ibn Hajar defines a hadith that is ḥasan lithatihi – "ḥasan in and of itself" – with the same definition a ṣaḥīḥ 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 states that it is then comparable to a ṣaḥīḥ hadith in its religious authority. A ḥasan hadith may rise to the level of being ṣaḥīḥ if it is supported by numerous isnād (chains of narration); in this case that hadith would be ḥasan lithatihi ("ḥasan in and of itself") but, once coupled with other supporting chains, becomes ṣaḥīḥ ligharihi ("ṣaḥīḥ due to external factors").[4]
According to Sunni Islam, which reflects the beliefs followed by 80–90% of adherents of Islam worldwide,[5] Sahih status was achieved by the first two books in the following list (known as "the six books" or Kutub al-Sittah):
Different branches of Islam refer to different collections of hadiths or give preference to different ones.
Within the Muslim community, the percentage of Sunnis is generally thought to be between 85 and 93.5 percent, with the Shia accounting for 6.6 to 15 percent, although some sources estimate their numbers at 20 percent. A common compromise figure ranks Sunnis at 90 percent and Shias at 10 percent.See further citations in the article Islam by country.
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