A hadith is a saying of Muhammad or a report about something he did. Over time,
during the first few centuries of Islam, it became obvious that many so-called
hadith were in fact spurious sayings that had been fabricated for various motives,
at best to encourage believers to act righteously and at worse to corrupt believers'
understanding of Islam and to lead them astray. Since Islamic legal scholars were
utilizing hadith as an adjunct to the Qur'an in their development of the Islamic
legal system, it became critically important to have reliable collections of hadith.
While the early collections of hadith often contained hadith that were of
questionable origin, gradually collections of authenticated hadith called sahih (lit.
true, correct) were compiled. The two most highly respected collections of hadith
are the authenticated collections the Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. (Sahih
literally means "correct, true, valid, or sound.") In addition to these, four other
collections came to be well-respected, These four other collections are the Sunan
of Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Abu Da'ud. Together these four and the two
sahih collections are called the "six books" (al-kutub al-sitta).
Collection of Al-Hadiths
Hadeeth:
(1). 'A'isha said that Rasulullah saw said : "The deeds most loved by Allah swt (are
those) done regularly, even if they are small". ( Bukhari, Muslim )
(3). Abu Hurairah said that Rasulullah saw said : "Beware of envy, for envy
devours good (deeds) like fire devours firewood". ( Abu Dawud )
(4). Jabir b. Abdullah said that Rasulullah saw said : "Allah is not merciful to him
who is not merciful to people ". ( Bukhari, Muslim )
(5). Abdullah b. Umar said that Rasulullah saw said :"The Merciful One shows
mercy to those who are themselves merciful (to others). So show mercy to
whatever is on earth, then He who is in heaven will show mercy to you " ( Abu
Dawud, Tirmidhi )
(6). From Abu Hurairah : Rasulullah saw said : "He who does not thank people,
does not thank Allah". ( Ahmad, Tirmidhi )
(8). From al-Miqdam b. Ma'dikarib : Rasulullah saw said : " When a man loves his
brother he should tell him that he loves him " ( Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi )
(9). From Abu Ayyub al-Anshari : Rasulullah saw said : " It is not right for a man
to abandon his brother for more than three days". ( Bukhari, Muslim )
(10).Jabir said that Rasulullah saw said : " If one makes excuses to his brother, but
he does not excuse him, or accept his apology, he is as sinful as one who takes an
unjust tax " ( Baihaqi )
(11).From Abu Hurairah : Rasulullah saw said : " The strong man is not the one
who is strong in wrestling, but the one who controls himself in anger " ( Bukhari,
Muslim )
(14).From Uthman ra : Rasulullah saw said : "The best of you is he who has learnt
the Qur'an and then taught it " ( Bukhari )
(15).Ibn Umar ra said that Rasulullah saw said : "Each of you is a guardian, and
each of you will be asked about your guardian- ship. The leader is a guardian, and
the man is a guardian over the people of his house, and the woman is a guardian
over her husband's house and children. So each of you is a guardian, and each of
you will be asked about your guardianship". ( Bukhari, Muslim )
(16).Abdullah b. Amr b. al-As ra said that Rasulullah saw never used obscene talk
nor did he listen to it. ( Bukhari, Muslim )
Answer the following questions on your own paper.
1. Why was it important to verify whether these sayings were really spoken by
Muhammad?
2. What guesses can you make about Islamic and Arabic culture from the
Hadith?
3. What are some basic rules or norms that persist in other societies that you
can see represented in the hadith?
4. Why do you think these ideas are accepted in so many societies even though
they do not share the same culture or religion?