A journey of a young, UK based, Muslim

what is hadith

the purpose of hadith

Hadith (الحديث transliteration: al-ḥadīth) are traditions relating to the words and deeds of Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded as important tools for determining the Sunnah, or Muslim way of life, by all traditional schools of jurisprudence. The Arabic plural is aḥādīth (أحاديث). In English academic usage, hadith is often both singular and plural.

Overview

A hadith was originally an oral tradition relevant to the actions and customs of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Starting with the first Fitna of the 7th century, those receiving the hadith started to question the sources of the saying ^[1]. This resulted in a list of transmitters, for example “A told me that B told him that Muhammad said”. This list of the chain of testimony by which a hadith was transmitted is called an Isnad. The text itself came to be known as Matn.

The hadith were eventually recorded in written form, had their Isnad evaluated and collected into large collections mostly during the reign of Umar II (bin Abdul Aziz, grandson of Umar bin Khattab(RAA)2nd Caliph) during 8th century, something that solidified in the 9th century. These works are still today referred to in matters of Islamic law and History.

The hadith are prone to error and often misinterpreted. They are meant to be a secondary source of Islam with the primary source being the Quran.