"And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, leave
it... " [Al-Hashr- 59:7]
In Islam, the Arabic word sunnah has come to denote the way Prophet
Muhammad (saas), the Messenger of Allah, lived his life. The Sunnah is the second
source of Islamic jurisprudence, the first being the Qur'an.
Both sources are indispensable; one cannot practice Islam without consulting
both of them. The Arabic word hadith (pl. ahadith) is very similar
to Sunnah, but not identical. A hadith is a narration about the life of
the Prophet (saas) or what he approved - as opposed to his life itself, which is
the Sunnah as already mentioned.
In M. M. Azami's Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, the following
precise definition of a hadith is given,
According to Muhaddithiin [scholars of hadith -ed.] it stands for 'what was transmitted
on the authority of the Prophet, his deeds, sayings, tacit approval, or description
of his sifaat (features) meaning his physical appearance. However, physical appearance
of the Prophet is not included in the definition used by the jurists.'
Thus hadith literature means the literature which consists of the narrations of
the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him. However, the term was used
sometimes in much broader sense to cover the narrations about the Companions [of
the Prophet -ed.] and Successors [to the Companions -ed.] as well.
The explosion of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries confronted Islamic scholars
with a daunting task: to preserve the knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet (saas).
Hence the science of hadith evaluation was born. We recommend that you read the
"Introduction to the Science of Hadith" below to understand the tremendous efforts
that were required to sift the true reports from the false reports. The success
of the early scholars is also captured below by some collections of hadith.
