Hadith

Hadith (Arabic: حديث) means “report” or “account of an event” in Arabic. It refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes that claim to preserve the words, actions, and silent approvals of the prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle—his companions in Sunni Islam, and the Ahl al-Bayt (his family) in Shia Islam. These traditions, attributed to Muhammad or other authoritative figures, first circulated in early post-prophetic discussions, often without formal chains of attribution. Between the 7th and 10th centuries, Islamic scholars called muhaddiths began systematically compiling them, first organizing them by the primary authority to whom they were attributed, and later by subject matter. In later traditions, each hadith came with a chain of narrators (isnad)—a lineage of people who reportedly heard and passed on the hadith, allowing its source to be traced. Hadith compilations developed along different lines, shaped by distinct cultural spheres and the presuppositions of religio-political divisions such as Sunni, Shia, and Kharijite. Each sect eventually established its own accredited corpus. This situation, which compromised reliability, led scholars of hadith to create specific criteria for verifying the authenticity of these narrations. Over the following centuries, scholars categorized hadith by reliability into classes such as sahih (authentic), hasan (good), and da'if (weak). This process aimed to address contradictory or questionable statements within certain narrations, but it was subjective—classification could vary depending on the individual scholar. Differences in classification and interpretation allowed various Islamic schools of thought to adopt divergent approaches to understanding and applying Sharia. In Islamic society, the growing importance of hadith—and its eventual replacement of the concept of Sunnah—occurred over several distinct stages. Originally, sunnah meant a tradition that did not define good and bad. Later, “good traditions” came to be called sunnah, and the concept of “Muhammad’s sunnah” was established. Muhammad’s sunnah then gave way to the “hadiths of Muhammad.” Because hadith gained widespread respect in mainstream Islamic thought as the second authority after the Quran, a significant portion of Sharia rules are derived from hadith rather than from the Quran. Throughout early Islamic history, there have also been approaches that question the authenticity, epistemological value, or capacity of hadith to generate law or doctrine, and that limit or—partially or entirely—reject them. These include the Kharijites, the Mu'tazila, certain early jurists (known as Ahl al-Ra'y), and theologians. Western critical scholarship in hadith studies categorically rejects the authenticity of hadith as an accurate record of the historical Muhammad. Scholars argue that the corpus does not reflect 7th-century reality; instead, it represents a retrospective projection—created through fabrications based on traditional systems of attribution—of perspectives shaped by the legal, theological, and political conflicts of the 8th to 10th centuries. Quranist Islam rejects the epistemic value of hadith and does not attribute any sanctity to them. **Terminology**

In Arabic, the noun ḥadīth (حديث) means “report,” “account,” or “narrative.” Its Arabic plural is aḥādīth (أحاديث). Hadith also refers to the speech of a person. Other terms used for similar purposes before hadith include:

- **Khabar** (literally news, information; pl. akhbar) may be used as a synonym for hadith, but some scholars use it to refer to traditions about Muhammad’s companions and their successors from the following generation, in contrast to hadith as defined as traditions about Muhammad himself. Another definition (by Ibn Warraq) describes them as “discrete anecdotes or reports” from early Islam that “include simple statements, utterances of authoritative scholars, saints, or statesmen, reports of events, and stories about historical events all varying in length from one line to several pages.” - **Athar** (trace, remnant) usually refers to traditions about the companions and successors, though it sometimes connotes traditions about Muhammad. In accordance with the prevailing understanding of the later era, knowledge based on transmitted reports was termed “Ilm” (knowledge/science). The gatherings where these reports were conveyed and classified were called “Majlis al-‘Ilm” (assemblies of knowledge), and the resulting output was named ʻilm al-ḥadīth—the hadith sciences. **Definition / Evolution of the concept**

In Islamic terminology, according to Juan Campo, the term hadith refers to reports of statements or actions of Muhammad, or of his tacit approval or criticism of something said or done in his presence. Classical hadith specialist Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani says that the intended meaning of hadith in religious tradition is something attributed to Muhammad but not found in the Quran. In contrast, according to the Shia Islam Ahlul Bayt Digital Library Project, “when there is no clear Qur'anic statement, nor is there a Hadith upon which Muslim schools have agreed… Shi'a… refer to Ahlul-Bayt [the family of Muhammad] to derive the Sunnah of the Prophet,” implying that while hadith is limited to the “Traditions” of Muhammad, the Shi'a Sunna draws on the sayings, etc., of the Ahlul-Bayt—the Imams of Shia Islam. Hadith may be hadith qudsi (sacred hadith)—which some Muslims regard as the words of God—or hadith sharif (noble hadith), which are Muhammad’s own utterances.