The Hadith Intro Hadith Terminology While the Qur an is relatively stable and constant text the Hadith have several different variations The Hadith is a variety of books and quotations of what Muhammad said what he approved of and what he did each of the Hadith has a chain of translators person a heard it from Muhammad then told person b told person c etc Hadith compiled in the 9th century It is taught that Muhammad s general teachings were revealed to him from G d and serve as supplementary theology The Qur an is supposed to be the direct word of G d while the Hadith are the directions of G d that Muhammad just said and told people to do the Qur an was preserved The Hadith is not preserved in the way that the Qur an says Sunna example practice custom date before Muhammad o G d s Sunna in the Qur an is to send messengers and when people don t listen they are destroyed o Generally refers to the Sunnas of Muhammad o Most of the Hadith are short and come from an oral Hadith report of prophetic Sunna tradition Isnad chain of transmitters supports the text how did you get that idea studied to establish the credibility of the text were the transmitters reliable Matn text text of what Muhammad did said approved Sahih sound authentic means that the Hadith is not necessarily exactly what Muhammad said but must be pretty close o literally healthy sound correct o Must have an uninterrupted chain of transmitters and all the transmitters must have been good Muslims and had good memories imprecise o Generally regarded as mostly true sometimes different people have different criteria for Hadith o Top collections of Hadith are sound valid Da if weak inauthentic o The text might be sound but the transmission might be inaccurate How reliable are the Hadith o The Hadith might be good sources of Muhammad s life and the history surrounding the founding of Islam o Western scholars traditionally approach the Hadith skeptically and historically o Was it said written made up in the 6th century during Muhammad s life or just made up later and credited to Muhammad Many law books have rulings that don t come from the Hadith or the Qur an Sunni vs Shi i Hadith Both groups value the Sunna of the Prophet Primary difference isnad o Sunni Isnad must be unbroken chain of reliable transmitters all the way to the Prophet via a Companion of the Prophet Four to six names Muhammad didn t write anything down and the Companions must be direct witnesses to the Muhammad They were the converts from Mecca Companions saw and heard Muhammad so they are the start of the chain that would make it an unbroken chain o Shi i isnad Must be unbroken chain of reliable transmitters to one of the twelve Imams Shi i tradition Imams Ali Descendent of Muhammad via Fatimah and Ultimate authority in religious knowledge Ali was the first Imam and supposedly Best isnad is an Imam not including the received extra information from Muhammad 12th and last because it s like going back to Muhammad himself They have extra knowledge and are infallible sources The twelfth Imam is a Messianic figure who went into hiding and supposedly will come back and restore justice to the world Sunni Hadith Collections The Sahih of al Bukhari d 870 o Evaluates the validity of the transmitters Got more involved in theological debates The Sahih of Muslim d 875 The Six Books o Includes more of his own opinions on Hadith o These and another four books are considered the best al Nawawi d 1277 one of the greatest Hadith scholars o The other four books are not as authoritative there are sources If a Hadith is in one or both of these books they are the highest rated ones a few weak ones in there If you learn 40 Hadith that s good enough transmitters and just tells you what book the Hadith is in Identifies many of the transmitters in the Isnads and writes a lot of commentary o Forty Hadith o Gardens of the Righteous o Commentary on Sahih Muslim Drops the chain of 23 September 2009 Major Topics of the Hadith Prayer o Often the prayers are the most important and first o How and when to pray are not explained in the Qur an mentioned in Hadiths Pilgrimage o The Qur an doesn t provide how exactly to take the pilgrimage Muhammad took the great pilgrimage only once o Border on the legal o Logical aspects of the night journey to Jerusalem and Morals Belief the intercession Ritual Purity o Washing oneself before prayer giving a series of directions on how to wash for prayer Excellences of the Companions o Status of the companions who saw Muhammad Were they the best generation Sunni or were they astray for not recognizing Ali Shi i Governance Alms tax Warfare o Distributing spoils that are captured encouragement to rule justly but not really a set up of a government o Qur an doesn t specify the alms tax and the tax at the end of Ramadan o Do not harm non combatants women children clergymen etc is specifically in the Hadith not as explicit in Qur an Sales Commerce o Loans bankruptcy economy interest etc Ethical Hadiths G d is gentle and loves tenderness His gifts to the gentle By He in whose hand my soul rests None of you will enter person suprass all that He gives to the harsh one paradise until you truly believe and none of you Sunni Legal Hadiths come from al Nawawi s book of Forty Hadith Actions are by intentions o If you don t intend to do something you ll have to do it again like if you go for a swim and happen to wash but didn t intend to become clean it doesn t count The five pillars The lawful halal and the unlawful haram o Halal lawful o Haram unlawful o Doubtful Very explicit and clear Very explicit and clear Hadith gives the advice to avoid all the unclear issues However if your heart is pure the whole essence is pure Fighting I have been ordered to fight against people until they testify that there is no god but G d and that Muhammad is the Messenger of G d and until they perform the prayers and pay the alms tax Some verses say that until they testify there is no god but G d The cases of lawful bloodshed of a Muslim o Adultery muder manslaughter and one who forsakes his religion and abandons the community The Qur an says that the penalty for adultery is 100 lashes but this suggests that people wanted to make harsher punishments Some jurists insist that adultery for unmarried sex punishment is 100 lashes but if you re married then its death Limits of religious law o Don t keep asking questions about law because G d didn t forget certain laws they just let them alone to