After the death of Muhammad,
many questions began to arise about personal conduct, legal decisions, and proper
customs in the Islamic community. Because the Qur’an does not address all
areas of right living, Muslims turned to traditions of the Prophet’s own life
to serve as the example. These traditions, known as sunnah, are
the second source of Islamic jurisprudence, the first being the Qur'an.
Hadith are
similar to sunnah, but not identical. While sunnah record the way Muhammad lived
his life, hadith are narrative accounts of the sayings and actions of Muhammad. They
have been preserved in written form and are the basis of customs and tradition
in the life of the Muslim community. In later years, the term hadith came
to be used in a broader sense, covering narrations about the Companions of Muhammad
and their Successors (those who were taught by the Companions.)
The origins of the hadith literature are the letters, laws and treaties that
Muhammad dictated to his scribes, as well as notes, or sahifas, compiled
by the Companions and Followers. The early sources of hadith fall into three
categories: books on maghazi (accounts of battles), books on fiqh
(Islamic law), and collections of traditions that were collected as hadith.
As the number of traditions mounted, a system was developed to rate the soundness
of each one. The primary criterion on which the soundness of a tradition
was based was the chain of authority, or transmission, known as isnad.
Some of the more widely used hadith today include the Sahih of al-Bukhari,
the Sahih of Muslim, the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, the Sunan
of Abu Da'ud, and the Jami of al-Tirmidhi.
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