Hadith

A report of what the Prophet Muhammad said, did, or quietly approved, passed down through named narrators.

Also written · Hadeeth · Hadis · Hadits · Ahadith · Ahadeeth · Hadees · Hadith sharif · Hadeeth shareef · Prophetic tradition · Sayings of the Prophet · Hadidth · Hadis sharif

The meaning

What Hadith means in Islam

The word means speech, or something newly told. A hadith has two parts: the chain of people who carried it, and the text they carried. A hadith is a report about the Sunnah, so a weak hadith does not become Sunnah by being printed in a book.

Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named

Read beside it

Rooms that name it

A reciter's licence lists every teacher back to the sourceA Light · Ijaza and sanad in Qur'anic recitation
Surah Al-FatihaSurah 1 · The Opening
Ramadan was when the text was checked against its sourceA Light · Ibn Abbas, on the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan

Words that sit beside it

SunnahThe Prophet's way in belief, worship and conduct, and the measure against which innovation is judged.السُّنَّة
IsnadThe chain of narrators who carried a hadith, listed name by name back to its source.الإِسْنَاد
MatnThe actual wording of a hadith, the part that comes after the chain of narrators.المَتْن
SahihA hadith that meets all five conditions of authenticity, with nothing missing and no hidden flaw.الصَّحِيح
Da'ifA hadith that fails one of the conditions of soundness, through a broken chain or a faulty narrator.الضَّعِيف