Hadith

Contrary to popular opinion, the bulk of Islamic law does not come from the Quran but from hadith, first-hand reports of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds, passed from generation to generation. However, with varying accounts often only committed to paper a century after the death of Muhammad, Islamic scholars, past and present, have been faced with complex questions of historical authenticity. In this wide-ranging introduction, Jonathan A. C. Brown explores the collection and criticism of hadith, and the controversy surrounding its role in modern Islam. This edition, revised and updated with additional case studies and attention to the very latest scholarship, also features a new chapter on how hadiths have been used politically, both historically and in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Informative and accessible, it is perfectly suited to students, scholars and general readers interested in this critical element of Islam.

This selection of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was made by the internationally respected British Muslim scholar, Charles le ai Eaton. The Book of Hadith captures not only the practical and profound wisdom of the Prophet, but his human side as well. --back cover.

In Studies in Legal Hadith Hiroyuki Yanagihashi seeks to clarify the processes by which hadiths on a given legal topic were formed and developed and to propose a methodology to estimate their acceptability for traditionists.

"Hadith serves as a source of information for the history of pre-Islamic Arabia and of early Islam, and for the development of Islamic Thought in general and Islamic law in particular. It has played an important part in establishing a common culture for the whole of Islamic world. Hence, the history of the origin, development and criticism of Hadith literature is a major branch of Islamic studies."--Back cover.

Revised Second EditionThe book before you (noble reader) is a detailed explanation of the famous hadith of Jibril, at the end of which, the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "This was Jibril, he came to you in order to teach you your Religion." Due to the many benefits contained within this book, the Muhaddith of al-Madinah, Shaykh Abdul-Muhsin al-Abbad (may Allah preserve him) decided to write a book dedicated solely to the treasures found in this hadith. The Scholars of the past have mentioned the comprehensive nature of this hadith in various places:So al-Qadi Iyad (d.544H) said: "Indeed, this hadith comprises an explanation of al the acts of worship, the outward ones and the inward ones, from the tenets of Iman, the actions of the limbs and the sincerity of the souls and it cautions against the harmful actions; to the extent that all of the Shariah sciences refer back to it and branch out from it."And al-Qurtubi (d.671H) said: "This hadith deserves to be called Ummus-Sunnah (mother of the Sunnah), due to what it contains from comprehensive knowledge of the Sunnah."

This booklet is a collection of Prophetic narrations about the Qur'ān that are profound and deep in their connotations. The booklet has been entitled, '40 Hadith on the Qur'ān' - although the number of narrations included in the book far exceed forty in number. How- ever, out of the whole collection, forty Hadith have been specifically numbered highlighting their impor- tance, status and relevance to our times.You are also able to download a free PDF version of this booklet at www.quranproject.org.May Allah [swt] allow us to memorise, benefit and im- plement the words of the Prophet Muhammad . O Allah, make us of those who are the People of the Qur'ān, who live by the Qur'ān, call to the Qur'ān, judge by the Qur'ān and who recite it, learn it and ponder over it night and day. O Allah let the Qur'ān be a Hujjah [proof] in our favour and not against us [ameen].

In Carrying on the Tradition Garrett Davidson employs a variety of largely unutilized print, as well as archival sources collected from the Near East, North Africa, India, Europe, and North America. He analyses these sources to excavate the fundamental reinvention of the conceptions and practices of hadith transmission that resulted from the establishment of the hadith canon. Further, the book examines how hadith scholars reimagined the transmission of hadith, not as a scholarly tool, as it had originally been, but instead as, among other things, an act of pious emulation of the forefathers. It demonstrates the emergence of new genres and subgenres of hadith literature, as a result of this shift, examining them as artefacts of the cultural, social, and intellectual history of Muslim religiosity from the tenth to twentieth centuries.

Allah preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companions and those after them to memorise, write down and pass on the statements of the Messenger Muhammad and the descriptions of his Way, as well as to continue the blessings of practising the Sunnah. Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allah caused the Muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals of incredible memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of precious wisdom of their Messenger from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the enormous number of 'ulama', the Companions and those who followed their way, who had taught in various centres of learning and helped to transmit the legacy of Muhammad - all of this achieved through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of Hadith. The methodology of the expert scholars of Hadith in assessing such narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken/fabricated etc., forms the subject-matter of a wealth of material left to us by the muhaddithun (scholars of Hadith, "traditionists"). This short treatise is a humble effort to introduce this extremely wide subject to English readers. A useful supplement is included for the first time to the original treatise further expounding on branches in the Science of Hadith.