The importance of aḥādīth and the Sunnah within the framework of Islam cannot be overemphasized; they are foundational aspects of our belief and practice. There are two primary sources of Islam: The Quran and Sunnah. Broadly speaking, the Quran provides us with general rules, principles, morals, values, ethics, and ideas while the Sunnah provides the details. In other words, the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is a detailed explanation of what is mentioned by Allah ﷻ in the Quran. It is impossible to act upon the Quran, to follow its guidance, teachings, commands, and prohibitions without the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

A Textbook of Hadith Studies provides an academic introduction to the Hadith, or the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, which are second only to the Qur'an (Koran) in their authoritativeness within Islamic tradition. Suitable for university courses and all serious students of Islam, the topics surveyed include Hadith methodology, Hadith literature, the history of Hadith compilation and documentation, and the methods of Hadith criticism (al-jarh wa al-ta'dil) and classification. Mohammad Hashim Kamali, born in Afghanistan in 1944, was a professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and dean of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) from 1985–2007. He is currently chairman and CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, Malaysia. He is also on the international advisory boards of eleven academic journals published in Malaysia, the United States, Canada, Kuwait, India, Australia, and Pakistan. Professor Kamali has addressed over 120 national and international conferences, and has published sixteen books and over 110 academic articles. His books include The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Freedom of Expression in Islam, and Islamic Commercial Law: An Analysis of Futures and Options

Although Hadith science can often seem inscrutable, understanding Hadith science is crucial to understanding the foundations of Islamic theology, shariah, and Islamic thought. This book outlines the history, development, and current practice of Hadith science with special attention to Shi‘a scholarship. Introduction to Hadith covers hadith terminology, sources of hadith, chains of narration, categories of hadith, the criteria for hadith narrators, and transmission of hadith. Additionally, it includes a translation of a seminal work on Hadith studies, Dirayat al-Hadith, by the renowned sixteenth-century Shi‘a scholar al-Shahid al-Thani ­– the work that paved the way for the modern Shi‘a study of Hadith. For the past decade Introduction to Hadith has been designated as a textbook in Islamic studies courses worldwide. This is an essential read for anyone seeking to learn more about hadith analysis, Islamic law, Islamic history, or the Islamic scholarly heritage. Seond edition

The Hadith are traditionally believed to be the words of the Prophet, memorised by his followers and eventually written down in the second century. However, for years Western scholars have been questioning their validity, and saying their link with the Prophet is tenuous. This book concentrates on the origins of the views presented in the Hadith and compares them with those of the Qur'an, focusing on the areas of fasting, prayer and marriage, and examining their treatment in exegetical literature before they passed into legal and ritual writings. It is a clear introduction to a complicated set of arguments.

An Introduction to Hadith is a comprehensive textbook on Hadith, the narrations from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) designed for beginners or intermediate level students of Islamic studies.

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.

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 book is dedicated to an analysis of seven groups of hadiths related to matters ranging from the rules concerning water used for ablution to those concerning the proof of facts in a qadi court. It has three main purposes. The first is to clarify the processes by which hadiths on a given topic were formed and developed by analyzing their isnāds and matns and by comparing them with expositions of positive law in legal manuals. Second, it seeks to explain why many hadiths exist in multiple variants and to detect the perception of traditionists about the revision of hadiths. The third purpose is to propose a methodology to estimate the extent to which traditionists accepted hadiths on a particular topic.

A complete overview of the science devoted to the study of the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Helping Jews understand Islam--a reasoned and candid view