{{Short description|Category of hadiths}} {{Hadith |studies}} '''Sahih Hadith''' ({{langx|ar|{{big|الحديث الصحيح}}}}, {{Transliteration|ar|al-Hadith al-Ṣaḥīḥ}}) in Hadith terminology, may be translated as "authentic hadith (prophetic narration)"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://translate.google.co.uk/?hl=en&tab=wT1#view=home&op=translate&sl=ar&tl=en&text=%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%AD|title=Google Translate|website=translate.google.co.uk|access-date=2020-01-22|archive-date=2021-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602223233/https://translate.google.co.uk/?hl=en&tab=wT1#view=home&op=translate&sl=ar&tl=en&text=%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%AD|url-status=live}}</ref> or "sound hadith (prophetic narration)".<ref name="Dickinson-p5">{{cite book |page=5 |author=Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ |translator=Eerik Dickinson |title=An Introduction to the Science of the Ḥadīth |publisher=Garnet Publishing Limited |location=Reading |year=2006 |isbn=1-85964-158-X |url=http://www.kalamullah.com/Books/Ibn-as-Salaah-s-Introduction-to-the-Science-of-Hadeeth.pdf |access-date=2019-11-30 |archive-date=2020-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923100701/http://kalamullah.com/Books/Ibn-as-Salaah-s-Introduction-to-the-Science-of-Hadeeth.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Ibn Hajar defines a ''hadith'' that is ''{{Transliteration|ar|ṣaḥīḥ lidhātihi}}'' ("''ṣaḥīḥ'' in and of itself") as a singular narration (''ahaad''; see below) conveyed by a trustworthy, completely competent person, either in his ability to memorize or to preserve what he wrote, with a ''muttaṣil'' ("connected") ''isnād{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-23|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hadith studies#Sanad and matn|reason= }}'' ("chain of narration") that contains neither a serious concealed flaw (''ʻillah,'' Arabic:علة) nor irregularity (''shādhdh''). He then defines a ''hadith'' that is ''ṣaḥīḥ lighairihi'' ("''ṣaḥīḥ'' due to external factors") as a ''hadith'' "with something, such as numerous chains of narration, strengthening it."<ref>''Nuzhah al-Nuthr'', published with ''Al-Nukat'' by 'Ali ibn Hasan, pg. 82, ''Dar ibn al-Jawzi'', al-Damam, 6th edition.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2019}} In the Sunni branch of Islam, the canonical hadith collections are the six books (Kutub al-Sittah) listed below.
==Conditions== Ibn Hajar's definitions indicate that there are five conditions to be met for a particular ''hadith'' to be considered ''ṣaḥīḥ'': # Each narrator in the chain of narration{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-23|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hadith studies#Sanad and matan|reason= }} must be trustworthy; # Each narrator must be reliable in his ability to ''preserve'' that narration, be it in his ability to memorize to the extent that he can recall it as he heard it, or, that he has written it as he heard it and has preserved that written document unchanged; # The ''isnād'' must be connected (''muttasil'') insofar as it is at least possible for each narrator in the chain to have received the ''hadith'' from a predecessor; # The ''hadith'', including its ''isnād'', is free of ''ʻillah'' (hidden detrimental flaw or flaws, e.g. the establishment that two narrators, although contemporaries, could not have shared the ''hadith'', thereby breaking the ''isnād''.) # The ''hadith'' is free of irregularity, meaning that it does not contradict another ''hadith'' already established (accepted).
A number of books were authored in which the author stipulated the inclusion of ''ṣaḥīḥ hadith'' alone.
==={{anchor|Hasan}} ''Ḥasan'' hadith=== ''Ḥasan'' ({{lang|ar|{{big|حَسَن}}}} meaning "good") is used to describe ''hadith'' whose authenticity is not as well-established as that of ''ṣaḥīḥ hadith'', but sufficient for use as supporting evidence.
Ibn Hajar defines a ''hadith'' that is ''ḥasan lithatihi''{{spaced ndash}}"''ḥasan'' in and of itself"{{spaced ndash}}with the same definition a ''ṣaḥīḥ hadith'' except that the competence of one of its narrators is less than complete; while a ''hadith'' that is ''ḥasan ligharihi'' ("ḥasan due to external factors") is determined to be ''ḥasan'' due to corroborating factors such as numerous chains of narration. He states that it is then comparable to a ''ṣaḥīḥ hadith'' in its religious authority. A ''ḥasan hadith'' may rise to the level of being ''ṣaḥīḥ'' if it is supported by numerous ''isnād'' (chains of narration); in this case that ''hadith'' would be ''ḥasan lithatihi'' ("''ḥasan'' in and of itself") but, once coupled with other supporting chains, becomes ''ṣaḥīḥ ligharihi'' ("''ṣaḥīḥ'' due to external factors").<ref>''Nuzhah al-Nuthr'', published as ''Al-Nukat'', pg. 91–92, ''Dar ibn al-Jawzi'', al-Damam, 6th edition.</ref>
==Collections== According to Sunni Islam, which reflects the beliefs followed by 80–90% of adherents of Islam worldwide,<ref name="Sunni">{{cite book |title=Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures |quote=Within the Muslim community, the percentage of Sunnis is generally thought to be between 85 and 93.5 percent, with the Shia accounting for 6.6 to 15 percent, although some sources estimate their numbers at 20 percent. A common compromise figure ranks Sunnis at 90 percent and Shias at 10 percent. |publisher=Marshall Cavendish Reference |year=2010 |page=130 |isbn=978-0-7614-7926-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_m14NlQQMYC&pg=PA130 |access-date=2019-11-30 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708142718/https://books.google.com/books?id=H_m14NlQQMYC&pg=PA130 |url-status=live }} See further citations in the article Islam by country.</ref> Sahih status was achieved by the first two books in the following list (known as "the six books" or ''Kutub al-Sittah''):
# ''Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī''. Considered the most authentic book after the Quran.<ref name="Muqaddimah">{{cite book |last=al-Shahrazuri |first=ʻUthman ibn ʻAbd al-Rahman Ibn al-Salah |author-link=Ibn al-Salah |editor=ʻAishah bint ʻAbd al-Rahman |title=al-Muqaddimah fi ʻUlum al-Hadith |year=1990 |publisher=Dar al-Ma’aarif |location=Cairo |pages=160–9}}</ref> # ''Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim''. Considered the next most authentic book after Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.<ref name="Muqaddimah" /> # ''Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Khuzaymah''. Al-Suyuti was of the opinion that ''Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah'' was at a higher level of authenticity than ''Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān''.<ref name="al-Tadrib, a/148">''Tadrib al-Rawi'', vol. 1, pg. 148, ''Dar al-'Asimah'', Riyadh, first edition, 2003.</ref> # ''Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān''. Al-Suyuti also concluded that ''Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān'' was more authentic than ''Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Ṣaḥīḥain''.<ref name="al-Tadrib, a/148"/> # ''al-Mustadrak ʻalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn'', by Hakim al-Nishaburi.<ref name="al-Tadrib, a/148"/> # ''Al-Āhādith al-Jiyād al-Mukhtārah min mā laysa fī Ṣaḥīḥain'' by Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī, authenticity considered.<ref name="al-Risalah, pg. 214-5">{{cite book |last=al-Kattānī |first=Muḥammad ibn Jaʻfar |title=''{{ws|Al-Risālah al-Mustaṭrafah''|}} |publisher=Dār al-Bashāʼir al-Islamiyyah |year=2007 |edition=seventh |pages=24}}</ref> # ''Al-Jami al-Kamil'' by Ziya-ur-Rahman Azmi Different branches of Islam refer to different collections of hadiths or give preference to different ones.
== See also ==
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Sunni hadith literature |state=collapsed}}
Terminology Category:Arabic words and phrases Category:Islamic terminology