What are the scriptures of Islam?

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Grace Seeker

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Every religion has its sacred text. These are the text(s) that are viewed as God-given or God-ordained and therefore authorative for the purpose of revealing something that God wants shared with people.

In the Christian context we have a collection of books (66 or 73 depending on which exact books you recognize as canonical) that serve as our canon of scripture, meaning that we accept them as the rule (or standard) for the guidance of faith and the ordering of our lives in accordance with God's will. When bound together, this library of books is called (for short) the Bible.

Now I know that Muslims believe that the Qur'an was uniquely given to Muhammad (pbuh) by Allah (swt) in a series of recitations delivered by the angel Jibreel. This is most certainly understood then as scripture.

And then there is the Ahadith. As best I can state it, the Ahadith are a collection of the sayings of the prophet and reports of what he did or gave silent approval to that serve to provide guidance on how to live out the teaching of the Qur'an.

Would I be correct in assuming that the Ahadith (at least those that are considered authentic and reliable) then have a role on par with the Qur'an in providing guidance to the follower of Islam?

What other sources of guidance does the Muslim have beyond the Qur'an and Ahadith?
 
Woodrow said:
Among the possible 1/2 million books of Ahadith only 4 are accepted as having been found to be fully verified and reliable. But those verified as authenticate do contain many thousands of hadith, which need to be used as guidance in learning how Islam is to be followed. That does not mean the others are false, it means they have not been fully verified, there is a possibility some are in error. Therefore we can not use them as teaching guides. They are preserved because there is a possibility one day some will be verified by the finding of proof of continuity to the Prophet(PBUH) those that are found to be in error are still retained as an understanding of how some unverified practices came to be, among other reasons.
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Can you fill me in some more with regard to these 4 books of Ahadith, please.


Are they the same set of ahadith or different collections?
Which (one or two) of them are considered most authoritative?

From what you wrote, I'm assuming the collections contain both authentic and unauthenticated hadith. I don't want to use the term "unauthentic" because as I understood you, it could be that they are indeed authentic, but that authenticity just hasn't been proved yet. By what manner does the reader know whether the hadith is authenticated or not? And who had the authority to say that such and such a hadith is authentic and such and such is not? Or is it by consensus of the Ummah that such conclusions have been reached over time?

I understand from what has been shared elsewhere that not all Muslims accept the use of Ahadith, among those who do use them, do all use the same hadith?

If I wanted to get a book of hadith (to read in English, please) what would you recommend by way of introduction to them.

Sorry, as you can see, I've reached the point where I want to know more about the Ahadith. It is no longer sufficient to have just a general idea of them, so I have lots of new questions.
 
Since no one has replied yet, Grace Seeker, I will share with you what little I know that can help answer your questions. (I have not studied the hadiths yet either, and I intend to one day, but today is not the day. :) )

Two that I have heard are the most authoritative are Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. This site has translations of them both:

http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/

http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/muslim/

That website also lists two other names with collections of hadiths, so perhaps someone can share with us if those two are also considered authoritative; and if not, then what the problems are with those. http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/

I like that website for when I read the qur'an also. :)
 
Thanks, Pouring Rain. I had heard about the Bukhari and Muslim collections. A search engine I use for finding things more quickly in the Qur'an SearchTruth lists Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abudawud, and Malik's Muwatta for the Ahadith. So, I'm assuming that they must all be authoritative. However, since they are different, I had figured that those differences were the result of them being different translations, like is so with the different translations of the Qur'an available on the same website. However, after reading what Woodrow wrote, I am wondering if they are actually different collections, and am trying to make sense of what that phenomena would mean with regard to the definedness of Islam. Hence my questions.
 
The Qur'aan

The actions and sayings of the Prophet SAAS:
- Sahih Bukhari + Sahih Muslim
- Other Sahih Ahadeeth
 
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τhε ṿαlε'ṡ lïlÿ;1376785 said:


That site has been hijacked by Jews, if you browse it, I don't trust half the content in it and it is best if you are going to use it to cross reference it from an authentic Muslim site!

all the best
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Thank you for your input. I have not read the hadiths, nor anything else on that site. I like it best for the Qur'an though. I have cross referenced the qur'an translations given there with legit ones on Islamic sites, and I have not found any discrepancies yet. But I like that the qur'an is given in three translations side by side. Yusuf ali is my favorite, but alone it is not always thorough in getting the message across.
 
PouringRain said:
Thank you for your input. I have not read the hadiths, nor anything else on that site. I like it best for the Qur'an though. I have cross referenced the qur'an translations given there with legit ones on Islamic sites, and I have not found any discrepancies yet. But I like that the qur'an is given in three translations side by side. Yusuf ali is my favorite, but alone it is not always thorough in getting the message across.
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You may want to try http://www.quran.com

It gives SEVEN english translations side by side.
 
Grace Seeker said:
Thanks, Pouring Rain. I had heard about the Bukhari and Muslim collections. A search engine I use for finding things more quickly in the Qur'an SearchTruth lists Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abudawud, and Malik's Muwatta for the Ahadith. So, I'm assuming that they must all be authoritative. However, since they are different, I had figured that those differences were the result of them being different translations, like is so with the different translations of the Qur'an available on the same website. However, after reading what Woodrow wrote, I am wondering if they are actually different collections, and am trying to make sense of what that phenomena would mean with regard to the definedness of Islam. Hence my questions.
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Peace Gene,

I apologize for taking so long getting back to this thread. Been another very busy week or 2 and my posting has been fast hit and miss posts.

I am very new myaelf at learning about the Ahadith. Only began studying them about 2 years ago. Quite interesting.

I will keep things as simple as me and attempt to explain what I learned so far in basic English and in terms that a non-Muslim can understand.

A brief explanation of what the Ahadith are:

Those are quotes of things Muhammad(PBUH) is known to have said.

You will find the terms Authenticate and reliable used. A good starting point is to explain these 2 terms as I understand them.

Authenticate simply means that there is a verifiable chain of written documentation to proof that the person who is is presented as being the Author of a Quote is the author of such. this is something that can be verified by solid written unbroken chains of manuscripts.

The term reliability is a bit more complex. While it can be shown that a person wrote what they saw and what they heard as Muhammad(PBUH). To prove that is actually what he said needs verification and this is where reliability comes in. Some factors to find proof are:

1. Was the witness alive at the time of Muhammad

2, Is there verification the person had close contact with Muhammad(SAWS)

3. Are there other witnesses who report having heard and seen the exact same thing.

The more of those that can be proven along with the number of independent witnesses saying the exact same, the greater becomes the level of reliability that the exact words that were spoken are the exact words recorded.

The compilations of the first 4 Imama Bukhari, Muslim, Dawood and Malik are the ones with the full authenticity and reliability proven beyond doubt. We are assured in those 4 books that what is alleged to have been heard and seen are what was accurately retained.

Buhkari is not only the oldest compilation it is also the most complete.

Also keep in mind the Ahadith were written at the time Muhammad(SAWS) was living and that he himself agreed with what was written.

My favorite downloadable source of the Ahadith is here:

http://www.islamicfinder.org/index.php?sid=&t=sub_pages&cat=45&lang=english

A Complete Ahadith, if could ever be compiled, would be a full collection of everything ever said and done by Muhammad(PBUH) Bukhari is probably the closest to this that can possibly be completed.

My explanation is my attempt to explain what the Ahadith are, in as simple words I can think of. They probably lack a lot that would be in a full professional explanation and others may be able to add more to what I posted.
 

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