Authentic sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — from the six canonical books of hadith.
These are the most authoritative books of hadith in Sunni Islam, compiled in the 3rd century AH.
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Hadith (Arabic: حديث, plural ahadith) are the recorded sayings, actions, and tacit approvals of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Together they constitute the Sunnah — the second-most authoritative source in Islam after the Quran. The Quran tells us what to believe and the broad principles of life; the Sunnah shows us how to live them.
In the centuries after the Prophet ﷺ, Muslim scholars developed an extraordinary science of hadith verification — examining the chain of narrators (isnad) and the text (matn) of every report. Hadith are classified as sahih (authentic), hasan (good), da'if (weak), or mawdu' (fabricated). Only sahih and hasan hadiths form the basis of Islamic practice.
Compiled by Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 CE) over 16 years, sifting through more than 600,000 narrations to include only 7,563. Sahih al-Bukhari is the most authentic book after the Quran in the Sunni tradition.
Compiled by Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 261 AH / 875 CE), a student of al-Bukhari. Contains about 7,500 hadiths arranged thematically. Known for the precision of its isnads and clear organization. Together, Bukhari and Muslim are called the Sahihayn — the Two Sahihs.
The four Sunan works focus on hadiths relevant to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). Tirmidhi is notable for grading each hadith and mentioning the opinions of different schools. Nasa'i is known for the strictness of its standards. Ibn Majah includes many hadiths unique to its collection.
Every authentic hadith has two parts:
Imam al-Bukhari, for example, required every narrator in a chain to have both met the narrator above them and been a person of impeccable memory and character. This rigor is why his collection holds such authority.
The Quran is the literal speech of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ word-for-word in Arabic. Hadith are the recorded sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet ﷺ — divinely guided, but in his words, not Allah's direct speech.
No. Hadiths are graded by scholars as sahih (authentic), hasan (good), da'if (weak), or mawdu' (fabricated). Only sahih and hasan hadiths form the basis of Islamic practice.
The major collections contain about 25,000 unique hadiths combined. With repetitions across collections, the total exceeds 40,000.
Sahih al-Bukhari is unanimously regarded as the most authentic book after the Quran. Sahih Muslim is second. Together they are called the Sahihayn.
For now, browse the official sunnah.com resource. We're working on integrating full search into QuranCentral once an API key is provisioned.