[haram].” It thus complements and expands upon
the Quran’s ban against drinking wine. In addition
to matters of belief and practice, the hadith also
contain historical information and Quran com-
mentary (tafsir).
A very special kind of hadith is the hadith
qudsi (holy hadith). This is one that contains a
saying attributed to God by Muhammad but not
found in the Quran. Although it is a divine say-
ing, it is not regarded with the same authority as a
verse from the Quran, and modern scholars think
that many holy hadith originated late in the eighth
century, long after Muhammad’s time. This kind of
hadith usually narrates a teaching about God, the
virtues of piety, and the end of the world. In one of
the most popular holy hadith discussed by Sufis,
God says, “I was a hidden treasure that wished
to be known, so I created the universe so that I
might be known.” In another, found in several
Sunni collections, God says, “Spend [in charity],
O son of Adam, and I shall spend on you.” This
one promises blessings for the generous.
The earliest of the major Sunni collections
was the Musnad of ibn hanbal (d. 855). It was
organized according the names of the companions
oF the prophet, who were originally credited
in the isnad with having transmitted the hadith.
He started with reports attributed to the first
four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and
ali) and concluded with hadith transmitted by
women, most notably Aisha and other wives of
the Prophet. The renowned traditionist of Bagh-
dad reportedly gathered a total of about 700,000
hadith, narrated by more than 900 companions,
of which he selected 30,000 for his Musnad. Ibn
Hanbal’s staunch defense of the hadith at a time
when others wanted to base religion and law on
human reason and personal opinion made him
the leader of the ahl al-hadith (Hadith partisans)
movement in Abbasid Iraq during the ninth cen-
tury, which contributed significantly to the forma-
tion of the Islamic legal tradition.
The six most authoritative and canonical
hadith collections recognized by Sunnis are those
of al-Bukhari (d. 870), Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d.
874), Abu Daud (d. 888), al-Tirmidhi (d. 892),
Ibn Maja (d. 892), and al-Nasai (d. 915). Of
these, the first two are considered to be the most
correct and are thus called “the two correct ones”
(al-sahihan). All six are arranged by subject, like
the Jewish Talmud (the oral torah of moses).
Muslim’s collection, for example, is organized
into “books” on the following topics: matters of
Faith, ritual purity, prayer, almsgiving, Fasting,
hajj, commercial transactions and oaths, crimi-
nal punishments, Jihad, government, sacrifice,
drinks, dress, greeting and visitation, and miscel-
lany, including accounts about the aFterliFe and
Quran commentary. Muslim is reported to have
gathered some 300,000 hadith in his lifetime, of
which only an estimated 3,000 were included in
his collection.
The Shia developed their own authoritative
hadith collections by the 10th century. These
collections were based on statements attributed
to the imams, starting with ali ibn abi talib (d.
661), and they generally upheld Shii doctrines
about them. They did not include hadith trans-
mitted by the first three caliphs and many of the
companions because the Shia authorities con-
sidered these individuals corrupt usurpers who
prevented members of Muhammad’s household
from assuming leadership of the Islamic umma.
Among the leading Shii collections are those of al-
Kulayni (d. 939), Ibn Babuya al-Qummi (d. 991),
and Muhammad al-Tusi (d. 1067). Perhaps the
most comprehensive later Shii hadith collection
is Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi’s Bihar al-anwar
(Oceans of Lights), completed around 1674. The
modern printed edition of this book consists of
more than 110 volumes.
Sufis also valued the hadith, especially those
that endorsed their spiritual disciplines and teach-
ings. They were not averse to using narratives
of questionable authenticity, but they also knew
how to win the approval of literal-minded Ulama
by citing hadith from the canonical collections.
Thus, in his book of Sufi biographies, called Thehadith 279 J