Hadith literature is a cornerstone of Islamic scholarship, providing detailed accounts of the sayings, actions, and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. A brief definition of Hadith books and their types, and how they are organized:
1. Musnad – These are Hadith books compiled by their authors according to the Musnad of the names of the Companions. This means they gathered all the Hadiths narrated by each Companion separately.
2.Sunan – These books are organized according to jurisprudential (fiqh) topics, starting from faith and knowledge, then moving to purification, prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, transactions, and so on.
3. Sahih – These are similar to Sunan in terms of arrangement. However, their authors committed to including only what is authentically attributed to the Prophet Muhammad from Hadiths and reports.
Here are some of the most important original resources in Hadith studies:
The Shia tradition has its own set of authoritative hadith collections, known as the Al-Kutub al-Arba'a (The Four Books):
Hadith Terminology and ِAuthenticity
Hanafi School
Maliki School
Shafi'i School
Hanbali School
