Salaam Alaikum. I was wondering if you could help me with this question. Can you please tell me which hadith books are considered authentic (ie what Muhammad actually said or did) and which ones are not?

I have heard some people say that Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim are considered most authentic, is this true? Is Dawud an authentic hadith as well or is it unreliable?

Thanks so much and God bless you.

Shukran, my friend. I thought so as well.

Our of curiousity, how was it decided that Muslim and Bukhari are authentic but Dawood is not?


Edited by TG12345 - 17 December 2012 at 7:14pm

Alaikum as-salaam, nothing. Thank you for your response.

A Muslim I spoke to once told me that to be Muslim one has to follow both the Quran and hadith, because of verses like 3:31,32 which say to obey God and His messenger.

Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Say: "Obey Allah and His Messenger": But if they turn back, Allah loveth not those who reject Faith

How would you respond to this, out of curiosity? Not trying to put you on the spot or anything, but wouldn't following the hadith mean following Muhammad's teachings, which Islam claims are from God?

Thanks again, and please feel free to ask any questions of me regarding my faith as well if you want.

A lot of people without realizing that hadith is not word of God, and its transmission to us was not as careful as the Quran make no distinction between the two, which in my understanding is incorrect. The fact is that Hadith unlike the Quran was not completed in the time of the prophet. And since the hadith was not word of God, rather narrated by people, it has a secondary position when taking in account. So, as much as it is needed to understand aspects of Islamic practices sometimes only mentioned by name in the Quran, one need to be mindful that it can only be taken as word of man, like the present Gospels.
If a hadith contradicts the Quran, of course it is not authentic. Hadith, many times helps us to understand and give us details on things we do on a daily basis, like Salath, social behavior etc.
Just my opinion based on my understanding. We cannot leave the Quran and try to read and follow the Hadith, nor can we neglect the wealth of information in hadith that is needed to fully understand our purpose as a Muslim.
Hasan

Edited by honeto - 18 December 2012 at 1:57pm