Kutub al-Sittah
', also known as ' are the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Islam. They were all compiled in the 9th and early 10th centuries, roughly from 840 to 912 CE and are thought to embody the Sunnah of Muhammad.
The books are the of al-Bukhari, the of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, the of Abu Dawud, the of al-Tirmidhi, the of al-Nasa'i, and the of Ibn Majah as the sixth book, though some instead listed the of Malik ibn Anas as the sixth book, and other scholars list of al-Daraqutni as the sixth book. Sunan ibn Majah largely won out as the sixth canonical book because its content has less overlap with the other five compared with its two contenders.
The two pre-eminent works among the Six, the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, are known as the Sahihayn. They were the first to be canonized over the course of the tenth century. Outside of them, little research has been done in modern hadith studies on the other books of the Six.
Names
Each of the books of hadith are typically referred to as a "Sunan" or a "Sahih". Some books have been referred to by both; for example, while the compilation of al-Tirmidhi is typically referred to as "Sunan al-Tirmidhi", some have also referred to it as the "Sahih" of Tirmidhi. The term "Sunan" refers to the Islamic concept of Sunnah, which describes the traditions and practices of Muhammad, the final prophet of the religion whose example believers are meant to follow. Hadith in a "Sunan" describe traditions that help understand and continue transmitting the practices of the Sunnah. The prefix "Sahih", meaning "Sound", is used to refer to a collection of hadith whose traditions are considered "sound". With less frequency, some of these works may be referred to as a Jami, meaning "comprehensive book". This is because some of these collections, like al-Tirmidhi's Sunan, contain hadith relating both to the Sunnah of Muhammad and to other topics as well.Canonization
The ultimate canonization process of the Kutub al-Sittah was not one that occurred as the result of the decision of a committee, like in the determination of the biblical canon in Christianity. Instead, it began with the gradual emergence of canonical recognition of the Sahihayn over the course of the 10th century, largely at the behest of scholars of the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, as various genres of literature began to emerge around these two texts. Over the next few centuries, recognition gradually extended to the other canonical books as well. Authorities, in making legal arguments, gradually ceased citing hadith from their personal narrations or learning and instead increasingly came to rely on hadith documented in pre-recognized collections.They were first formally grouped and defined by Ibn al-Qaisarani in the 11th century, who added Sunan ibn Majah to the list. They were treated as a unit for the first time by Muḥammad ibn Ṭāhir al‐Maqdisi.
Order of significance
The six books
s view the six major hadith collections as their most important, though the order of authenticity varies between madhhabs:- Sahih al-Bukhari, collected by Imam Bukhari, includes 7,563 ahadith
- Sahih Muslim, collected by Muslim b. al-Hajjaj, includes 7,500 ahadith
- Al-Sunan al-Sughra, collected by al-Nasa'i, includes 5,758 ahadith
- Sunan Abi Dawud, collected by Abu Dawood, includes 5,274 ahadith
- Sunan al-Tirmidhi, collected by al-Tirmidhi, includes 4,400 ahadith
- Sunan ibn Majah, collected by Ibn Majah, includes 4,341 ahadith
Among a minority of Muslim scholars, Sahih Muslim is placed above Sahih al-Bukhari. In addition, many scholars believe that the criteria used by Al-Nasa'i are, theoretically, the most sound. However, he is ranked below the Sahihayn due to his inclusion of some weak hadith.
Hadith in the six books
In the 12th century, Al‐Mayyānishī offered the following ranking of the reliability of hadith especially focusing on the two most reputed collections, those of al-Bukhari and Muslim:- The most reliable were hadith found in both the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
- Next are hadith found in only one collection but not the other.
- Third are hadith which would meet the criteria of these authors but were not included in their collections.
- Finally are hadith which have a sound chain of narration, but would not meet the criteria of these authors.
Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari was composed by Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Bukhari over a period of sixteen years. It is most commonly considered to be the pre-eminent of all hadith collections, although a minority of scholars place it below Sahih Muslim. Al-Bukhari's collection is the first one to make the reliability of a hadith an explicit criteria for its inclusion into his collection. Others in the future also attempted this task, but only his, along with Sahih Muslim, stood the test of time according to the Muslim tradition. Sahih al-Bukhari is divided into 97 books. Books 2–33 are about the Pillars of Islam. Books 34–55 are about finance. The remaining books are not arranged according to some identifiable theme, although the very first and last books are for opening the collection and closing it. It also contains chapter/rubric headings, although it is sometimes obscure as to how the hadith listed within these sections related to the section title/heading. Bukhari's rubrics also contain discussions related to the subject matter, followed by hadith listings without any extraneous commentary interspersed between each listed hadith. This principle of separating commentary from hadith listings may be related to comments made by Ahmad ibn Hanbal whereby he suggested that hadith collections should not contain additional words or commentary on the basis that some people might confuse the commentary of the author with the hadith itself.While he had an interest in legal matters, a significant portion of Bukhari's hadith are unconcerned with the subject. For example, one of the books in his collection regards the etiquette of eating.