Daleel

In regards to Islamic hadith (narrations concerning the actions and orders of Muhammad), they can either be Maudu (fabricated), Da`if (weak), Hasan (good), or Sahih (authentic).

Generally in Islamic law, generally only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) hadiths are used in deriving the rules. The weak (da`if) hadiths have no value for the purpose of formulating shari'ah,^[1] and the fabricated (Maudu) narrations are not even considered to be hadith at all.^[2]

For whatever reason, if a practicing Muslim wants to discount a sahih or hasan narration, the burden of proof is on them to prove why they consider it untrustworthy or not applicable to them. Refusing to accept a narration simply due to not finding it morally agreeable would render the hadith collections in their entirety as useless and contradictory anecdotes. This in turn would make much of the Qur'an incomprehensible, and many of its commands impossible to follow.

Regardless, some Western Muslims and apologists have started to cherry-pick and reject, or at least claim to reject, authentic hadith, in favor of Maudu (fabricated) and da`if (weak) ones. You will come across many popular hadith that are used by Muslims when propagating their faith. Some of these are obvious fabrications which do not have any scriptural sources.

Authentic Hadith

The following are examples of authentic hadith.

• Aisha's age at consummation and marriage

Aisha's age, when married and consummated, has been reported in more than a dozen hadith, and the details of the narrations are consistent across collections (ie. Tabari, Ishaq, Muslim, Bukhari, Dawud etc.) ruling out the possibility that the collectors made them up or a specific area had incorporated a cultural practice into Islam.

• A women is worth only half a man

The lesser worth of a female in Islam is confirmed by both Sahih collections (Bukhari and Muslim), and also by the Qur'an itself.

Fabricated Hadith

The following are examples of weak or fabricated hadith.

• The "lesser and greater jihad" hadith

This originated from the 11^th century book, The History of Baghdad, by the Islamic scholar al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and some contemporary Islamic scholars have concluded that it is not only weak, but fabricated.^[3]

• The story of the lady who threw garbage at Muhammad

This tale has no known source, and is not found in any hadith or Islamic text.

• The Farewell Sermon

The most often quote version of the Farewell Sermon reportedly does not have a source. You can read the genuine Farewell Sermon text here. Note that in this version Muhammad orders men to beat women, and these orders coincide with the Qur'anic order of wife-beating. He also compares women to domestic animals.

• Hadith - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Hadith