The Hadith / Traditions of Islam  Sira: traditional life of the Prophet  Hadith: sayings and deeds of the Prophet  Tarikh: chronologies of the Prophet  Tafsir: commentaries of the Qur’an

Why was it needed? To interpret the Qur’an Sura 4:80 (Al-Nisa') “Whoever obeys the messenger obeys God.”

By following the example given through Muhammad’s words, actions and commands Muhammad is quoted to have said: “I leave with you two things. As long as you hold fast by them both, you will never be misguided: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of his messenger.” (Mishkat 1, p. 159) How was it done?

The Hadith / Traditions of Islam The six most trustworthy Hadith Collections are known as “Sihahu Sittah” = six correct books:  Sahih Al-Bukhari  Sahih Muslim  Sunan Abu Da’ud  Jamia’ Al-Tirmidhi  Sunan Ibn Majah  Sunan Al-Nasa’i Also often used: Mishkat Al-Masabih

The Hadith / Traditions of Islam How were these traditions collected ?

Al-Bukhari Collection Al-Bukhari lived 250 years after Muhammad from some 600,000 stories he received from 40,000 informants (Muslims) he selected just 7,200. That is 1.2% ! These are said to be trustworthy …or nearly so! The Hadith / Traditions of Islam

The Hadith collections contain all kinds of subjects like faith, knowledge, prayer, ablution (ritual washings), funerals, charity, the pilgrimage, fasting, business of all kinds, slavery, testaments, holy war, the virtues of Muhammad, marriage, divorce, food and eating, medicines, sacrifices, dress and manners,

predestination, oaths, inheritance, punishment for crimes and apostasy from Islam, dreams, cleanliness, eternal judgment and even things like, sneezing, yawning, the trimming of beard and hair, the use of perfume, cleaning of teeth and nose, and other mundane topics. The Hadith / Traditions of Islam

The Sunnah Copying the Lifestyle of Muhammad Muhammad is quoted to have said: “I leave with you two things. As long as you hold fast by them both, you will never be misguided: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of his messenger.” (Mishkat 1, p. 159)

The Shariah “shariah” means “path” It is a system of laws and regulations, classified into practices that are beyond dispute, obligatory, exemplified by Muhammad, occasionally done and simply desirable. They have been developed into four different law schools. Here in East Africa the law school of Al-Shafi’i is the most prominent.

The Shariah Four sources for the shariah: 1. The Qur‘an 2. The Hadith 3. Ijma – consensus 4. Qiyas - analogy