The following six books of ahadith are better known as the al- Sihah al-Sitta (the six authentic books of hadith):

1. Bukhari 2. Muslim 3. Abu Dawud 4. Nisa’i 5. Tirmidhi 6. Ibn Maja There is no disagreement about the first five books, but the scholars did differ about Ibn Maja and as to whether it should be included in the six books of hadith or not. Nonetheless, Ibn Maja eventually became famous and established its place amongst the six books of hadith.

Many people think that al-Sihah must mean that the authentic hadith are only found in the six books of hadith, but this assumption is also incorrect. In fact, many of the ahadith not admitted in the al-Sihah al-Sitta are equal to, if not stronger than, many of the ahadith in the al-Sihah al-Sitta. For example, the ahadith of the Muwatta’’ of Imam Malik were compiled long before the ahadith of Bukhari and it was considered the most authentic book after the book of Allah (SWTH). Even then, Ibn Hazam was of the opinion that the Sharah Ma’ani al-Athar of Imam Tahawi was more reliable than the Muwatta’’ of Imam Malik.

The question then remains, if other books contain more authentic ahadith than al-Sihah al-Sitta, then why are only the six famous books of ahadith called al-Sihah al-Sitta? The truth is that despite their widespread fame and acceptance in the umma, it is still unknown as to how the six books of ahadith came to be called al-Sihah al-Sitta.

Ultimately, what matters is that all the authors of these great books put conditions for including a hadith in their books. If those conditions are kept in mind when studying their books, we gain a deeper understanding of the ahadith and the knowledge derived from them. For example, we learn the reason behind the authenticity or weakness of ahadith or the hidden flaws in the transmission of a hadith. We also learn the correct method of how to deduce rulings from the ahadith. This is possibly why they are called al-Sihah al-Sitta.

It is not possible to cover the different fields of hadith in this introduction, but if anyone wishes to learn more, they may always refer back to the many books written on this subject. Here, I will summarize the objectives of each author of the al-Sihah al-Sitta and what they had in mind when compiling ahadith for their book.

Imam Bukhari’s objective was to teach the method of how to deduce rulings from the authentic ahadith. Every sub-chapter is given a heading that indicates a ruling deduced from the ahadith under that sub-chapter. This is why it is said that the fiqh of Imam Bukhari is in his headings [fiqh al-Bukhari fī Tarajimihī].

Imam Muslim’s objective was to compile all the different trans- missions of one hadith in one book. For this reason, it is easier to find a specific authentic hadith in Muslim than it is in Bukhari.

Imam Nisa’i concentrated on deducing rulings of the Shari‘a from the ahadith, like Imam Bukhari. For this reason, the heading of each new sub-chapter is similar to that of a sub-chapter in Bukhari. But Imam Nisa’i also aimed to compile the ahadith that carry hidden flaws in their transmissions. It is his unique style to start a sub-chapter with the ahadith that have hidden flaws in their transmission and then analyze them as the hadith masters did. He ends every sub-chapter with the hadith which he considers to be the most authentic in that sub-chapter.

Imam Abu Dawud compiled all the ahadith that the jurists bring in support of their rulings; he also includes multiple transmissions of one hadith in his book; also, if a hadith is weak, he will comment on it. However, Imam Abu Dawud takes the opposite course of Imam Nisa’i in that he starts off every sub- chapter with a authentic hadith and ends it with the weakest.

Imam Tirmidhi opened new sub-chapters for each hadith or group of hadith used by the jurists. He does not gather multiple transmissions of one hadith like Imam Nisa’i or Imam Abu Dawud. He will usually narrate one hadith that is in favor of one of the four imams in a ruling of the Shari‘a under one sub-chapter. Another method employed by Imam Tirmidhi is to narrate the hadith which have never been previously raised by any other of the hadith masters on a specific Shari‘a ruling and then indicate to other supporting ahadith [on that issue] by saying, “more ahadith are narrated on this subject by so and so.” This is to show that there are more ahadith on the subject. He also frequently quotes the opinions of the jurists on certain issues.

Sunan Ibn Maja follows the same pattern as Sunan Abu Dawud except that the arrangement of ahadith in Sunan Ibn Maja surpasses Sunan Abñ Dówñd. Ibn Mója contains the most number of weak ahadith in the al-Sihah al-Sitta.