Katika vitabu vingi vya hadithi, tunasoma maneno sahihi [Sahih] na dhaifu [Daif]. Watu wengi huelewa sahihi kuwa kinyume cha dhaifu, na pale neno hili linapokosekana baada ya hadithi, huifasiri vibaya kuwa ni dhaifu. Hili ni kosa la kawaida, kwa sababu maneno sahihi na dhaifu kwa kweli ni istilahi za wanazuoni wa hadithi. Wanazuoni wa hadithi hutumia zaidi ya istilahi hamsini kuifafanua hadithi, na sahihi ni mojawapo tu kati yake. Hadithi isipoelezwa kuwa sahihi, inaweza kuangukia katika aina yoyote kati ya aina nyingine arobaini na tisa za hadithi, na si lazima iwe dhaifu.

In many books of ahadith, we read the words authentic [Sahih] and weak [Daif]. Many people understand authentic to be the opposite of weak, and when this word does not appear after a hadith, they misinterpret it as weak. This is a common mistake because the words authentic and weak are actually nomenclatures of the hadith masters. Over fifty terms are used by the hadith masters [to define a hadith], authentic being only one of them. When a hadith is not identified as authentic, it may fall under the category of any of the other forty-nine types of hadith and may not necessarily be weak.