穆斯林一致认为,先知穆罕默德ﷺ的逊奈是伊斯兰教两项启示性根本渊源中的第二项,仅次于光荣的《古兰经》。真实可靠的逊奈包含在浩如烟海的圣训文献之中。1.

The Muslims are agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is the second of the two revealed fundamental sources of Islam, after the Glorious Qur'an. The authentic Sunnah is contained within the vast body of Hadith literature.1.

圣训（复数为 ahadith）由两部分构成：正文（matn）与传述链（isnad）。一段文字即便看上去合乎逻辑、合情合理，若没有可靠传述人组成的可信传述链，也不能被接受。伊玛目布哈里的杰出老师之一阿卜杜拉·本·穆巴拉克（卒于公元181年）说："传述链是宗教的一部分。倘若没有传述链，任何人都会随心所欲地说任何话。"2

A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnad (chain of reporters). A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnad with reliable reporters to be acceptable; 'Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers of Imam al-Bukhari, said, "The isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished to would have said whatever he liked."2.

在先知(愿安拉赐福于他并使他平安)在世时及其去世后,他的圣门弟子(Sahabah)在引述他的话语时,都直接提及他ﷺ。再传弟子(Tabi'un)也效仿此法;其中一些人透过圣门弟子引述先知ﷺ的话,另一些人则省略中间的传述人,这类圣训后来被称为"mursal"(断续圣训)。人们发现,再传弟子与先知ﷺ之间缺失的环节可能是一人,即一位圣门弟子,也可能是两人,多出的那一人是较年长的再传弟子,他曾从圣门弟子处听闻该圣训。这说明了为何需要核实每一条传述链(isnad)的缘由。伊玛目马立克(卒于179年)说:"第一个使用传述链的人是伊本·舍哈布·祖赫里"(卒于124年)。3.