The Hadiths

Muhammad dies in the year 632. But Muhammad has been the one telling everything to the muslims. He has been both religious and political leader to them. Without him there is a void. This void, Abu Bakr as well as Ali now try to fill.

They each lead a group of followers, and turn to the words of the Quran for advice in religious matters. The Quran is the Muslims’ holy scripture. It is considered to be the words of God and revealed to Muhammad by Archangel Jibril - Gabriel. But the Quran is quite short, so it’s hard for the followers at this time to know how to behave in all circumstances using only the Quran. The Quran states for example that you are to pray every day.

But not how you’re supposed to pray. And now, when Muhammad isn’t around anymore to ask, it gets even harder to interpret the Quran. This is why the closest friends and relatives of Muhammad start to write down their memories of what Muhammad did and said in different situations his habits and customs that is, his Sunnah. They thought that living according to the Sunnah of Muhammad was a good way to live for a muslim. But these stories about Muhammad’s life differ from one another, depending on by which group they are told.

Abu Bakr’s group highlights some things and Ali’s group other things. The leaders of both groups consider their exact way of life the only correct way. Eventually, in the 8th and 9th centuries these stories - the Hadiths - are collected by several people, into books. So these stories either came from someone that had met Muhammad, or from someone that had heard them narrated by someone who had met Muhammed. That is why every Hadith consists of two parts.

The story of the event, of course, and then a record of who narrated this, and to whom. This can become a whole chain of narrators. The shorter this chain - or the more reliable the narrators are - the more trustworthy the account is thought to be. Many of the accounts have also come from several different sources. In these cases all versions of the story are written down one after the other, so that readers can compare them, even if they only differ by a word or two.

The more sources that tell the same story the more reliable it is considered. Those closest to Muhammad are counted as the most reliable sources. Like for instance one of Muhammad’s wives: Aisha. She is thought to be reliable by Sunni muslims anyway. Aisha was after all the daughter of their first Caliph: Abu Bakr.

Shia muslims, on the other hand, don’t think stories told by anyone who supported Abu Bakr - or the first two Caliphs after him - are trustworthy. They place more trust in those who supported Ali or their other Imams, and this is why they follow their own Hadiths. So, different groups follow different Hadiths. This is true not only for Shia and Sunni but also for other Muslim groups. The Hadiths describe how Muhammad lived his life and preferably that is how all Muslims should live.

This means that whoever might influence what is written in the Hadiths holds great power. And in the constant struggle for power underway at this time, some seize the opportunity to change, or forge, the Hadiths, so as to influence people in areas they want to govern. Most muslims do agree that some of the Hadiths are forgeries - but they don’t agree which. But there are six collections that Sunni Muslims believe are fully reliable. The most important of these are: Bukhari and Muslim.

Shia Muslims of the Twelvers mostly rely on the collections that they call The Four Books - or The Four Principles. The Quran together with the Hadiths soon becomes the foundation of an Islamic system of laws: Sharia. You will hear more about Sharia another time.