Hadith: What, Why, and When....

by Alan Paton

The book explains how hadiths originated and developed in the early years and centuries of Islam and their part in the development of Islamic law. A hadith is a report of a statement or action of the Prophet Muhammad. They provide the Sunna of the Prophet; his example and guidance on how to behave. This information is of the utmost importance to Muslims because the Quran calls upon Muslims to follow the example and instructions of the Prophet. The Quran itself provides relatively little detail on legal and behavioural matters and hadiths became the foundation and source of Islamic law alongside the Quran. The two most famous hadith collections, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, are regarded as genuine Islamic sacred books by Sunni Muslims. At the beginning hadiths were transmitted orally and were also fabricated for sectarian and religious reasons. The book explains what early Islamic hadith scholars did to determine hadith authenticity and summarises hadith research by modern Western scholars. It is for readers who want more than an overview; who want some depth on key topics, but don't have the time to do all the reading. It covers all important aspects of the subject including complex but vital matters professional scholars cover and popular works often ignore and turns complicated arguments into accessible text for non-specialists and students.

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2018

About the author

Alan Stewart Paton was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels Cry, the Beloved Country (1948), Too Late the Phalarope (1953), and the short story The Waste Land.