How do I know if a hadith is authentic?
The hadith scholars built a science around this question. Every hadith is graded — ṣaḥīḥ (sound), ḥasan (good), ḍaʿīf (weak), mawḍūʿ (fabricated) — based on specific criteria applied to its chain and text.
2 passages from 2 books in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 2 books by Ibn Battuta and Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
-
"In Bukhara, I visited the grave of the noble scholar Abu Abdullah al-Bukhari, the author of the Sahih collection, The Sheikh of Muslims. May God be pleased with him."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"Its narrators are those of the authentic Sahih collections and it is mentioned by Abu Ash-Shaykh with the phrase patched clothes."
Want a different angle?
Type your question below — JM Scholar will ground its answer in the same sources.