Kutub al-Sittah

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Sunni Kutub Al-Sittah ("The Six Books") Sahih Bukhari صحيح البخاري Sahih Muslim صحيح مسلم Al-Sunan Al-Sughra السنن الصغرى Sunan Abu Dawood سنن أبي داود Sunan al-Tirmidhi جامع الترمذي Sunan ibn Maja سُنن ابن ماجه Period (CE)  Others Muwatta Imam Malik 8th–9th cent. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 780–855 Sunan Al-Darimi 868 Shama'il Muhammadiyah (Shamaail Tirmidhi) 9th century Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 923 Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān 965 Al-Mustadrak a. Al-Ṣaḥīḥaīn 11th century Al-Mawdū'āt Al-Kubrā 1128–1217 Rīaḍ As-Ṣāliḥīn 1233–1278 Mishkat Al-Masabih 1340 Talkhis Al-Mustadrak 1274–1348 Majma Al-Zawa'id 1335–1405 Bulugh Al-Maram 1372–1449 Kanz al-Ummal 16th century Zujajat al-Masabih 19th century Minhaj us Sawi 20th century Muntakhab Ahadith 20th century
Shi'ah Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah ("The Four Books") Kitab Al-Kafi الكتاب الكافي Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih من لا يحضره الفقيه Tahdhib Al-Ahkam تهذیب الاحکام Al-Istibsar الاستبصار Period (CE)  Others Nahj Al-Balagha 7th century Bihar Al-Anwar 678–713 Book of Sulaym Ibn Qays 10th century Al-Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya 11th century Uyun al Akhbar ar Reda 10th century Wasā'il Al-Shīʿah 17th century Haqq al-Yaqeen 17th century Ain Al-Hayat 17th century Qalam-e-Mowla   Daim al-Islam 10th century Al-Ghadir 19th century
Ibadi Jami Sahih Tartib Al-Musnad
Mu'tazila On the Peak of Eloquence  (13th century)
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The Kutub al-Sittah (Arabic: الكتب السته‎) are six (originally five) books containing collections of hadith (sayings or acts of the prophet Muhammad) compiled by six Sunni Muslim scholars in the ninth century CE. They are sometimes referred to as Al-Sihah al-Sittah, which translates as "The Authentic Six". They were first formally grouped and defined by Ibn al-Qaisarani in the 11th century, who added Sunan ibn Majah to the list.^[1][2][3] Since then, they have enjoyed near-universal acceptance as part of the official canon of Sunni Islam.

Not all Sunni Muslim jurisprudence scholars agree on the addition of Ibn Majah. In particular, The Malikis and Ibn al-Athir consider al-Mawatta' to be the sixth book.^[4] The reason for the addition of Ibn Majjah's Sunan is that it contains many Hadiths which do not figure in the other five, whereas all the Hadiths in the Muwatta' figure in the other Sahih books.^[4]

Significance

Sunni Muslims view the six major hadith collections as their most important. They are (The order of authenticity varies between the Madhhabs):^[5]

1. Sahih Bukhari, collected by Imam Bukhari (d. 256 A.H., 870 C.E.), includes 7.275 ahadith
2. Sahih Muslim, collected by Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 261 A.H., 875 C.E.), includes 9,200 ahadith
3. Sunan Abu Dawood, collected by Abu Dawood (d. 275 A.H., 888 C.E.), includes 4,800 ahadith
4. Jami al-Tirmidhi, collected by al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 A.H, 892 C.E)
5. Sunan al-Sughra, collected by al-Nasa'i (d. 303 A.H., 915 C.E.)
6. Either:

• • Sunan ibn Majah, collected by Ibn Majah (d. 273 A.H., 887 C.E.)
  • Muwatta Imam Malik, collected by Imam Malik (d. 179 A.H, 795 C.E) (According to Malikis and Zahiris of the Maghreb and Al-Andalus region. Some of them hold it to be more authentic than Sahih Bukhari, while others place it either just after Sahih Muslim or al-Tirmidhi which they rank 3rd)^[6]

The first two, commonly referred to as the Two Sahihs as an indication of their authenticity, contain approximately seven thousand ahadith altogether if repetitions are not counted, according to Ibn Hajar.^[7]

Authors

According to the Cambridge History of Iran:^[8] "After this period commences the age of the authors of the six canonical collections of Sunni hadith, all of whom were Persian, except Imam Malik. The authors of the six collections are as follows:

1. Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Bukhari, the author of the Sahih Bukhari, which he composed over a period of sixteen years. Traditional sources quote Bukhari as saying that he did not record any hadith before performing ablution and praying. Bukhari died near Samarqand in 256/869-70.
2. Muslim b. Hajjaj al-Naishapuri, who died in Nishapur in 261/ 874-5 and whose Sahih Muslim is second in authenticity only to that of Bukhari.
3. Abu Dawood Sulaiman b. Ash'ath al-Sijistani, a Persian but of Arab descent, who died in 275/888-9.
4. Muhammad b. 'Isa al-Tirmidhi, the author of the well-known as Sunan al-Tirmidhi, who was a student of Bukhari and died in 279/892-3.
5. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa'i, who was from Khurasan and died in 303/915-16.
6. Ibn Majah al-Qazwini, who died in 273/886-7."
7. Malik ibn Anas, who was from al-Madina where he died in 179 AH, 795 C.E

References