The Six major Hadith collections (Arabic: Al-Sihah al-Sittah) are the works of some individuals Islamic scholars who by their own initiative started collecting sayings that people attributed to Muhammad approximately 200 years after his death.

Introduction

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The name "Al-Sihah al-Sittah" translates literarly to "The Six Authentic", even though they are not all considered authentic (sahih), except for the first two collections.

All six collectors of these ahadith lived in modern-day Iran or Uzbekistan (unless Imam Malik is included.) Some were ethnically Persian, such as Bukhari and Ibn Maja, while others were ethnically Arab, such as Imam Muslim (from the Qushayr tribe Al-Tirmidhi (from the Banu Sulaym [http://www.jamiat.org.za/isinfo/tirmidhi01.html" target="_blank" >^*).

Due to this, some people state that they where all Persian and not Arabs [http://www.al-islam.org/guided/21.html.

Muslim view

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Sunni view

Sunni Muslims view the Six major Hadith collections as their most improtant. They are, in order of importance ^*:

1. Sahih Bukhari, collected by al-Bukhari (d. 870), included 7275 hadiths
2. Sahih Muslim, collected by Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875), included 9200
3. Sunan al-Sughra, collected by al-Nasa'i (d. 915)
4. Sunan Abi Da'ud, collected by Abu Da'ud (d. 888)
5. Sunan al-Tirmidhi, collected by al-Tirmidhi (d. 892)
6. This one is disputed. Sometimes its referred to Al-Muwatta, collected by Imam Malik (d. 796) and sometimes it is referred to Sunan Ibn Maja, collected by Ibn Maja (d. 886). Some people even consider Sunan al-Darami to be the sixth one .

The two first are referred to as the Two Sahihs which indicates that they are authentic.

Shi'a view

Shia’s have their own collections and reject the claims of authenticity that Sunni attribute to the six collections ^*.

See also

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• List of Sunni books
• Hadith of Persians and knowledge

References

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Hadith | Hadith collections