The Book of the Sunnah

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Waki' narrated to us; Hammad ibn Najih narrated to us—and he was trustworthy—from Abu 'Imran al-Jawni, from Jundub ibn 'Abdullah, who said: We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as vigorous young men. We learned faith before we learned the Quran; then we learned the Quran, and our faith increased through it.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated to us; 'Ali ibn Nizar narrated to us, from his father, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Two groups of this community have no share in Islam: the Murji'ah and the Qadariyyah.'

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Waki' narrated to us, from Kahmas ibn al-Hasan, from 'Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from Yahya ibn Ya'mar, from Ibn 'Umar, from 'Umar, who said: We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man came, with intensely white clothes and intensely black hair. No trace of travel could be seen on him, and none of us knew him. He sat before the Prophet, brought his knees against his knees, and placed his hands on his thighs. Then he said: Muhammad, what is Islam? He replied: To testify that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah; to establish prayer, give zakah, fast Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the House. He said: You have spoken truly. We were amazed: he asked him and then affirmed him. He said: Muhammad, what is faith? He replied: To believe in Allah, His angels, His messengers, His books, the Last Day, and the divine decree, its good and its evil. He said: You have spoken truly. We were amazed: he asked him and then affirmed him. He said: Muhammad, what is excellence? He replied: To worship Allah as though you see Him; for if you do not see Him, He sees you. He asked: When is the Hour? He replied: The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking. He asked: What are its signs? He replied: That a slave woman gives birth to her mistress. Waki' said: meaning that non-Arabs give birth to Arabs. And that you will see barefoot, unclothed, destitute shepherds competing in building tall structures. Then the Prophet met me three days later and said: Do you know who the man was? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: That was Gabriel; he came to you to teach you the defining features of your religion.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Isma'il ibn 'Ulayyah narrated to us, from Abu Hayyan, from Abu Zur'ah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was among the people in the open. A man came to him and said: Messenger of Allah, what is faith? He said: To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the meeting with Him, and the final Resurrection. He asked: Messenger of Allah, what is Islam? He said: To worship Allah and associate nothing with Him; to establish the prescribed prayer, give the obligatory zakah, and fast Ramadan. He asked: Messenger of Allah, what is excellence? He said: To worship Allah as though you see Him; for if you do not see Him, He sees you. He asked: Messenger of Allah, when is the Hour? He said: The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking, but I shall tell you about its signs: when a slave woman gives birth to her mistress, that is one of its signs; and when shepherds compete in building, that is one of its signs. There are five things whose knowledge belongs to Allah alone. Then the Messenger of Allah recited: Indeed, with Allah alone is knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.

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Sahl ibn Abi Sahl and Muhammad ibn Isma'il narrated to us; they said: 'Abd al-Salam ibn Salih Abu al-Salt al-Harawi narrated to us; 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida narrated to us, from his father, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from 'Ali ibn al-Husayn, from his father, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Faith is knowledge in the heart, words on the tongue, and deeds with the limbs.' Abu al-Salt said: If this chain were recited over a madman, he would recover.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar and Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us; they said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, saying: I heard Qatadah relating from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother—or he said, for his neighbor—what he loves for himself.

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Muhammad ibn Bashshar and Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us; they said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, saying: I heard Qatadah, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his child, his father, and all people.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Waki' and Abu Mu'awiyah narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: By the One in whose hand is my soul, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I direct you to something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us; 'Affan narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, from al-A'mash. (H) Hisham ibn 'Ammar narrated to us; 'Isa ibn Yunus narrated to us; al-A'mash narrated to us, from Abu Wa'il, from 'Abdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Reviling a Muslim is grave disobedience, and fighting him is disbelief.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Nasr ibn 'Ali al-Jahdami narrated to us; Abu Ahmad narrated to us; Abu Ja'far al-Razi narrated to us, from al-Rabi' ibn Anas, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever leaves this world with sincere devotion to Allah alone, worshipping Him without partner, establishing prayer, and giving zakah, dies while Allah is pleased with him. Anas said: This is the religion of Allah with which the messengers came and which they conveyed from their Lord, before the confusion of reports and the divergence of desires. Confirmation of this is in the Book of Allah, among the last things revealed. Allah says: If they repent—meaning, renounce idols and their worship—and establish prayer and give zakah. In another verse He says: If they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then they are your brothers in religion.

Abu Hatim narrated to us; 'Ubaydullah ibn Musa al-'Absi narrated to us; Abu Ja'far al-Razi narrated to us, from al-Rabi' ibn Anas, with similar wording.

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Ahmad ibn al-Azhar narrated to us; Abu al-Nadr narrated to us; Abu Ja'far narrated to us, from Yunus, from al-Hasan, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, establish prayer, and give zakah.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Ahmad ibn al-Azhar narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf narrated to us; 'Abd al-Hamid ibn Bahram narrated to us, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanm, from Mu'adh ibn Jabal, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, establish prayer, and give zakah.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Razi informed us; Yunus ibn Muhammad informed us; 'Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Laythi narrated to us; Nizar ibn Hayyan narrated to us, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas and Jabir ibn 'Abdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Two groups of my community have no share in Islam: the people of Irja' and the people of Qadar.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abu 'Uthman al-Bukhari—Sa'id ibn Sa'd—narrated to us; al-Haytham ibn Kharijah narrated to us; Isma'il (meaning Ibn 'Ayyash) narrated to us, from 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Mujahid, from Mujahid, from Abu Hurayrah and Ibn 'Abbas, who said: Faith increases and decreases.

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Abu 'Uthman al-Bukhari narrated to us; al-Haytham narrated to us; Isma'il narrated to us, from Jarir ibn 'Uthman, from al-Harith—I think—from Mujahid, from Abu al-Darda', who said: Faith increases and decreases.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Waki', Muhammad ibn Fudayl, and Abu Mu'awiyah narrated to us. (H) 'Ali ibn Maymun al-Raqqi narrated to us; Abu Mu'awiyah and Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, who said: 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said: The truthful and confirmed Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated to us: Each of you is gathered in his mother's womb for forty days; then he becomes a clinging clot for a like period; then he becomes a lump of flesh for a like period. Then Allah sends an angel to him, who is commanded to write four matters. He says: Write his deeds, his lifespan, his provision, and whether he will be wretched or blessed. By the One in whose hand is my soul, one of you may act with the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is only an arm's length between him and it, then the decree overtakes him, so he acts with the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you may act with the deeds of the people of the Fire until there is only an arm's length between him and it, then the decree overtakes him, so he acts with the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Ishaq ibn Sulayman narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Sinan, from Wahb ibn Khalid al-Himsi, from Ibn al-Daylami, who said: Something concerning divine decree came into my mind, and I feared it would corrupt my religion and my affairs. So I went to Ubayy ibn Ka'b and said: Abu al-Mundhir, something concerning divine decree has entered my heart, and I fear for my religion and my affairs. Tell me something about it, through which perhaps Allah will benefit me. He said: Were Allah to punish the inhabitants of His heavens and His earth, He would punish them without wronging them; and were He to show them mercy, His mercy would be better for them than their deeds. If you had gold like Mount Uhud, or the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold, and spent it in Allah's cause, it would not be accepted from you until you believed in divine decree. Then you would know that what befell you could not have missed you, and what missed you could not have befallen you; and that if you died holding otherwise, you would enter the Fire. It would do you no harm to go to my brother 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and ask him. So I went to 'Abdullah and asked him. He mentioned the same as Ubayy and said to me: It would do you no harm to go to Hudhayfah. I went to Hudhayfah and asked him. He said the same as the two of them and told me: Go to Zayd ibn Thabit and ask him. I went to Zayd ibn Thabit and asked him. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Were Allah to punish the inhabitants of His heavens and His earth, He would punish them without wronging them; and were He to show them mercy, His mercy would be better for them than their deeds. If you had gold like Uhud, or the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold, and spent it in Allah's cause, it would not be accepted from you until you believed in divine decree in its entirety. Then you would know that what befell you could not have missed you, and what missed you could not have befallen you; and that if you died holding otherwise, you would enter the Fire.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

'Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Waki' narrated to us. (H) 'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Mu'awiyah and Waki' narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Sa'd ibn 'Ubaydah, from Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, from 'Ali, who said: We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he had a stick in his hand with which he was scratching the ground. Then he raised his head and said: There is none among you whose place in Paradise and place in the Fire has not been written. It was asked: Messenger of Allah, should we then not rely upon that? He said: No. Act, and do not rely upon it, for each person is facilitated toward that for which he was created. Then he recited: As for one who gives, is mindful, and affirms the best, We shall make the path of ease easy for him. But as for one who is miserly, considers himself self-sufficient, and denies the best, We shall make the path of hardship easy for him.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tanafisi narrated to us; they said: 'Abdullah ibn Idris narrated to us, from Rabi'ah ibn 'Uthman, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban, from al-A'raj, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, though there is good in each. Be keen for what benefits you, seek Allah's help, and do not grow helpless. If something befalls you, do not say, If only I had done such-and-such. Rather say: Allah decreed, and whatever He willed, He did; for saying if only opens the work of Satan.

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hisham ibn 'Ammar and Ya'qub ibn Humayd ibn Kasib narrated to us; they said: Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah narrated to us, from 'Amr ibn Dinar, who heard Tawus say: I heard Abu Hurayrah narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: Adam and Moses disputed. Moses said to him: Adam, you are our father; you disappointed us and brought us out of Paradise because of your sin. Adam said to him: Moses, Allah chose you through His speech and wrote the Torah for you with His hand. Do you blame me for a matter Allah decreed for me forty years before He created me? Thus Adam prevailed over Moses; thus Adam prevailed over Moses; thus Adam prevailed over Moses—three times.