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| Author | Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (c. 822–875) |
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| Language | Arabic, Persian |
| Series | Kutub al-Sittah |
| Genre | Hadith collection |
| Published | 9th century |
Sahih Muslim (Arabic:صحيح مسلم,romanized: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim) is the secondhadith collection of theSix Books ofSunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholarMuslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (d. 875) in themusannaf format, the work is valued by Sunnis, alongsideSahih al-Bukhari, as the most important source for Islamic religion after theQur'an.
Sahih Muslim contains approximately 5,500 - 7,500 hadith narrations in its introduction and 56 books.[1]Kâtip Çelebi (died 1657) andSiddiq Hasan Khan (died 1890) both counted 7,275 narrations.Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi wrote that there are 3,033 narrations without considering repetitions.[2] Mashhur ibn Hasan Al Salman, a student of Albanian Islamic scholarAl-Albani (died 1999), counted 7,385 total narrations, which, combined with the ten in the introduction, add up to a total of 7,395.[2] Muslim wrote an introduction to his collection of hadith, wherein he clarified the reasoning behind choosing the hadith he chose to include in his Sahih.
According toAl-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Muslim began writing the Sahih for Ahmad ibn Salamah an-Naysaburi.[3] He was also compelled to write the Sahih for what he observed to be the poor character of his contemporaryhadith scholars, and their unreluctant willingness to spreaddaʻīf (weak) narrations.[4] Muslim collected 12,000 narrations and chose 4,000 to be included in his book.[1]
He divided narrators of hadith into three tiers based on their memory and character:[1]
Muslim did not include hadith which were narrated by those who belonged to the last tier. Moreover, Muslim only recorded hadith that were narrated to him by an unbrokenisnad (chain) of narrators through two reliabletabi'un, each of which had to be narrated through twocompanions ofMuhammad.[1]
Sunni Muslims regardSahih Muslim as the second most important book of theKutub al-Sittah.[5][6] Sahih Muslim andSahih al-Bukhari are together referred to as theSahihayn (The Two Sahihs).[1][6] In theIntroduction to the Science of Hadith,Ibn al-Salah wrote: "The first to author aSahih wasBukhari [...]", followed byAbū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj an-Naysābūrī al-Qushayrī, who was his student, sharing many of the same teachers. These two books are the most authentic books after theQuran. As for the statement ofal-Shafi'i, who said, "I do not know of a book containing knowledge more correct thanMalik's book [Muwatta Imam Malik]", [...] he said this before the books of Bukhari and Muslim. The book of Bukhari is the more authentic of the two and more useful.[7]
Al-Nawawi wrote about Sahih al-Bukhari, "The scholars, may God have mercy on them, have agreed that the most authentic book after the dear Quran are the two Sahihs of Bukhari andMuslim."[8]Siddiq Hasan Khan (died 1890) wrote, "All of theSalaf andKhalaf assert that the most authentic book after the book of Allah is Sahih al-Bukhari and then Sahih Muslim."[9] This sentiment is echoed by both contemporary and past Islamic scholars, includingIbn Taymiyya[10] (died 1328),Al-Maziri[11] (died 1141), andAl-Juwayni[12] (died 1085).Amin Ahsan Islahi praised the scientific arrangement of the narrations inSahih Muslim. He also praised Muslim's particularity in highlighting differences in wording between two narrations, even when it came to a single letter that held no semantic significance, or if they differed about any facts relating to a narrator in theisnad.[13][9]
Despite the book's reputation and the consensus of scholars that it is the second most authentic collection of hadith afterSahih al-Bukhari, it is agreed upon that this does not mean that every hadith inSahih al-Bukhari is more valid than every hadith inSahih Muslim, but that the total of what is contained inSahih al-Bukhari is more valid than the total of what is contained inSahih Muslim.[14]
More than 60 commentaries have been written onSahih Muslim, some of which areSiyānah Sahīh Muslim byIbn al-Salah, of which only the beginning segment remains,Al-Mu'allim bi Fawā'id Muslim by Al-Maziri,Al Minhāj Sharḥ Sahīḥ Muslim byAl-Nawawi,Fath al-Mulhim bi-Sharh Sahih al-Imam Muslim byShabbir Ahmad Usmani,Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim bi-Sharh Sahih al-Imam Muslim byTaqi Usmani, andTafsir al-Gharīb mā fi al-Sahīhayn byAl-Humaydī. Translations of commentaries of Sahih Muslims are available in numerous languages.[15]
[...] theSahihayn, the two authentic Hadith compilations of Bukhari and Muslim bin Hajjaj that Sunni Islam has long declared the most reliable books after the Qur'an.
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