Hadith is an Arabic word meaning speech or communication. After the death of the prophet Muhammad SAWW, when the newly turned Muslims faced problems of different nature in their lives every day they had no one to turn to. Indeed, if the solution was not to be found in the Koran there was no other way of knowing they were on the right path. With no messenger of Allah Almighty, Muslims started seeking guidance from companions of Holy prophet and developed a habit of attending their khutbahs, so they could gather more knowledge about Islam. It was therefore referred to the words of Hadith the prophet Muhammad. By extension, we called hadiths, all the words (AQWAL) acts (AFAL) or even situations that took place before Muhammad’s eyes and he tacitly approved (TAQIR).
Since everyone started questioning all companions of the Prophet and their descendants to gather some testimonials. Only from the third century of Islam, it was realized that there is a need to establish comprehensive and valuable collections of hadiths. At present, there are six major collections of hadiths that are authoritative in the Sunni Muslim world. These collections enlighten believers on ways to practice the religion, rights issues, trade or details concerning the public or private life of individuals. Sunnah has become the second textual source of Islam after the Qur’an.
Some of the beautiful and life changing hadiths of Holy prophet PBUH are shared as follows:
- The Pleasure of the Rabb is in the pleasure of the father, and the displeasure of the Rabb is in the displeasure of the father. (Tirmidhi)
- Let no believing man hate a believing woman. If he hates one trait of her character, he should be pleased with another that is within her. (Sahih Muslim)
- The most perfect of the believers in faith is he who is the best of them in conduct, and the best of you are those who are the best to their wives. (Tirmidhi)
- If a young man shows honour to an old man on account of his age, Allah will create for him in his old age someone who will show him honour. (Tirmidhi)
You will see the believers in their mutual kindness, displaying love and sympathy just like one body. When a limb complains, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever. (Agreed)
- You shall not enter Jannat until you believe; and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not guide you a thing? When you will do it, you will love one another. Spread (Salaam) among you. (Sahih Muslim)
- Be not happy over (the sorrows of) your brother, lest Allah shows mercy to the latter and tries you. (Tirmidhi)
The duties of a Muslim towards another Muslim are five: to return his greeting, to visit the sick, to follow the bier of a dead man, to accept his invitation, and to respond to one’s sneezes. (Agreed)
- Eat together and be not separate, because blessings are only with the united body. (Ibn-Majah)