Authors of the Six Books

Al-Kutub al-Sittah

The six major hadith collections (Arabic: ;ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺐ ﺍﻟﺴﺘﻪ Al-Kutub Al-Sittah) are collections of hadith by Islamic scholars who, approximately 200 years after Prophet Muhammad Salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, death and by their own initiative, collected “hadith” attributed to Muhammad Salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. They are sometimes referred to as Al-Sihah al-Sittah, which translates to “The Authentic Six“ though they contain weak narrations as well except Sahih Bukhari & Muslim.

1. Sahih Bukhari, collected by Imam Bukhari, includes 7275 ahadith

2. Sahih Muslim, collected by Muslim b. al-Hajjaj, includes 9200 ahadith

3. Sunan al-Nasai, collected by al-Nasai

4. Sunan Abu Dawood, collected by Abu Dawood

5. Jami al-Tirmidhi, collected by al-Tirmidhi

6. Sunan ibn Majah, collected by Ibn Majah

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 (May Allah Have Mercy on Him).

We will delve into the biographies and some important events associated with these renowned personalities who compiled the greatest works for the Ummah.