The Six Collections
and what the Eminent Scholars said about them
Sahih Bukhârî:
Ibrâhim bin Ma'qil Nasafi said that he heard Muhammad bin Ismâ'il Bukhârî saying: "I collected the book Al-Jâmi' in ten plus years and I made it a proof between me and Allâh."
Ibrâhim bin Ma'qil Nasafi also said that he heard Bukhârî say: "I did not include in the book Al-Jâmi' but only that which is authentic. I have excluded many other authentic Ahâdîth to avoid prolongation."[1]
Sahih Muslim:
Hâfiz Abu Abdullah bin Mandah said that he heard Abu 'Ali Husain bin 'Ali Nishapuri saying: "There is no book of Hadîth under the heaven more authentic than the book of Muslim bin Hajjâj."[2]
Muhammad bin Husain Masarjasi reported from his father who said that he heard Muslim bin Hajjâj saying: "I compiled this Al-Musnad As-Sahih out of a collection of three hundred thousand heard Ahâdîth."
Sunan Abu Dâwud:
Abu Bakr bin Dasah said that he heard Abu Dâwud saying: "I collected five hundred thousand Ahâdîth reported from the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ. And I selected from this number four thousand eight hundred Ahâdîth that I included in this book of mine - the Sunan. In this collection, I mentioned those that are authentic or closer. Four of these authentic Hadîth are enough for a Muslim as the basis for his religion. These four are:
1. The Prophet's saying: "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions."[3]
2. The Prophet's saying: "The proper practice of one's Islam demands that he should leave alone that which does not concern him."[4]
3. His saying: "None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."[5]
4. His saying: "The lawful things are clear and the forbidden things are
[1] Tahdhibul-Kamâl 1/671.
[2] Tahdhibul-Kamâl 1/168.
[3] Bukhârî (1); and Abu Dâwud (2201).
[4] Tirmidhî (2317); Albâni classified it as Sahih.
[5] Bukhârî (13); and Muslim (1599).
clear. But between the two are things are not so clear..."[1]
Abu Bakr Sawlī reported that he heard Zakariya bin Yahya Saji saying, "The Book of Allāh is the foundation of Islam, and the book of Sunan by Abu Dāwūd is the covenant of Islam."
Ismā'īl bin Muhammad Saffar narrated that he heard Muhammad bin Ishāq Saghani saying, "Knowledge of Hadīth was softened for Abu Dāwūd as iron was softened for Prophet Dāwūd ﷺ."[2]
Abu Sulaimān Khattābī reported: I heard Ibn A'rabi saying while he was reading to us the Sunnah by Abu Dāwūd, he pointed the manuscript from which he was reading and said, "If someone has no source of knowledge beside a copy of Allāh's Book and then this book - Sunan Abu Dāwūd - they are enough for him."
Khattābī then said, "There is no doubt in what Ibn A'rabi said. This is because; Allāh revealed His Book as explanation for everything. He says: 'We have neglected nothing in the Book.' (Al-An'am 6:38) In the Verse, Allāh the Exalted informs us that there is nothing in matters of religion that the Qur'ān does not address."
However, this explanation is of two kinds: clear and explicit explanation and hidden and implicit mentioning. The detailed explanation of the latter was assigned to the Prophet ﷺ. This is the interpretation of Allāh's saying: "And We have also sent down to you (O Muhammad ﷺ) the Dhikr (Reminder) and the advice (i.e., the Qur'ān) that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought." (An-Nahl 16:44) Therefore, whoever combines between the Qur'ān and the Sunnah has indeed attained both sources of explanation.
In his book, Abu Dāwūd included Ahādīth about foundations of knowledge and traditions and rules of Fiqh. As far as I know, no scholar before Abu Dāwūd or after him had accomplished this.
Abu Sulaimān said: A report reached us that Abu Dāwūd said, "I did not include this book of mine a Hadīth that the scholars unanimously rejected."[3]
Sunan Tirmidhī:
Hāfīz Abu Sa'eed Abdur-Rahmān bin Muhammad Idrisi said, "Muhammad bin 'Eisa bin Sawrah is one of the leading scholars of Hadīth. He had a number of works among them are: Al-Jāmi', Tawārīkh and Al-'Ial.
[1] Bukhārī (52); Muslim (1599); and Abu Dāwūd (3329).
[2] Tahdhibul-Kamāl 1/169.
[3] Tahdhibul-Kamāl 1/170.
These works are compilation of a widely-read scholar, who is cited as an example in erudition."
Abul-Fadl Muhammad bin Tâhir Maqdisi said: I was with Imâm Abu Ismâ'il Abdullah bin Muhammad Ansâri at Hira' when the mentioned was made of Abu 'Eisa Tirmidhi and his book. He said, "In my view, his book is more useful than those of Bukhârî and Muslim because; the benefits that are in the books of these two scholars can only be attained by well-versed scholars. But as for the book of Abu 'Eisa Trimidhi, all the people can benefit from it."
Sunan Nasâ'i:
Abul-Fadl bin Tâhir said: I asked Imâm Abu Qasim Sa'd bin 'Ali Zanjâri at Makkah about the situation of one of the reporters of Hadith and he declared him as trustworthy. I then said: But Abu Abdur-Rahmân Nasâ'i regarded him as Weak. Thereupon Zanjâri said: "My son, the condition of Abu Abdur-Rahmân on narrators of Hadith is stricter than that of Bukhârî and Muslim."
Hâkim Abu Abdullah bin Bayya' said: I heard Abu Hasan Ahmad bin Mahbub Ramali at Makkah saying: I heard Abu Abdur-Rahmân Ahmad bin Shu'âib Nasâ'i saying, "When I decided to compile the book As-Sunan, I made Istikhârah to Allâh concerning some Shaikhs about whom I had some reservations. The result of the Istikhârah was that I should reject their narrations. As a consequence, I had longer chains of narrators in some Hadith in which I would have had shorter chains."
Hâfiz Abdul-Ghani bin Sa'eed Misri said: I heard Abu Hasan Khidr As-Suyuti saying, "I saw the Prophet ﷺ in my sleep while there were in front of me many books among them was As-Sunan by Abu Abdur-Rahmân Nasâ'i. The Prophet ﷺ then told me: 'When are you going to stop gathering books and how much books are you going to acquire before you stop?! This is enough!' He then picked with hand part one of the Book of Purification from Sunan Nasâ'i. It then occurred to me that what the Prophet ﷺ meant was that Nasâ'i's book is dearest book to him."[1]
Sunan Ibn Mâjah:
Abu Zur'ah Râzi said, "I read the book compiled by Abu Abdullah Ibn Mâjah and I did not find there but few Ahâdith whose authenticity is contestable." And he mentioned some Ahâdith that are less than twenty.
Abu Abdullah Ibn Mâjah said, "I showed this transcript to Abu Zur'ah Râzi. He checked it and said, 'I think if people lay their hands on this book,
[1] Tahdhibul-Kamâl 1/172.
all or most of other great compiled works will become unnecessary.”[1]
Comparing Ibn Mâjah’s Book with Other Collections
Comparisons have been made between Sunan Ibn Mâjah and other collections such as Muwatta’ of Imâm Mâlik, Sunan Ad-Dârîmî, Musnad Ahmad and Sahih Ibn Hibbân. Yet, Sunan Ibn Mâjah succeeded in becoming the sixth of the major collections. The following are books compared to Sunan Ibn Mâjah:
Muwatta’ by Imâm Mâlik
Abu Abdullah Mâlik bin Anas ﷺ was born in the year 93 or 94 AH. He was among the leaders of the generation that succeeded the Tâbî’în. He was a pious scholar and a great jurist. He showed great concern for the Prophet’s Sunnah. He valiantly defended it and ferociously waged war against those who sought to oppose the Sunnah. He gave the Sunnah priority over all other things and never did he rely on invalid analogies at the expense of the Sunnah. He died in the year 179 AH.[2]
As regards comparing Muwatta’ to Sunan Ibn Mâjah, Shamsuddin Jazari said about Sunan Ibn Mâjah: “It is the sixth of the six major collections, according to the scholars of Hadith. What Ibn Athir said that Muwatta’ - not Sunan Ibn Mâjah - is the sixth of the major collections is his personal view.”[3]
There are scholars who regarded Muwatta’ as the sixth of the major collections. Some of these scholars are: Razin bin Mu’awiyah ‘Abdari and Ibn Athir Jazari.[4]
Musnad by Imâm Ahmad
Imâm Ahmad bin Hanbal is a real leader and Shaikhul-Islam. He is one of the eminent Imâms.
Ibrâhim Harbi said, “I saw Abu Abdullah – Imâm Ahmad. It was as if Allâh has endowed him with the knowledge of the earlier and latter generations combined.”
A man said, “I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable about Fiqh and Hadith and its meanings more than Ahmad.”
Ishâq bin Râhwaih said, “I would sit in the company of Ahmad and Ibn Ma’een and we would do joint study. Whenever I inquired about
[1] Tahdhhibul-Kamâl 1/173.
[2] Mashhâhir ‘Ulama’ Al-Amsar 1/223.
[3] Kashfuz-Zunun 2/1473.
[4] Ar-Risâlah Al-Mustatrafah, p. 11.
something as regards its meaning and interpretation, no one but Ahmad would dare speak.”[1]
His book, Al-Musnad, is one of the greatest and most comprehensive books of Hadith. But it needs some arrangement.
Ibn Kathir said, “There are in Musnad of Imâm Ahmad many Isnâd and narrations that are equal in status to many of those found in Sahih Muslim, even in Sahih Bukhârî, but which none of them and none of the four collectors of Sunan had collected.
As for the statement of Hâfiz Abu Musa Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Al-Madini concerning Musnad Ahmad that its Ahâdîth were Sahih, is not correct. This is because; the book contains, in addition to authentic Ahâdîth, Weak and even spurious narrations such as narrations about virtues of Marw, ‘Asqalân and Birthal-Ahmar, as pointed out by the scholars.
This is in addition to the fact that Imâm Ahmad had missed many Ahâdîth. It is said that there are narrations from close to two hundred Companions that Imâm Bukhârî and Imâm Muslim recorded but that Imâm Ahmad did not have in his Musnad.[2]
Sunan Ad-Dârîmî
Ad-Dârîmî is Hâfiz Abdullah bin Abdur-Rahmân bin Fadl bin Bahrâm bin Abdullah Abu Muhammad Tamimi Dârîmî As-Samarqandi.
Abu Hâtîm bin Hibbân said, “Dârîmî was one of the learned scholars of Hadith and was pious. He was well-versed in Hadith and Fiqh. He authored many works and taught Hadith to others. He promoted the Sunnah in his country, called unto it, defended it and defeated those who sought to oppose it.”[3]
Some eminent scholars such as Hâfiz Ibn Salâh, Nawawi, Salahuddin ‘Alâ’i and Hâfiz Ibn Hajar ﷺ believed that it would have been had Sunan Ad-Dârîmî been regarded as the sixth of the six major collections.[4]
Sahih Ibn Hibbân Al-Busti
Imâm Abu Hâtîm Muhammad bin Hibbân was a great and well-versed scholar. He was the leading scholar of Khorasan. He has many great and famous works to his credit. He was born in the year 270 AH.
Abu Sa’d Idrisi said about him, “He was the judge of Samarqand for quite sometime, and he was one of the eminent jurists and scholars of Hadith. He
[1] Siyar A’lâm An-Nubala’ 11/188.
[2] Al-Bâith Al-Hadîth, pp. 22 and 25.
[3] Siyar A’lâm An-Nubala’ 12/224
[4] Ar-Risâlah Al-Mustatrafah, p. 11.
was also well-versed in medicine, astrology and other sciences.
Among his works are: Al-Musnad As-Sahih, Al-Anwâ' wat-Taqâsim, Kitâbut-Târikh, Kitâbud-Du'afâ' and many others. And he taught people Fiqh at Samarqand.
Hakim Nishapuri said, "Ibn Hibbân was one of the vessels of knowledge in Fiqh, Arabic language, Hadith and admonition. He was among the wisest men."[1]
Yâqut said, "Ibn Hibbân accomplished in the science of Hadith what others failed to do. People used to travel to Khorasan to read his works."
His book Al-Musnad As-Sahih is regarded as more authentic than Sunan Ibn Mâjah.[2]
Signs the Scholars Adopted for Sunan Ibn Mâjah:
After the six major collections - Sahih Bukhârî, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dâwud, Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Nasâ'i and Sunan Ibn Mâjah - have become popular among the scholars, they adopted signs as a shortcut to each of them.
The signs that are used as shortcuts for the each of the six collections, according to Suyuti are as follows:
( خ ) for Bukhârî
( م ) for Muslim
( ق ) for Bukhârî and Muslim
( د ) for Abu Dâwud
( ت ) for Tirmidhi
( ن ) for Nasâ'i
( هـ ) for Ibn Mâjah
(4) for the four collectors of Sunan
(3) for the collectors of Sunnah excluding Ibn Mâjah
( مـ ) for Ahmad in his Musnad[3]
[1] Siyar A'lâm An-Nubala' 16/94.
[2] Al-A'lâm by Khairuddin Zirakli 6/78.
[3] Kashfuz-Zunun 1/762
An Important Point
Most of the collectors of the Sunan ﷺ died with close intervals.
Imâm Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Mâjah Al-Qazvini died in the year 273 AH.
Imâm Abu Dâwud Sulaimân bin Ash'ath As-Sijistâri died in the year 275 AH.
Imâm Abu 'Eisa Muhammad bin 'Eisa bin Sawrah Tirmidhi died in the year 279 AH.[1]
A number of scholars wrote eulogies in honor of Imâm Ibn Mâjah ﷺ. Among his scholars are: Yahya bin Zakariyya Tarâiqi and Muhammad bin Aswad Qazvini.
[1] Al-Wafayât by Ibn Qunfudh 1/6.