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باب الرَّجُلِ يُصَلِّي الصَّلَوَاتِ بِوُضُوءٍ وَاحِدٍ

Abu Asad b. ‘Amr said:

I asked Anas Ibn Malik about ablution. He replied: The Prophet (ﷺ) performed ablution for each prayer and we offered (many) prayers with the same ablution.

باب صِفَةِ وُضُوءِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم

Humran b. Abban, the freed slave of ‘Uthman, said :

I saw ‘ Uthman’ b. ‘Affan while he performed ablution. He poured water over his hands three times and then washed them. He then rinsed his mouth and then cleansed his nose with water (three times). He then washed his right arm up to the elbow three times, then washed his left arm in a similar manner; then wiped his head; then washed his right foot three times, then washed his left foot in a similar manner, and then said : I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performing ablution like this ablution of mine. Then he (the Prophet) said: He who performs ablution like this ablution of mine and then offered two rakhahs of prayer without allowing his thoughts to be distracted, Allah will pardon all his past sins.

Kabshah, daughter of Ka'b ibn Malik and wife of Ibn AbuQatadah, reported: AbuQatadah visited (me) and I poured out water for him for ablution. A cat came and drank some of it and he tilted the vessel for it until it drank some of it. Kabshah said: He saw me looking at him; he asked me: Are you surprised, my niece? I said: Yes. He then reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: It is not unclean; it is one of those (males or females) who go round among you.

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَسْلَمَةَ الْقَعْنَبِيُّ، عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي طَلْحَةَ، عَنْ حُمَيْدَةَ بِنْتِ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ رِفَاعَةَ، عَنْ كَبْشَةَ بِنْتِ كَعْبِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، - وَكَانَتْ تَحْتَ ابْنِ أَبِي قَتَادَةَ - أَنَّ أَبَا قَتَادَةَ، دَخَلَ فَسَكَبَتْ لَهُ وَضُوءًا فَجَاءَتْ هِرَّةٌ فَشَرِبَتْ مِنْهُ فَأَصْغَى لَهَا الإِنَاءَ حَتَّى شَرِبَتْ قَالَتْ كَبْشَةُ فَرَآنِي أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ فَقَالَ أَتَعْجَبِينَ يَا ابْنَةَ أَخِي فَقُلْتُ نَعَمْ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ إِنَّهَا لَيْسَتْ بِنَجَسٍ إِنَّهَا مِنَ الطَّوَّافِينَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَالطَّوَّافَاتِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ Grade: Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani)  حسن صحيح

The Prophet (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: The purification of the utensil belonging to any one of you, after it has been licked by a dog, consists of washing it seven times, using dust (earth) in the first instance.

Abu Dawud said : A similar tradition has been narrated by Abu Ayyub and Habib b. al-Shahid on the authority of Muhammad.

the Six Books of Hadith?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Our Iman relies on the Quran and the Sunnah all together. The Hadith of our beloved Prophet PBUH have been compiled by these great scholars to preserve the Sunnah, which is a pillar of our Iman itself. He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah مَّن يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَ ۖ وَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا (4:80)

  The Six Books (Al-Kutub al-Sittah) of Hadith are: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i, and Sunan Ibn Majah.  So let's dive into these authentic books of Hadith and discover the marvelous heritage that these giants have passed on to us.

Who was Imam Bukhari, and what is the story of his Sahih?

محمد بن إسماعيل بن إبراهيم الجعفي البخاري Imam Al-Bukari, was not only a prominent scholar but a real Mujtahid. He possessed a profound knowledge and the ability to independently derive legal rulings from the Quran and  Sunnah without following any established school of law. His Book was organized into Kutub (chapters) that contained not only a compilation of the most authentic Hadith, but also Ahkam (rulings) derived from his own understanding of the Quran and Sunnah.

In his Sahih, he wrote a separate chapter fully dedicated to Tafseer of Quran. Along with Kitab Al-Zuhd, Al-Adab and many other topics; which makes it a Jami' (complete collection), encompassing different areas of knowledge and making it a favorite book for scholars regardless of its complexity, and thus its beautiful name: الجامع المسند الصحيح المختصر من أُمور رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلّم وسننه وأيامه Imam Bukhari was born in Bukhara in today's Uzbekistan in 194 H and died in Samarqand in 256 H. Which literally means he belonged to the generation after the Tabiin and lived in the best three centuries magnificently praised by the Prophet PBUH.

In this era, following the pioneering work of Imam Malik (Al-Muwatta) and Musnad of Imam Ahmad and Musanaf of Ibn Abi Shaibah, the compilation of Hadith has flourished like never before.

During this time where innovation and fake Hadith spread, Imam Bukhari noticed the propagation of Dai'f (weak) and Mawdu (fabricated); he was keen to write a book compiling the most authentic Hadith; mostly motivated by the encouragements of his teacher Is'haq ibn Rahwayh and a dream he saw of the Prophet PBUH interpreted as him defending The Sunnah.

Sahih Al-Bukhari remains to this date one of Ummahat Al-Kutub (master works)highly regarded for its strict criteria for including the most authentic Ahadith.

Sahih Al-Bukhari has also a beautiful particularity, it has no preface and starts directly with the Hadith narrated by Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA): إنما الأعمال بالنيات، وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى Making it a great start to what will became later the most authentic book after the book of Allah. And the one that has the most commentaries after the Quran with more than 200 commentary books.

What did Imam Muslim bring to the table by writing a new Sahih?

Imam Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj made his new Sahih more organized and easy to use for the layman. He also avoided repetition, except when necessary like when the Hadith has a new wording or a new chain of narrators (isnad).

He named his book:

المسند الصحيح المختصر من السنن بنقل العدل عن العدل إلى رسول الله  So, just like his teacher Imam Bukhari; he narrated Hadith only from trustworthy narrators (Thikat) and avoided taking Hadith from liars and Ahl al-Bid'ah. He also made sure the Ahadith mentioned are Musttasil (continous) and void of 'Ilal and Shudhudh (hidden defects and irrugularities).

Unlike Sahih Al-Bukhari, Muslim wrote a lengthy preface where he discussed the methodology of his book and important principles regarding the transmission, authentication, and preservation of hadith. It is considered an important scholarly work in itself and laid down the foundation to what will become later known as the Science of Hadith. Imam Muslim did not name chapters of his Sahih, Scholars like Imam Al-Nawawi, later on; took the initiative and named chapters of Hadith narrated by Muslim.

 Muslim accepted more narrators than Imam Bukhari, he separated them into three categories. He based his Sahih on Hadith from the 1st category of prime narrators with great memorization & precision. But he would occasionally accept narrators with lesser precision as Mutaba'at (supporting narrations) and Shawahid (witnessing narrations); and would mention their narrations as a supporting evidence for other narrations (but not as main narrations by themselves).

In his book you would also find less Ta'liqat (Ahadith mentioned without Sanad) as in Sahih Bukhari (usually mentioned in introductory chapters).

The work of Imam Muslim has gained a particular popularity among the Maghrebi scholars, who often preferred Sahih Muslim over Sahih al-Bukhari due to its organization and tendency to group related narrations and versions of a single hadith together.

An approach that was considered more aesthetic and scientific by some scholars, despite Bukhari being generally regarded as more strict in the authenticity criteria. 

And what are the key strengths of Sunan of Abi Dawud?

 Sunan Abi Dawud has a particular focus on Fiqh and was written with the intention of making it easy for the learner.

It encompasses Ahadith al-Ahkam and the same original Usul (sources) that enabled the work of Imam Malik, Al-Shafii, Sufyan at-Thawri and many other jurist scholars.

Imam Abu Dawud chose the best in each chapter and mostly would mention only a hadith or two in each issue. (أصح شيء في الباب) He also abridged long Hadith, chose short chains of narration and did not accept narrators rejected by all scholars (Matrook). He avoided repetition unless a new wording brought a new meaning. And when he invoked a weak hadith, he would clearly mention it. As he wrote in his letter to the people of Mecca:

 "I have disclosed wherever there was too much weakness in regard to any tradition in my collection. But if I happen to leave a Hadith without any comment, it should be considered as sound, albeit some of them are more authentic than others".

He accepted Mursal Hadith (in which a Tabi'i narrates directly from the Prophet PBUH omitting the companion from the chain of narration), and mentioned 600 Musral Hadith in his Sunan. Which he then gathers in a separate book he called Al- Maraseel. But he used to invoke the Mursal Hadith very cautiously, as he states in his letter to the people of Mecca:  " If a Musnad Hadith (uninterrupted chain) is not contrary to a Mursal, or a Musnad is not found, then the Mursal will be accepted though it would not be considered as strong as a Muttasil ". This book is so complete and methodical Fiqh-wise that many would argue that studying The Quran and Sunan Abi Dawud would be enough for the seeker of Knowledge.

How about Jami' at-Tirmidhi? Just like Sahih Al-Bukhari, the book of Imam at-Tirmidhi is considered a Jami', a complete collection that was not limited to Al-Ahkam, but included various chapters like Al-Zuhd, Al-Adab and Tafseer of Quran. According to Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Alarabi, this book contained more than 14 sciences. One of the particularities of his Jami' is the fact that all its Ahadith (except two) were acted upon by scholars, and highlighted beautiful discussions emerging from the different Madhaheb of Fiqh.

Ibn al-Athir said: "(It) is the best of books, having the most benefit, the best organization, with the least repetition. It contains what others do not; like mention of the different views, angles of argument, and clarifying the circumstances of the hadith as being sahih, da'if, or gharib, as well as disparaging and endorsing remarks (regarding narrators)." And as its full name suggests:

الجامع المختصر من السنن عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ومعرفة الصحيح والمعلول وما عليه العمل Imam at-Tirmidhi clarified Al-ilal (hidden defects and discrepancies in narrations). He also dedicated a full book he named Kitab Al-Ilal to this subject. It is found nowadays annexed to his Jami' (although he wrote them separately). Just like Imam Ahmad, Imam at-Tirmidhi had a strong interest for Ilm Al-rijal and did investigate deeply the Ahadith themselves and the trustworthiness of narrators by examining their reliability and precision.  He considered Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil essential because Nasiha in Deen is far more crucial than Nasiha in mundane affairs. So, he called out Ahlul Bid'ah and did not accept Hadith from them. Imam at-Tirmidhi lived in the time of Imam Bukhari and did ask him and interact with him during his lifetime. He narrated mainly from nine people, six of them related to Fiqh and three related to Hadith.

Imam al-Tirmidhi's stated: "I compiled this book, and I presented it to the scholars of the Hijaz, Iraq, and Khorasan, and they were pleased with it. Whoever has this book in their home, it is as if there is a prophet speaking in their home". 

And what is special about Sunan an-Nasai?

Imam An-Nasai compiled two major books, Al-Sunan al-Kubra which contained all sorts of Hadith including the Sahih, Hasan and Daif. And the book referred here (among Kutub Al-Sittah) called Al-Sunan al-Sughra or Al-Mujtabah. Al-Sunan (Al-Sughra) was well organised in Fiqhi chapters and made easy-to-read and understand. It is widely accepted that it ranks third in terms of authenticity right after the Sahihain.