The Hadith Examined
The sayings and actions of Muhammad that shape Islamic law and practice. These authenticated traditions reveal aspects of Islam that are rarely discussed. All hadiths shown are graded Sahih (authentic) by mainstream Islamic scholarship.
What is Hadith?
Hadith are reports of the words, actions, and approvals of Muhammad. They form the second most important source of Islamic law after the Quran. Muslims are commanded to follow Muhammad's example (sunnah) in all aspects of life.
The Quran says: "Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow" (33:21), making Muhammad's recorded behavior binding on Muslims.
Important: The hadith collections were compiled 200+ years after Muhammad's death, raising questions about their reliability. However, they are considered authentic (sahih) by mainstream Islamic scholarship and form the basis of Sharia law.
Major Hadith Collections
Sunni and Shia collections of Muhammad's teachings
Sahih Bukhari
Muhammad al-Bukhari
Hadiths: ~7,275
Most authentic
Compiled 200+ years after Muhammad's death. Considered the most authentic collection.
Browse CollectionSahih Muslim
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Sunan Abu Dawud
Abu Dawud
Jami at-Tirmidhi
At-Tirmidhi
Sunan an-Nasa'i
An-Nasa'i
Sunan Ibn Majah
Ibn Majah
Al-Kafi (Shia)
Al-Kulayni
Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih (Shia)
Ibn Babawayh
Muhammad's Marriage to Aisha
Multiple sahih hadiths confirm Muhammad married Aisha at age 6 and consummated the marriage when she was 9 years old. This is not disputed in Islamic scholarship. Related: Full article on Aisha's age | About Muhammad
Sahih al-Bukhari 5:58:234
Hadith #3894 | Narrator: Aisha
تَزَوَّجَنِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَأَنَا بِنْتُ سِتِّ سِنِينَ، وَبَنَى بِي وَأَنَا بِنْتُ تِسْعِ سِنِينَ
"The Prophet married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage when I was nine years old."
Sahih al-Bukhari 7:62:64
Hadith #5133 | Narrator: Aisha
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَزَوَّجَهَا وَهْىَ بِنْتُ سِتِّ سِنِينَ، وَأُدْخِلَتْ عَلَيْهِ وَهْىَ بِنْتُ تِسْعٍ، وَمَكَثَتْ عِنْدَهُ تِسْعًا
"The Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years."
Sahih Muslim 8:3310
Hadith #1422a | Narrator: Aisha
"Aisha reported that Allah's Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he died she was eighteen years old."
Sunan Abu Dawud 2:2116
Hadith #2121 | Narrator: Aisha
"The Messenger of Allah married me when I was seven or six. When we came to Medina, some women came and my mother handed me over to them. They then prepared me and decorated me. I was then brought to the Messenger of Allah and he took up cohabitation with me when I was nine."
Death Penalty for Apostasy
"Whoever changes his religion, kill him." This command appears in multiple authentic hadiths and is enforced in 13+ Muslim-majority countries today. Related: Death for leaving Islam | Countries with apostasy laws
Sahih al-Bukhari 9:84:57
Hadith #6922 | Narrator: Ibn Abbas
مَنْ بَدَّلَ دِينَهُ فَاقْتُلُوهُ
"Whoever changes his religion, kill him."
Sahih al-Bukhari 9:83:17
Hadith #6878 | Narrator: Abdullah
"The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits adultery and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."
Sunan an-Nasa'i 37:4059
Hadith #4059 | Narrator: Ibn Abbas
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever changes his religion, kill him.'"
Women in Hadith: Deficiency and Hell
Muhammad declared women deficient in intelligence and religion, with the majority of Hell's inhabitants being women. Related: Quran 4:34 (wife beating) | Women's deficiency explained
Mentally Deficient
Sahih al-Bukhari 1:6:301
Hadith #304 | Narrator: Abu Said Al-Khudri
"The Prophet said, 'Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?' The women said, 'Yes.' He said, 'This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind.'"
Sahih al-Bukhari 2:24:541
Hadith #1462 | Narrator: Abu Said Al-Khudri
"The Prophet said: 'I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you women.'"
Majority in Hell
Sahih al-Bukhari 1:6:301
Hadith #304 | Narrator: Abu Said Al-Khudri
"The Prophet said: 'I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful.'"
Sahih Muslim 36:6596
Hadith #2737a | Narrator: Imran b. Husain
"The Prophet said: 'Amongst the inmates of Paradise the women would form a minority.'"
Permission to Beat Wives
The hadith confirms what Quran 4:34 permits: husbands may strike disobedient wives. Muhammad advised not beating them "like slaves," implying beating slaves was normal. Related: Quran 4:34 full text | Wife beating in Islam
Sahih Muslim 4:2127
Hadith #2127 | Narrator: Jabir ibn Abdullah
"Fear Allah concerning women! Verily you have taken them on the security of Allah, and intercourse with them has been made lawful unto you by words of Allah. You too have right over them, and that they should not allow anyone to sit on your bed whom you do not like. But if they do that, you can chastise them but not severely."
Sunan Abu Dawud 11:2141
Hadith #2141 | Narrator: Abdullah ibn Zam'a
"The Prophet said: None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have intercourse with her in the last part of the day."
The Banu Qurayza Massacre
600-900 Jewish men and boys were beheaded, women and children enslaved. Muhammad approved this judgment and called it "the judgment of Allah." Boys were tested for puberty—those with pubic hair were executed. Related: The Banu Qurayza massacre explained | Muhammad's campaigns
Sahih al-Bukhari 5:59:362
Hadith #4121 | Narrator: Abu Said Al-Khudri
"When the tribe of Banu Qurayza was ready to accept Sa'd's judgment, Allah's Messenger sent for Sa'd. Sa'd said, 'I give the judgment that their warriors should be killed and their children and women should be taken as prisoners.' The Prophet then remarked, 'O Sa'd! You have judged amongst them with the judgment of the King Allah.'"
Sunan Abu Dawud 38:4390
Hadith #4404 | Narrator: Atiyyah al-Qurazi
"I was among the captives of Banu Qurayza. They examined us and those whose pubes had grown were killed and those whose pubes had not grown were not killed. I was among those whose pubes had not grown."
Scientific Claims in Hadith
Muhammad made medical and scientific claims that contradict modern knowledge: camel urine as medicine, fly wings containing cures, and the sun prostrating under Allah's throne. Related: Camel urine hadith | Sun prostrates
Sahih al-Bukhari 1:4:234
Hadith #233 | Narrator: Anas
"Some people from the tribe of Ukl came to the Prophet and embraced Islam. The climate of Medina did not suit them, so the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of camels and to drink their milk and urine."
Sahih al-Bukhari 7:71:590
Hadith #5686 | Narrator: Anas
"The Prophet told them to go to the herd of camels and drink their urine and milk. So they went as directed and after they became healthy..."
Sahih al-Bukhari 4:54:537
Hadith #3320 | Narrator: Abu Huraira
"The Prophet said: 'If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it into the vessel and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing.'"
Sahih al-Bukhari 4:54:421
Hadith #3199 | Narrator: Abu Dharr
"The Prophet asked me at sunset, 'Do you know where the sun goes?' I replied, 'Allah and His Apostle know better.' He said, 'It goes and prostrates beneath the Throne, and then it asks permission to rise and it is permitted.'"
Sahih Muslim 4:1032
Hadith #510a | Narrator: Abu Dharr
"The Messenger of Allah said: When any one of you stands for prayer, there is something before him which conceals him. If he does not find it, his prayer is interrupted by a donkey, a woman, or a black dog. Abu Dharr said: I asked, 'What is the difference between a black dog and a red dog?' He said: 'The black dog is a devil.'"
Marriage and Sexual Ethics
Hadiths on temporary marriage (Mut'a), adult breastfeeding, and other controversial rulings. Related: Temporary marriage | Adult breastfeeding
Temporary Marriage (Mut'a)
Sahih al-Bukhari 7:62:51
Hadith #5116 | Narrator: Abu Jamra
"I heard Ibn Abbas when he was asked about Mut'a (temporary marriage). He permitted it."
Sahih Muslim 8:3248
Hadith #1404a | Narrator: Jabir b. Abdullah
"We contracted temporary marriage giving a handful of dates or flour as dower during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger and during the time of Abu Bakr."
Adult Breastfeeding
Sahih Muslim 8:3425
Hadith #1453a | Narrator: Aisha
"Sahla bint Suhail came to Allah's Apostle and said: Messenger of Allah, I see on the face of Abu Hudhayfa signs of disgust on seeing Salim (who was his wife's adopted son). He is a person with a fully grown beard. Thereupon Allah's Apostle said: Suckle him and you would become unlawful for him."
Sunan Abu Dawud 12:2061
Hadith #2061 | Narrator: Aisha
"Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, lived with him and his family in their house. She (Sahla) came to the Prophet and said: Salim has attained puberty as men attain, and he understands what they understand. He enters our house freely. The Prophet said to her: Suckle him and you will become unlawful for him."
Jihad: Rewards and Martyrdom
Hadiths promising paradise to those who kill and are killed in Allah's cause. These teachings have motivated countless acts of violence. Related: Quran 9:111 | Jihad explained
Sahih al-Bukhari 4:52:46
Hadith #2785 | Narrator: Abu Huraira
"The Prophet said: 'Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.'"
Sahih al-Bukhari 4:52:72
Hadith #2797 | Narrator: Anas bin Malik
"The Prophet said, 'Nobody who enters Paradise likes to go back to the world even if he got everything on the earth, except a Mujahid who wishes to return to the world so that he may be martyred ten times because of the dignity he receives.'"
Muhammad and Slavery
Authentic hadiths documenting Muhammad's ownership, sale, and sexual use of slaves. Islam never abolished slavery—it was ended by Western colonial pressure. Related: Quran on slavery | Muhammad as slave owner
Sahih al-Bukhari 3:46:717
Hadith #2227 | Narrator: Jabir bin Abdullah
"A man decided that a slave of his would be freed after his death. The Prophet said, 'Who will buy this slave from me?' Nu'aim bin Abdullah bought him for eight hundred dirhams. I heard the Prophet saying, 'Sell him.'"
Sahih Muslim 8:3432
Hadith #1438a | Narrator: Abu Said al-Khudri
"We got female captives in the war booty and we used to do coitus interruptus with them. We asked Allah's Messenger about it and he said, 'Do you really do that? There is no soul that is destined to exist but will come into existence.'"
Questions to Consider
- 1.If these hadiths are fabricated, why do Muslim scholars consider them sahih (authentic) and use them to derive Sharia law?
- 2.If they are authentic, is this really the "excellent example" all of humanity should follow for all time?
- 3.Why were these traditions compiled 200+ years after Muhammad? How reliable is oral transmission over that period?
- 4.How does Muhammad's behavior compare to Jesus' teachings of loving enemies and treating all with dignity?
- 5.Can a religion that prescribes death for apostasy truly claim to be a religion of peace?