Outlines of the Development of the Science of Hadith

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The word hadith, according to the dictionary, has several meanings such as “new,” “novel,” “recent,” “modern,” and “speech”, “report,” “account,” and “narrative.” However, in Islamic context, the term hadith means “Prophetic tradition” or “narrative relating deeds and utterances of the Prophet (S).” According to some, even the account of a dream linked with the Holy Prophet (S) is also included in the category of hadith.

In most cases, the words sunnah and hadith are used as interchangeable synonyms by the scholars of the science of hadith. The author of the book Talwih says: “Sunnah is a more general term than hadith, and includes everything related to the Prophet (S) except the Qur'an: his speech - which is hadith - and his behaviour and character(1).” According to another opinion, since the majority of Sunni Muslims believe in Qur'an's being sempiternal (qadim), everything else except the Qur'an from the Prophet (S) came to be called hadith, a word closely related with hadith meaning “incidental” as opposed to “eternal(2)”.

Some are of the opinion that the sayings of the Sahabah (the Companions of the Prophet) and the Tabi`un (the second generation after the Holy Prophet (S)) can also

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