I have great regard for the extraordinary, in fact legendary, works and efforts of the various scholars of the science of Hadith . Their efforts in determining the authenticity of the sayings that were being ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) in their respective environments, as per my personal exposure of the literature of world religions, indeed stands incomparable. I have yet to come across such vigorous testing and analysis of sayings ascribed to a person of the past times, by persons in a particular time, in any other religion or history, as has been done by these scholars. However, before I comment on the specific point entailed in your question, I would like to present a brief outline of how the work in the field of collection and analysis of Hadith was initiated. Even before that, I would like you to appreciate the position that the Prophet (pbuh) held in the eyes of those who believed him to be a true prophet and messenger of God. As should be quite understandable the Prophet (pbuh) was not only obeyed and followed by those who believed in him, but was also greatly loved and respected by them. These people, naturally, were not just interested in learning the directives of God from the Prophet (pbuh), but they also looked up to him as the epitome of submission to God in all his actions, as well as the ideal human being. It is quite understandable that this spirit of the believers and the followers of the Prophet (pbuh) led them to record - sometimes in their minds and sometimes even in writing - whatever they held to be of any significance (and probably of any interest for the subsequent generations) regarding the life, times, incidents, teachings, actions and even the person of the Prophet (pbuh) [1] . People had, thus, started narrating, and sometimes even writing, sayings, actions, likes and dislikes of the Prophet (pbuh) to others, even during the life of the Prophet (pbuh). This, as should be quite evident, was the first step in the evolution of the science of Hadith . However, it should be quite interesting to note that the narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) by the more well known and respected among his companions are far less in number than those ascribed by the others [2] . Furthermore, it seems that it was the same reason, which stopped the earlier rulers of the Muslim world - Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthman , Ali, Mu`aawiyah and the later caliphs, till Umar ibn Abd Al-Aziz - to organize any compilation of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), at the collective level. There were, indeed, some scattered efforts of compiling such narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), during the earlier times as well, nevertheless, these were primarily individual rather than collective efforts. Although, there are some references in books of history, according to which both Abu Bakr and Umar (ra), during their respective times, considered compiling such narratives. However, both the great caliphs ultimately decided upon calling off the idea, rather than carrying it out. As time went by, the oral (and sometimes written) narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) were transferred from one person to the other. People used to travel to far off places in the hope of finding someone who could increase the number of narratives that they knew. Moreover, due to the extraordinary position that a saying of the Prophet (pbuh) held in the eyes of the Muslims, people who knew any narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) started gaining great regard and respect in the eyes of the common Muslims. This great respect granted to narrators of sayings of the Prophet (pbuh), besides a number of other reasons, incited some people to forge and falsely ascribe sayings to the Prophet (pbuh). Thus, the number of such narratives kept increasing with the passage of time soon the narratives in circulation included quite a few of those, which were forged and falsely ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). It was, more or less, during this time that a number of scattered efforts for making compilations of the narratives considered authentic by the scholars of the time were undertaken. One of the more well known among these efforts was the one undertaken by Maalik Ibn Anas. His efforts resulted in the production of his greatly respected work, titled " Mu'attaa ". Mu'attaa was the compilation of all such narratives, which Maalik ibn Anas not only held as reported by reliable narrators but also those which, in his opinion, were verbally transmitted from the Prophet (pbuh). The book of the great Imam is still one of the most acknowledged compilations of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). Nevertheless, the strictness of Imam Maalik in accepting only those narratives, which he considered to be the exact verbal narration of the particular saying of the Prophet (pbuh), restricted the size of this compilation. This strictness of the Imam was considered unnecessary by the later scholars of Hadith . They were of the opinion that if a narrative was reported by reliable sources, it could still be accepted as representative of the actual saying of the Prophet (pbuh), even if it was not narrated verbally. As time progressed, the principles of accepting a narrative to be correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) became increasingly established. Imam Bukhari , born in the 194 th year of the Hijrah , is considered to be the strictest in his principles of accepting a narrative as correctly reported and ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). It was sometime during the early part of the third century that Imam Bukhari started working on his compilation. If one takes a close look at the strictness of Imam Bukhari's principles in accepting a narrative to be correct, it becomes quite clear that the basic stress in his work was to compile a book, which, according to his understanding included the most authentic narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) from among those that were in circulation. Any narrative, which did not meet his standards, even though there was still a possibility that it was correctly reported and ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), was not included in his compilation. It is reported that from over 600,000 narratives in circulation, Bukhari accepted just over 4,000 as correctly reported and ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). Imam Muslim [3] was a contemporary of Imam Bukhari . Although he was a pupil of Bukhari , yet he differed with him on one of his principles [4] . The later compilers of Hadith , generally, became increasingly lenient in their standards of acceptance of a narration to be accurate. Nevertheless, the common criteria - with varying degrees of strictness in the application of these criteria - of accepting narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) to be accurate, adopted by all the scholars and compilers of Hadith broadly entailed two checks: Checks applied on the narrators; and Checks applied on the text of the narration. Under the first check, it was confirmed that the narration was reported by an unbroken chain of narrators, comprising of honest, reliable and intelligent persons; while under the second check it was confirmed that the reported saying did not entail anything which renders it unfit for ascription to the Prophet (pbuh). It was only after strenuous testing on both counts, according to his particular standards, that a particular compiler accepted a narrative to be correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). In the foregoing paragraphs, I have tried to present a brief background of the narration and the compilation of the narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). Some of the important points that need to be noted about this background and about the various efforts of compiling sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) are: In contrast to the Qur'an and the Sunnah , the Prophet (pbuh), generally, did not encourage people to record and transmit his sayings entailed in Hadith . The work of narrating and subsequently that of compiling these narratives was done, not because of any directive of the Prophet (pbuh) to the effect, but by the respective people, on their own accord. The more well known and respected among the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) did not consider the reporting, the compilation and the transmission of Hadith to have any religious significance [5] . Had that not been the case, there would predictably have been an active effort on their part to collect the scattered sayings ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) and they would have compiled the authentic and the correct among these sayings in a volume. In contrast to the transmission of the Qur'an and that of the Sunnah , Hadith has been transmitted by only one or a few persons in each generation. In contrast to the transmission of the Qur'an and that of the Sunnah [6] , the transmission of Hadith is critically dependant on not only the correct understanding and perception of the narrators but also their correct and unblemished reporting of that saying or incident. This really implies that even if the chain of narrators comprises of absolutely reliable, honest and intelligent individuals - even those of the caliber of Abu Bakr and Umar (ra) - one can still not be certain about the accuracy of the reported incident or saying. We know that even the most honest, reliable and intelligent individuals are prone to making mistakes in understanding as well as in narrating their understanding. The variance in the standards of the various scholars and compilers of Hadith relating to the acceptability of a narrative as correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh); their mutual differences in the strictness of the application of these standards; their compromises and variations in accepting narratives, which did not fully meet their standards; and their understanding and interpretation of the Qur'an and the text of the reported narratives is in itself an evidence that the work of these compilers and scholars, like that of the Muslim jurists, is based on their own particular interpretation, understanding and appreciation of the problem and should, therefore, not be given divine sanctity. Matters relating to human understanding and the application of such understanding are always open for discussion as well as difference of opinion [7] . With time, different attitudes toward Hadith and the information entailed in it came on the scene. On the one hand was the belief that the various compilations of Hadith entailed the sayings and the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh). Thus, rejecting a Hadith is like rejecting the saying of a Prophet (pbuh). This made Hadith deserving of a position equal to the Qur'an, if not above it [8] . On the other hand, the aforementioned reservations regarding Hadith as well as a number of other reasons prompted the idea that Hadith holds absolutely no importance in the understanding of Islam and, therefore, the whole collection of Hadith should be considered worthless. Both these points of views seem to lie on two exaggerated extremes. The correct stance, in my opinion, should have considered the following points: The Qur'an and the Sunnah entail the complete content of Islam [9] . Nothing from outside these sources can add, reduce, abrogate or, in any other way, alter the contents of the Qur'an and the Sunnah . Hadith , in most cases, is a saying ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), which may or may not actually be a saying of the Prophet (pbuh). Due to this reason, Hadith should only be accepted as a correct ascription of a saying to the Prophet (pbuh), if it has reached us through reliable sources and it if does not contain anything contrary to the Qur'an, the Sunnah and any established and acknowledged fact. If a Hadith is neither contrary to the Qur'an, the Sunnah and any established and acknowledged fact and nor does it add anything to the basic structure of Islam, then it may be accepted as correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). Hadith entails invaluable information about the life, times, general teachings and practices of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as information about the prevalent socio-religious and socio-moral environment. It is the primary and the most authentic source of the Seerah [10] of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as that of Muslim history of the time of the inception of the Muslim Ummah . A point of view based on the recognition of these points, in my opinion, would be secure from extremities. As should be clear from the foregoing discussion, the correct position of Hadith , in my opinion, lies somewhere in between the two extremes, referred above. You ask: Now, do you think that Muslim Scholars should reconsider these books [11] and do more historical research to exclude any Hadith that might not stand strong against these criteria? Muslim scholars, in fact, have never ceased to reconsider these books and their contents. Just recently, Nasir Ud Din Al-Albani , an acclaimed contemporary scholar of Hadith has separated the strong (according to his opinion and findings) from the weak (according to his opinion and findings) narratives entailed in the more accepted compilations of Hadith . Such efforts of separating the strong from the weak narratives have never actually ceased in the Muslim scholars. The point of view that holds Bukhari and Muslim to be absolutely devoid of any errors is baseless and calls for the blind following ( Taqleed ) of the two great scholars. The Sahih Bukhari and the Sahih Muslim are both based on human scholarly efforts. Like all other human endeavors, these works, however legendry they may be, contain the correct as well as the false. I hope this helps. September 16, 2000 [1] This was not the case only with the followers of the Prophet (pbuh); on the contrary, it is the case with all such persons who hold a position of leadership in the eyes of the group of people, who follow him or hold him in great regard and respect. [2] Compare the number of sayings ascribed by the likes of Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthman , Ali , Abr Al-Rehmaan ibn Awf (ra) with that of, for instance, Abu Hurairah (ra). [3] Born in the 206 th year of Hijrah . [4] Bukhari held that the meeting of one narrator and the subsequent narrator must be established before their narration is accepted to be accurate. Muslim , on the other hand, believed that this was undue strictness which even Bukhari could maintain in his work. According to Muslim's opinion, it was enough that the two narrators were only established to be contemporaries, even if their mutual meeting could not be established. [5] As they had done in the case of the Qur'an and the Sunnah . [6] The transmission of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is not dependent on the understanding or perception of individuals. Firstly, the transmission of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is not the transmission of one's understanding of a particular verse or action of the Prophet (pbuh), but is actually the transmission of the very words of the Qur'an or the very actions of the Prophet (pbuh). [7] The mere fact that the work of compilation of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), continued even after such legendry works as 'Sahih Bukhari' and 'Sahih Muslim' is in itself an evidence that they were not considered as "final words" even by their contemporaries and those who immediately followed them. [8] For all practical purposes, Hadith is now placed far above the Qur'an. The mere fact that Qur'an be interpreted in the light of Hadith , rather than vice versa, is an example of practically holding Hadith as superior to the Qur'an. [9] It may also be added here that the complete structure of Islam and Islamic teachings, whether relating to Islamic beliefs or the practical aspects in its teachings, is entailed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). The transmission of neither of these sources (neither the Qur'an, nor the Sunnah ) is dependent upon the transmission of Hadith . The Qur'an was transmitted by the consensus of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and the verbal perpetuation of the generation of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as that of all subsequent generations of Muslims. The Sunnah , on the other hand, has been transmitted by the consensus of the Companions and the practical perpetuation of the generation of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as that of all the subsequent generations of the Muslims. [10] That is the biography of the Prophet (pbuh). [11] i.e. compilations of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) especially the " Sahih Bukhari " and the " Sahih Muslim ". Answer published by Moiz Amjad Discussion(s) regarding this Question Regarding the Significance of the Contents of Hadith