Hadith

"I believe in ALLAH, in His Angels, His Scriptures, His Prophets, the Day of Judgment, and in the fact that every thing good or bad (in the world) is pre-destined by ALLAH the Exalted, and in the resurrection after death."

The belief on the Hadith, sayings of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) for a Muslim is:

The term "Hadith" (or even just Hadith sometimes) refers to a number of historical books which contain reports of the sayings, actions and example of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w), by which He showed His followers how to put the teachings of the Holy Quran into practice. Hadith just means a saying. When used as a term in the religion of Islam, a Hadith means a report of what the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) said or did on a certain occasion. In English books on Islam, the word "tradition" is also used to denote a Hadith. The word Hadith is also applied to the books containing these reports. The six most famous works of Hadith popularly known as "Saha-e-Sattah" are: "Bukhari", "Muslim", "Tirimzi", "Abu Dawood", "Nisai" and "Masnad Ahmed". Each of these is named after the person who compiled it, i.e., Bukhari, Muslim, Tirimzi, Abu Dawood, Nisai and Ahmed bin Hambal. The word "Sahih" in these titles refers to the fact that the compilers of these books sifted the genuine reports about the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) from unfounded and unreliable stories, so far as they could, and included only those which were trust-worthy. These books compiled are being termed in sense of authenticated ones. There were many teachings of the Holy Quran which the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) had to illustrate by His practice and actions (such as how to perform the Salat). His followers learnt from and copied what He did, and then by Their example taught the next generation how to carry out these practices. Apart from this practical side, the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w)'s sayings on various matters, and details of what He did on various occasions, were also remembered by those who saw and heard Him. They then related all these things to other people. But, unlike the Holy Quran, these details were usually not written down. So these traditions were passed down from one generation to the next by practical example (as in the case of prayer) and by word of mouth. About 150 years after the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w)'s death, some scholars decided to try to trace all these traditions back to Him, by following the chain of people who had passed down each report from the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w)'s time to the then present time. From their great research, they compiled the books of Hadith that we now have. They investigated each and every report of a saying or action of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) to check whether the names of all the persons involved in passing it down from his time were known. They also investigated the lives and character of all these people to find out if they could have had the opportunity of hearing and passing down the saying from one to another, and if they were trustworthy and had good memories. Bukhari, Muslim and Tirimzi were more strict than other compilers in making these checks before accepting a report as being genuine. This is why these books are regarded as the most reliable Hadith collections, Bukhari is being ranked highest of all books for the Muslims after the Holy Quran. The people who passed on these reports by word of mouth before they were compiled made mistakes in some cases. There are also some reported sayings written down in books of Hadith which the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) may not have ever said at all. However, the bulk of the reports, especially those contained in Saha-e-Sattah (especially Bukhari and Muslim) are genuine. The teachings which the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) illustrated by His example (such as how to perform the prayers) were copied by such a large number of people that there cannot be any doubt at all about their genuineness. Similarly, many of the sayings were memorized and passed down by a number of Companions (r.a) in each case, not by just one, and became well-known among the Muslims from the beginning. These books contains especially the part relating to the observance of religion and to practical life. It must always be remembered, however, that Hadith is meant to be a further explanation of the teachings of the Holy Quran. It is the duty of every Muslim that any report in Hadith books which appears to go against the Holy Quran must be examined carefully and must be enquired by specialized Scholars (Alims) to see if it can be given a meaning not contradicting the Holy Book, and if not, it must be rejected. For the Muslims, it is the second source of revealed law, complementary to the Noble Quran. It is not permissible to contradict or reject the rulings and directives contained in those Hadiths (Ahadees) which are reliably attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w). The methodology applied in determining the authenticity of these traditions utilizes a set of stringent rules agreed upon by the scholars who specialize in this field, and involves detailed analysis of the chain of transmitters of any given tradition. No distinction is made between male and female narrators; judgment is made solely on the basis of individual trustworthiness and technical ability in relating traditions, and every narrator's history is recorded. No tradition is accepted from a known liar, or from one whose morals or scholarly ability were not corroborated, or from anyone, merely on the basis of his family connection or lineage. The compilation of the Prophetic Traditions is taken to be a sacred Trust, the fulfillment of which overrides all other considerations.

Reinterpretation of the Hadith:

The government of Turkey's Department of Religious Affairs has been concerned that many sayings in the Hadith were not actually stated by Muhammad or his followers, and that some of his valid sayings need to be reinterpreted. They have commissioned a team of theologians at the School of Theology of Ankara University to revise the Hadith over a three year project. Their findings are expected to generate an explosion of angry debate within the faith. Some suggest that it will produce conflict similar to that of the Christian reformation when the document is published.
Felix Koerner, says some of the sayings can be proven to have been written centuries after the death of Muhammad, He said:

"Unfortunately you can even justify through alleged hadiths, the Muslim - or pseudo-Muslim - practice of female genital mutilation. ...You can find messages which say 'that is what the Prophet ordered us to do'. But you can show historically how they came into being, as influences from other cultures, that were then projected onto Islamic tradition."

BBC News reports that some Islamic reformers argue that:

"... Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various - often conservative - cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control. Leaders of the Hadith project say successive generations have embellished the text, attributing their political aims to the Prophet Muhammad himself."

Prof Mehmet Gormez, a senior official in the Department of Religious Affairs and an expert on the Hadith notes:

"There are some messages that ban women from traveling for three days or more without their husband's permission and they are genuine. But this isn't a religious ban. It came about because in the Prophet's time it simply wasn't safe for a woman to travel alone like that. But as time has passed, people have made permanent what was only supposed to be a temporary ban for safety reasons. ... [In another speech, Muhammad said:] he longed for the day when a woman might travel long distances alone."

In another project, Turkey has trained 450 women in theology and appointed them as senior imams called "vaizes." Their task is to visit remote communities and explain the original spirit of Islam. BBC News reports:

"One of the women, Hulya Koc, looked out over a sea of headscarves at a town meeting in central Turkey and told the women of the equality, justice and human rights guaranteed by an accurate interpretation of the Koran - one guided and confirmed by the revised Hadith."

"She says that, at the moment, Islam is being widely used to justify the violent suppression of women. 'There are honor killings,' she explains. 'We hear that some women are being killed when they marry the wrong person or run away with someone they love. There's also violence against women within families, including sexual harassment by uncles and others. This does not exist in Islam... we have to explain that to them'." ₆

Definition of "hadith:"

Hadiths are regarded as a narration on the Sunnah (lived example) of Muhammad.  It includes reported sayings, actions, and traditions of Mohammad and his companions.
M.M. Azami formally defines "hadith" as follows:

"According to Muhaddithiin [scholars of hadith] it stands for 'what was transmitted on the authority of the Prophet, his deeds, sayings, tacit approval, or description of his sifaat (features) meaning his physical appearance. However, physical appearance of the Prophet is not included in the definition used by the jurists.' "
"Thus hadith literature means the literature which consists of the narrations of the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him. However, the term was used sometimes in much broader sense to cover the narrations about the Companions [of the Prophet] and Successors [to the Companions] as well." ₁

The Qur'an says: "And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, leave it. And fear Allah: truly Allah is severe in punishment." ₂ The Messenger refers here to the Prophet Muhammad. These writings are not regarded as having the same status as the Holy Qur'an, which is considered to be God's word.
The accuracy of Muhammad's sayings was confirmed by his contemporaries -- generally his companions; i.e. his immediate followers. Some Muslims regard all of the the Hadiths as being valid. Some historians question the accuracy of some passages. For example, Historian Bernard Lewis commented on a saying attributed to the prophet that some scholars believe is invalid:

"If anyone insults me, then any Muslim who hears this must kill him immediately."

Some terrorists partly believe that, based on this Hadith, all Muslims have a duty to kill Americans when they have the opportunity.
The great Islamic scholar Yahya bin Sharaf Ul-Deen An-Nawawi compiled a collection of 43 of the most important sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is is now known as "An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths" ₃