A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Hadith – Traditions
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investigating a particular Hadith, that he just did not notice that he
had eaten all the dates in the container one by one. Consequently,
he took ill and died in 874.
Imam Muslim was of excellent character – honest, truthful and
peace-loving. He wrote many books and treatises on Hadith, and
other related subjects. The most important of his works is his
Sahih
. Some scholars have regarded it as the best work on the
subject. Imam Muslim examined 300,000 traditions before the
completion of this book. Out of his large collection he included
only 4000 traditions. One great feature of his book is that he
selected only those traditions which were free of all defects and
were unanimously accepted by the great Hadith scholars.
Imam Muslim strictly observed the principles of the science of
hadith. He was even stricter than Imam Bukhari in pointing out the
differences between the accounts of various narrators, their
character and other details. He shows greater ability in the
arrangement of traditions.
Moreover, he wrote a long introduction to his book explaining the
principles followed by him as regards the choice of the material for
his book.
Thanks to the utmost care having been taken in its completion, the
Sahih
of Imam Muslim has been acknowledged as one the most
authentic collections of traditions after that of
Sahih
al Bukhari. So
far as the beauty of its arrangement is concerned, it is held
superior to
Sahih
Al Bukhari. Although some scholars, including
Imam Nasai, held
Sahih
of Al Muslim superior to
Sahih
al Bukhari,
