6.6 Main Features of the Six Sunni and Four Shi'a Collections

2026 📋 Syllabus Objectives

Candidates should study the main features of the six collections of Sunni Hadiths and the four collections of Shi'a Hadiths.

Sihah Sitta (also written as Sahah Sitta) means the "Six Most Authentic Books" of Hadith.
These six collections are considered the highest-ranking and most reliable books of Hadith in Sunni Islam.
Scholars examined each Hadith carefully using strict rules of Sanad (chain of narrators) and Matn (the actual text) before including it in these collections.
These books serve as a major source of Islamic law, guidance, and practice for Sunni Muslims.

Detail	Information
Compiler	Imam Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari
Born	Bukhara, Uzbekistan — 194 AH / 810 AD
Died	Khartank, Samarkand — 256 AH / 870 AD
Total Ahadith Collected	Over 600,000
Ahadith Included	7,397 (approximately 2,762 non-repeated)

Main Features:

Imam Bukhari RH began studying Hadith before the age of ten and had memorised many books of early scholars by the age of sixteen.
He travelled across the Muslim world for nearly 40 years to collect Ahadith.
He applied the strictest rules of authenticity — he only included a Hadith if he was fully certain of its reliability.
Before including any Hadith, he would perform Ghusl (ritual bath), offer two voluntary units of prayer, and make Istikhara (a prayer seeking Allah SWT's guidance) — this shows his deep piety and care.
He organised Ahadith into chapters by topic, such as Faith, Salah (prayer), Sawm (fasting), and Taharah (purification).
He mentioned the full chain of narrators (Isnad) for each Hadith and discussed its classification.
Sahih Bukhari is widely regarded as the most authentic book after the Holy Quran.

Detail	Information
Compiler	Imam Abul-Husain Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj
Born	Neshapur, Iran — 204 AH / 820 AD
Died	Neshapur — 261 AH / 875 AD
Total Ahadith Collected	300,000
Ahadith Included	9,200 (approximately 4,000 non-repeated)

Main Features:

Imam Muslim RH was a student of Imam Bukhari RH and greatly benefited from his teacher's knowledge.
He visited major centres of Islamic learning across the Muslim world to gather Ahadith.
He arranged Ahadith into chapters according to their themes, making the collection easy to use.
He stated each Hadith alongside its full chain of narrators (Isnad) and discussed the classification of every Hadith.
Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari together are called Al-Saheehain — meaning "The Two Most Authentic Collections".
A Hadith found in both Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim holds the highest level of reliability and is called Muttafaqun Alayh — meaning "Agreed Upon".