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Lexically speaking, the word "hadith", whose plural is ahadeeth is, New, recent, existing newly, for the first time, not having been before... Information, a piece of information, intelligence, an announcement... a thing, or matter, that is talked of, told, or narrated. In both the Quran and hadith, the word has been used in reference to a religious communication, a story of a general nature, a historical story and a current story or conversation. As a technical term, a hadith is basically any report of the Messenger of Allah's (peace be upon him) saying, action, tacit approval, manners, physical characteristic or biographical [...]

1. Revelation: The Prophet’s sayings and actions were primarily based on revelation from Allah (One True God) and, as such, must be considered a fundamental source of guidance along with Qur’an. Allah in the Qur’an said concerning the Prophet (Peace be upon him): “He (Muhammad) does not speak on his own, out of his own desire; that is but a Revelation that is revealed to him.” [Quran, Surah An-Najm, 53:3-4] Therefore, the Hadeeth represents a personal source of divine guidance which Allah granted His Prophet (Peace be upon him) which was similar in its nature to the Qur’an itself. The Prophet [...]

Sunnah has been classified in various ways. However, two of the most commonly accepted criteria for such classifications are the subject matter (matn) of Sunnah and the manner of its transmission (isnad). To begin with, the Sunnah is divided into three types, namely verbal (qawli), actual (fi'li) and tacitly approved (taqriri). The other division of the Sunnah which will concern us here is its division into legal and non-legal Sunnah. Verbal, Actual Sunnah and Tacit Approval The verbal Sunnah consists of the sayings of the Prophet. The Actual Sunnah of the Prophet consists of his deeds and actual instructions, such as [...]

This variety may be divided into three types, namely the Sunnah which the Prophet laid down in his capacities: 1. As Messenger of God, 2. As the Head of State or imam, 3. Or in his capacity as a judge. We shall discuss each of these separately, as follows: (a) In his capacity as Messenger of God, In this capacity, the Sunnah may consist of a clarification of the ambiguous (mujmal) parts of the Qur'an or specifying and qualifying the general and the absolute contents of the Qur'an. Whatever the Prophet has authorized pertaining the principles of religion, especially in the [...]

(b) All the rulings of Sunnah which originate from the Prophet in his capacity as imam or the Head of State, such as allocations and expenditure of public funds, decisions pertaining to military strategy and war, appointment of state officials, distribution of booty, signing of treaties, etc., partake in the legal Sunnah which, however, does not constitute general legislation (tashri' 'amm). Sunnahs of this type may not be practiced by individuals without obtaining the permission of the authorities first. The mere fact that the Prophet acted in a certain way, does not bind individuals directly. [39. Shaltut, Al-Islam, p. 513.] To [...]