A 'hadith' is an individual report of the sayings or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad. In the early centuries, the number of hadith multiplied, with some invented to support certain political or legal positions. Scholars collected, authenticated and classified them as 'sahih' (sound), 'hasan' (acceptable), or 'daif' (weak). Bukhari’s (d. 870) collection of hadith, which took 16 years to compile, is the most esteemed.
