Islamic Books

The six major Hadith collections (Arabic: "Al-Sihah al-Sittah") are the works of some individuals from Islamic scholars who by their own initiative started collecting sayings that people attributed to Muhammad approximately 200 years after his death.

Sunni Muslims view the Six major Hadith collections as their most important. They are, in order of importance

1. Sahih Bukhari, collected by al-Bukhari (d. 870), included 7275 hadiths
2. Sahih Muslim, collected by Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875), included 9200
3. Sunan al-Sughra, collected by al-Nasa'i (d. 915)
4. Sunan Abi Da'ud, collected by Abu Da'ud (d. 888)
5. Sunan al-Tirmidhi, collected by al-Tirmidhi (d. 892)  6. This one is disputed. Sometimes its referred to Al-Muwatta, collected by Imam Malik (d. 796) and sometimes it is referred to Sunan Ibn Maja, collected by Ibn Maja (d. 886). Some people even consider Sunan al-Darami to be the sixth one [citation needed]. The two first are referred to as the Two Sahihs.

Shia’s have their own collections and reject the claims of authenticity that Sunni attribute to the six collections. The Four Books (Arabic Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah) is a Shi'a term referring to their four best known Hadith collections.

The books are:

1.    Usul al-Kafi of Kulayni
2.    Man la Yahdhuruhu' l-Faqih of Saduq
3.    Tahdhibu 'l-Ahkam by Abu Ja'far al-Tusi
4.    Al-Istibsar by Abu Ja'far al-Tusi

Holy Book - The Quran