Hadith collections

Imām Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī · 194–256 AH

The most authentic book after the Qurʾān in the consensus of Sunni scholarship. Imām al-Bukhārī sifted ~600,000 narrations into roughly 7,275 (with repetitions). Each chain meets his strict criteria of continuous transmission and reliable narrators.

Imām Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj an-Naysābūrī · 204–261 AH

Forms with Bukhārī the two most authentic collections (the Ṣaḥīḥayn). Muslim grouped variants of the same hadith together, making it the easier of the two to study. Around 7,500 narrations.

Imām Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān al-Sijistānī · 202–275 AH

One of the four Sunan, focused on hadiths used to derive law (aḥkām). Abū Dāwūd flagged weak narrations explicitly so jurists could weigh each one. About 4,800 hadiths.

Imām Abū ʿĪsā Muhammad at-Tirmidhī · 209–279 AH

Distinctive for its grading commentary on each hadith — ṣaḥīḥ, ḥasan, gharīb. Tirmidhī also notes which schools used which narration in their fiqh. Around 4,400 hadiths.

Imām Aḥmad an-Nasāʾī · 215–303 AH

An-Nasāʾī's al-Mujtabā (selected version), the strictest of the four Sunan in chain criteria. He intentionally narrowed his master collection down to these for use in legal rulings. About 5,700 hadiths.

Imām Muhammad ibn Yazīd Ibn Mājah · 209–273 AH

The sixth book of the Six. Adds roughly 1,300 hadiths not found in the previous five, with mixed authenticity that scholars later graded individually. About 4,300 hadiths total.

Imām Mālik ibn Anas · 93–179 AH

The earliest of these collections, predating the Six by about a century. A compact work blending hadiths with the practice of the people of Madīnah and Mālik's own legal opinions. Around 1,720 entries.