What is a ḥadīth, and how do scholars know whether one is authentic?

A ḥadīth is a transmitted report of what the Prophet ﷺ said, did, or tacitly approved, and it is a binding source of guidance because Allah commanded, "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it," and commanded that disputes be referred back to Allah and His Messenger. Each ḥadīth has a chain of narrators (isnād) and a text (matn); scholars of ḥadīth examined every narrator's honesty, memory, and lifetime to see whether the chain is continuous and free of hidden defects. On that basis reports are graded ṣaḥīḥ (authentic), ḥasan (good), ḍaʿīf (weak), or mawḍūʿ (fabricated), and rulings and creed are built only on the first two. This rigour exists because of the Prophet's ﷺ severe warning against attributing to him what he did not say: "Do not tell a lie against me, for whoever tells a lie against me deliberately will surely enter the Fire" — which is why a wrong attribution is a serious matter, not a small slip.

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