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{{Short description|Second hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
| author            = [[Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj]] ({{circa|822}}–875)
| language          = Arabic, Persian
| genre             = [[Hadith]] collection
| published         = 9th century
| publisher         = 
| isbn              = 
| exclude_cover     = 
| image             = SahihMuslimCover.jpg
| series            = ''[[Kutub al-Sittah]]''
}}
{{Hadith|width=22.0em<!--should match width of sunni template -->|Sunni}}

'''{{Transliteration|ar|Sahih Muslim}}''' ({{langx|ar|صحيح مسلم|translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim}}) is the second [[hadith]] collection of the [[Kutub al-Sittah|Six Books]] of [[Sunni Islam]]. Compiled by Islamic scholar [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj]] ({{Died in|875}}) in the {{Transliteration|ar|[[musannaf]]}} format, the work is valued by Sunnis, alongside {{Transliteration|ar|[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]}}, as the most important source for Islamic religion after the [[Qur'an]].

Sahih Muslim contains approximately 5,500 - 7,500 hadith narrations in its introduction and 56 books.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=About - Sahih Muslim - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) |url=https://sunnah.com/muslim/about |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=sunnah.com}}</ref> [[Kâtip Çelebi]] (died 1657) and [[Siddiq Hasan Khan]] (died 1890) both counted 7,275 narrations. [[Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi]] wrote that there are 3,033 narrations without considering repetitions.<ref name=":0">''Hadith and the Quran'', [[Encyclopedia of the Quran]], [[EJ Brill|Brill]]</ref> Mashhur ibn Hasan Al Salman, a student of Albanian Islamic scholar [[Al-Albani]] (died 1999), counted 7,385 total narrations, which, combined with the ten in the introduction, add up to a total of 7,395.<ref name=":0" /> Muslim wrote an introduction to his collection of hadith, wherein he clarified the reasoning behind choosing the hadith he chose to include in his Sahih.

== Development ==
According to [[Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi]], Muslim began writing the Sahih for Ahmad ibn Salamah an-Naysaburi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Baghdadi |first=Abu Bakr |title=Tārīkh Baghdād |publisher=Dar al-Gharb al-Islami |pages=302 |language=ar |author-link=Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi}}</ref> He was also compelled to write the Sahih for what he observed to be the poor character of his contemporary [[Hadith studies|hadith scholars]], and their unreluctant willingness to spread ''[[Hadith terminology#%E1%B8%8Ca%CA%BB%C4%ABf|daʻīf]]'' (weak) narrations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=at-Tawaliba |first=Muhammad Abdurrahman |title=Al Imām Muslim wa Manhajuhu fī as-Sahīh |publisher=Dar Emaar |pages=104 |language=ar}}</ref> Muslim collected 12,000 narrations and chose 4,000 to be included in his book.<ref name=":1"/>

He divided narrators of hadith into three tiers based on their memory and character:<ref name=":1" />

* those who possessed authentic memory and were of perfect character, honest and trustworthy.
* those of slightly weaker memory and perfection, trustworthy, knowledgeable and honest.
* those whose honesty was disputed or was a subject of discussion.

Muslim did not include hadith which were narrated by those who belonged to the last tier. Moreover, Muslim only recorded hadith that were narrated to him by an unbroken ''[[Hadith studies|isnad]]'' (chain) of narrators through two reliable ''[[tabi'un]]'', each of which had to be narrated through two [[Companions of the Prophet|companions]] of [[Muhammad]].<ref name=":1" />

==Reception==
Sunni Muslims regard ''Sahih Muslim'' as the second most important book of the ''Kutub al-Sittah.<ref name="jacb">{{cite book |last1=A.C. Brown |first1=Jonathan |url=https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/257 |title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy |date=2014 |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |isbn=978-1780744209 |page=[https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/257 257] |quote=[...] the ''Sahihayn'', the two authentic Hadith compilations of Bukhari and Muslim bin Hajjaj that Sunni Islam has long declared the most reliable books after the Qur'an. |author-link1=Jonathan A.C. Brown |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Various Issues About Hadiths<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.abc.se/~m9783/n/vih_e.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016011516/http://www.abc.se/~m9783/n/vih_e.html |archive-date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2006-03-14}}</ref> Sahih Muslim'' and ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' are together referred to as the '''''Sahihayn''''' ('''''The Two Sahihs''''').<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> In the ''[[Introduction to the Science of Hadith]]'', [[Ibn al-Salah]] wrote: "The first to author a ''Sahih'' was [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Bukhari]] [...]", followed by [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj an-Naysābūrī al-Qushayrī]], who was his student, sharing many of the same teachers. These two books are the most authentic books after the [[Quran]]. As for the statement of [[al-Shafi'i]], who said, "I do not know of a book containing knowledge more correct than [[Malik ibn Anas|Malik]]'s book [<nowiki/>[[Muwatta Imam Malik]]]", [...] he said this before the books of Bukhari and Muslim. The book of Bukhari is the more authentic of the two and more useful.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Introduction to the Science of Hadith |title-link=Introduction to the Science of Hadith |publisher=Dar al-Ma’aarif |edition=Dar al-Ma’aarif |pages=160–169}}</ref> 

[[Al-Nawawi]] wrote about Sahih al-Bukhari, "The scholars, may God have mercy on them, have agreed that the most authentic book after the dear Quran are the two Sahihs of Bukhari and [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Muslim]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Nawawi |first=Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf |title=Al Minhaj, Sharh Sahih Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj |publisher=Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi |year=1972 |edition=2nd |location=[[Beirut]] |pages=14 |language=ar |author-link=Al-Nawawi}}</ref> [[Siddiq Hasan Khan]] (died 1890) wrote, "All of the [[Salaf]] and ''Khalaf'' assert that the most authentic book after the book of Allah is Sahih al-Bukhari and then Sahih Muslim."<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Siddiq |title=Al Hittah fi Dhikr al-Sihah al-Sittah |publisher=Dar al-Jeel |pages=225 |language=ar |author-link=Siddiq Hasan Khan}}</ref> This sentiment is echoed by both contemporary and past Islamic scholars, including [[Ibn Taymiyya]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Ḥarrānī |first=Taqī ad-Dīn |title=Majmu' al-Fatāwā |publisher=[[King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur'an]] |volume=20 |location=[[Medina]] |pages=321 |language=ar |author-link=Ibn Taymiyyah}}</ref> (died 1328), [[Al-Maziri]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Maziri |first=Abu Abdullah |title=Al-Mu'allim bi Fawā'id Muslim |publisher=Dar at-Tunisia lin-Nashr |location=[[Tunis]] |pages=159 |author-link=Al-Maziri}}</ref> (died 1141), and [[Al-Juwayni]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=as-Suyuti |first=Jalāl ad-Dīn |title=Tadrīb ar-Rāwī fi Sharh Taqrīb an-Nawawī |pages=142 |author-link=Al-Suyuti}}</ref> (died 1085). [[Amin Ahsan Islahi]] praised the scientific arrangement of the narrations in ''Sahih Muslim''. He also praised Muslim's particularity in highlighting differences in wording between two narrations, even when it came to a single letter that held no semantic significance, or if they differed about any facts relating to a narrator in the ''[[Hadith studies|isnad]]''.<ref>''Mabadi Tadabbur-i-Hadith'', Amin Ahsan Islahi, 1989</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Despite the book's reputation and the consensus of scholars that it is the second most authentic collection of hadith after ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', it is agreed upon that this does not mean that every hadith in ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is more valid than every hadith in ''Sahih Muslim'', but that the total of what is contained in ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is more valid than the total of what is contained in ''Sahih Muslim.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Tawaliba |first=Muhammad Abdurrahman |title=Al Imām Muslim wa Manhajuhu fī as-Sahīh |publisher=Dar Emaar |pages=132}}</ref>

==Derived works==

=== Commentaries ===
More than 60 commentaries have been written on ''Sahih Muslim'', some of which are ''Siyānah Sahīh Muslim'' by [[Ibn al-Salah]], of which only the beginning segment remains, ''Al-Mu'allim bi Fawā'id Muslim'' by Al-Maziri, ''[[Al-Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim|Al Minhāj Sharḥ Sahīḥ Muslim]]'' by [[Al-Nawawi]], ''[[Fath al-Mulhim bi-Sharh Sahih al-Imam Muslim]]'' by [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]], ''[[Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim bi-Sharh Sahih al-Imam Muslim]]'' by [[Taqi Usmani]], and ''Tafsir al-Gharīb mā fi al-Sahīhayn'' by [[Al-Azdi al-Humaydi|Al-Humaydī]]. Translations of commentaries of Sahih Muslims are available in numerous languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.australianislamiclibrary.org/sahih-muslim.html|title=Sahih Muslim - Translations and Explanations in multiple languages|website=AUSTRALIAN ISLAMIC LIBRARY|access-date=2022-07-08|archive-date=2021-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005034939/https://www.australianislamiclibrary.org/sahih-muslim.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj]] – author of ''Sahih Muslim''
* ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' – another Sahih collection of hadith narrations and the other of the ''Sahihayn''
* [[Muhammad al-Bukhari]] – another hadith scholar, one of Muslim's teachers, and the author of ''Sahih al-Bukhari''
* ''[[Kutub al-Sittah]]'' – six most highly-regarded collections of hadith in Sunni Islam, including ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', ''Sahih Muslim'', and:
** ''[[Sahih al-Tirmidhi]]'' – compiled by [[Al-Tirmidhi]] (824–892)
** ''[[Sunan ibn Majah]]'' – compiled by [[Ibn Majah]] (824–887)
** ''[[Sunan Abu Dawood]]'' – compiled by [[Abu Dawud al-Sijistani]] (died 889)
** ''[[Al-Sunan al-Sughra]]'', also known as ''Sunan an-Nasa'i'' – compiled by [[Al-Nasa'i]] (829–915)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisourcelang|ar|صحيح مسلم|Sahih Muslim}}
* [http://sunnah.com/muslim English translation with Arabic text] (Sunnah.com)
* [https://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/ English translation with Arabic text] (QuranX.com)

{{Clear}}
{{Sunni hadith literature}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sahih Muslim]]
[[Category:Sunni literature]]
[[Category:9th-century Arabic-language books]]