---
title: "Hadith — Meaning and Use | Islam Is Mercy"
description: "A hadith is a report of what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, did or approved, passed on through a checked chain of narrators."
lang: en
url: https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/hadith/
---

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3.  Hadith — Meaning and Use

# Hadith — Meaning and Use

Written by **Islam Is Mercy Editorial Team**· 1 min readAwaiting scholar review

## The short answer

A hadith is a report of the words, actions or approval of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, passed down through a chain of named narrators. Scholars graded each report for authenticity, and the authentic ones are a key source of Islamic guidance.

## On this page

1.  Meaning
2.  How Muslims use it
3.  Example

**Hadith** (Arabic: الحديث) is pronounced *ha-DEETH*, with a soft, breathy “h” and a “th” as in “think”. The plural is *ahadith*, though in English people usually just say “hadiths” or “hadith”.

## Meaning

*Hadith* means “speech”, “report” or “news”. In Islam it means a report of what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, did or approved. Every hadith has two parts: the chain of people who passed it on (the *isnad*) and the text itself (the *matn*). Early Muslim scholars developed a detailed science to test these chains — checking each narrator’s honesty, memory and whether they really met — and graded reports as *sahih* (authentic), *hasan* (good) or *da’if* (weak). On this website we only quote authentic and good hadith.

The most respected collections are *Sahih al-Bukhari* and *Sahih Muslim*. Here is one of the most famous hadith of all, which opens al-Bukhari’s collection:

> …The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.…

[Sahih al-Bukhari 1](https://sunnah.com/bukhari/1#:~:text=reward%20of%20deeds%20depends%20upon)Grade: Sahih (in Sahih al-Bukhari)

## How Muslims use it

Muslims read hadith to understand the Qur’an, learn the Prophet’s example (the *Sunnah*) and find practical guidance for daily life.

## Example

*“The teacher shared a hadith about kindness to neighbours.”*

To learn how hadith relate to the Prophet’s example, see [Sunnah](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/sunnah/).

## Key takeaways

-   A hadith is a recorded report about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
-   Each hadith has a chain of narrators that scholars examined closely.
-   Only authentic (sahih) or good (hasan) hadith are used as evidence.

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## Sources

-   [Sahih al-Bukhari 1](https://sunnah.com/bukhari/1#:~:text=reward%20of%20deeds%20depends%20upon)

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## Keep reading

[Glossary

### Sunnah — Meaning and Use

The Sunnah is the way of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — his words, actions and example — and the second source of guidance in Islam.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/sunnah/)[Glossary

### Qur'an — Meaning and Use

The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam, which Muslims believe is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Its name means the recitation.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/quran/)[Start Here

### Who Was Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

A short introduction to the life and character of Muhammad ﷺ, the final messenger of God — from orphan in Mecca to the Prophet sent as a mercy to all people.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/start/who-was-prophet-muhammad/)