Editing Hadith (section)

==Compilation and collections==
[[File:Khalili Collection Islamic Art mss 0311 fol 190b-191a.jpg|thumb|A 14/15th-century manuscript of [[Sahih al-Bukhari]]]]
The hadith literature in use today is based on spoken reports in circulation after the death of Muhammad. Hadith were not promptly written down during Muhammad's lifetime or immediately after his death.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=3}} Hadiths are oral cultural products consisting of words and deeds, the majority of which were documented several centuries after the time of Muhammad (Sunni sources, approximately 200–300 years and Shiite hadith books 400-500) and attributed to Muhammad through a chain of narrators over 1-2&nbsp;mi away from where Muhammad is thought to have lived.

Different branches of Islam refer to different collections of hadith, although the same incident may be found in hadith from different collections. In general, the difference between Shi'a and Sunni collections is that Shia give preference to hadiths attributed to Muhammad's family and close companions (''[[Ahl al-Bayt]]''), while Sunnis do not consider family lineage in evaluating hadith and sunnah narrated by any of twelve thousand companions of Muhammad.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|title=Religions. Sunni and Shi'a|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunnishia_1.shtml|website=BBC|access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>

===Sunni===
*In the Sunni branch of Islam, the canonical hadith collections are ''[[Kutub al-Sittah|the six books]]'', of which [[Sahih al-Bukhari]] and [[Sahih Muslim]] generally have the highest status. The other books of hadith are [[Sunan Abu Dawood]], [[Jami' al-Tirmidhi]], [[Al-Sunan al-Sughra]] and [[Sunan ibn Majah]]. However the [[Maliki]]s, one of the four Sunni "schools of thought" (''[[madhhab]]s''), traditionally reject Sunan ibn Majah and assert the canonical status of [[Muwatta Imam Malik]].

===Shia===
*In the [[Twelver]] Shi'a branch of Islam, the canonical hadith collections are ''[[the Four Books]]'': [[Kitab al-Kafi]], [[Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih]], [[Tahdhib al-Ahkam]], and [[Al-Istibsar]]. 
*The [[Ismaili]] shia sects use the [[Da'a'im al-Islam]] as their hadith collection.

===Ibadi===
*In the [[Ibadi]] branch of Islam, the main canonical collection is the [[Tartib al-Musnad]]. This is an expansion of the earlier [[Jami Sahih]] collection, which retains canonical status in its own right.

===Others===
*Some minor groups, collectively known as [[Quranists]], reject the authority of the hadith collections altogether.<ref name="Aisha Y. Musa 2013"/><ref name="Neal Robinson 2013 pp. 85-89"/>