In this blog post, I’m reviewing a few free websites where you can read Hadith online in English.
Hadith is an Arabic word that refers to the collection of sayings by Prophet Muhammad (Messenger of God- Allah). Hadith is considered as the Backbone of Islamic civilization. It is the major source of moral guidance after the Quran (the holy book of Islam).
There are different types of Hadith collections which include Sunni, Shia, and Ibadi. In each collection of Hadith, there are a number of books to read. These books contain sayings, actions, tacit approvals attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad collected by Muhaddiths (Hadith Studies).
So here, in this article, I’ll talk about the Sunni collection (Kutub al-Sittah) compiled by six Sunni Muslim scholars. It has six Canonical Books of Hadith that include Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa’i, Sunan Ibn Majah. There are other books that were collected and written by authors and students.
Below I’m adding up 5 online platforms that let you access Hadith online in English.
1. Hadith Collection
Hadith Collection is an online platform that keeps a good collection of Hadith books. On this website, you will find a number of books that include Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Maliks Muwatta, Shama-il Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Fiqh-us-Sunnah, An- Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths, and more.
When you access any of the Hadith collection, it shows subcategories of a particular book. For example, if you go to read Sahih Bukhari, it lists all the chapters of the book. You can also see the number of Hadith mentioned next to each book. Once you open these books, you will also find volumes in them which cover different sayings and meaning of the saying translated in the English language.
Apart from this, you can read the background and other detailed information about the Hadith collection. The website also lets you download the PDF format of each book for free.
2. Search Truth
Search Truth is another website where you can find Hadith books to read online. This particular website can be used to perform multiple tasks. On this website, you can listen to and read the Quran, know Prayer time, Islamic Hijri Calendar, Words in Quran, Dictionary, and other Islamic knowledge.
The website keeps only a few Hadith collections that include Sahih Al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Malik’s Muwatta, and Sunan Abu-Dawud. Scrolling down the page, you will find all the books, chapters, and volumes. The website lets you read all the saying available in these Hadith collections. Since the collection is translated in the English language so it will easier for you to understand each saying.
3. Sunnah
Sunnah is dedicated to providing online and authentic collections of Hadith. The website helps you to go through the Hadith collection that embraced different books of Hadith.
Sunnah website has a number of books such as Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan an-Nasa’i, Muwatta Malik, Sunan Ibn Majah, and Jami at- Tirmidhi. Apart from this, you will also find 40 Hadith Nawawi, Al-Adab Al Mufrad, Bulugh al-Maram, Shama’il Muhammadiyah, 40 Hadith Qudsi, and Riyad as-Salihin.
You can browse through the categories and read the entire book by volumes. Visiting each category, you will also get to read the introduction or background of the particular book. Here, you will not just see the English translation of the Hadith but also can read in the Arabic language. On the top, you will see the search bar that can be used to find content based on a text as well.
4. Sahih Bukhari
Sahih Bukhari is the website that is thoroughly dedicated to the Sahih Bukhari book of Hadith. Besides the wonderful sayings, the website lets you read Quran, listen to Quran, watch movies, pictures, read eBooks, and more.
Since the website has the whole collection of Sahih Bukhari book, so you will directly find all the volumes on the homepage. There are Nine volumes that wrap up several books. These books contain all the sayings translated in the English language that you can read online anytime.
5. Ahadith
Ahadith is a perfect library to read Hadith online. The website shows you Daily Hadith, Today’s Dua, and Daily Quran Verse. Besides that, you will find 99 names of Allah, Fortress of the Muslim, and other information.
On the homepage, you will see the search bar. Here, you can drop any keyword to find the Hadith studies. It can be the name of the book, narrator, chapter name, and other keywords that are available in Hadith collection.
Once you use the search bar, it shows a number of results that you can go through and read online about Hadith. The site also lets you know which chapter or book the verse is taken from.
Apart from this, you can find other content about Hadith, for example, 40 Hadith Qudsi, Sixty Sultaniyya, etc. You can also go through an interesting collection on the site such as Islamic puzzles. Books that are available to download, can be downloaded in the PDF format.
In brief
Hadith is another way to gain moral guidance. If you partially understand Arabic or Urdu language, you can use the aforementioned websites to read Hadith online in the English language. Here, you will get volumes and books fall under the different collection of Hadith. Besides reading, you can listen to audio and watch movies for better moral guidance.