There are many different ḥadīth genres1. Some of the more commonly known genres are listed below.
A ṣaḥīḥ is a compilation of ḥadīth which is authentic as per the conditions of the author. Therefore, the criterion for ṣaḥīḥ in one book often does not match the criterion for ṣaḥīḥ in another.
The two most famous works classed as ṣaḥīḥ are Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. There are also others such as Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān and Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah.
A jāmiʿ is a collection of ḥadīth which contains narrations on all of the following eight ʿulūm:
This can be summarised in the phrase عارف شامت.
Some of the more famously known collections which also classify as a jāmiʿ include Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Sunan al-Tirmidhī. There is ikhtilāf as to whether Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim is considered a jāmiʿ, due to having only a few narrations in tafsīr.
A sunan is a collection of ḥadīth with a key focus on fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The narrations usually follow a specific order, and often start with chapters on purification and ṣalāh.
Four of the six canonical works of ḥadīth (ṣiḥāḥ sittah) can be classified as sunan: Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, al-Nasāʾī and al-Tirmidhī.
A musnad is a collection of aḥādīth which has been arranged according to its primary narrator. This may be ordered in different ways such as alphabetical order, the order of their acceptance to Islam or the order of their seniority amongst the Ṣaḥābah, etc.
Musnad Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal is one of the more famously known collections which can be classified as a musnad, but there are many others such as the Musnad of Abī Yaʿlā.
A mustakhraj is a compilation of ḥadīth which have similar wording (matn) but different chains of narration.
For example, Abū Nuʿaym has two collections which can be classified as mustakhraj: one which includes additional narrations meeting the criterion of Imām al-Bukhārī, and another which meets the criterion of Imām Muslim.
A muṣannaf is a collection of ḥadīth which contains aḥādīth as well as narrations of Ṣaḥābah, and fatāwā of the Tābiʿīn2. It does not contain sayings of the author himself. The narrations are usually divided into chapters and includes both ḥadīth mawqūf (ascribed to Companions) and ḥadīth maqṭūʿ (ascribed to the Tābiʿīn).
E.g. Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Muṣannaf Abī Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah.
A mustadrak is a collection of ḥadīth which uses the same criteria of another book of ḥadīth.
For example, the Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim uses the same criterion used in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.
An aṭrāf is a ḥadīth collection which focuses on a specific topic or narration, e.g. ḥadīth about actions being according to intentions, or the ḥadīth of Jibrāʾīl. E.g. Tuḥfat al-Ashrāf bi Maʿrifat al-Aṭrāf by Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī (d. 742).
A juzʾ is a collection of ḥadīth narrated by one person, usually on one subject. This is regardless of whether they are Ṣaḥābah or not.
For example, ḥadīth of Abū Bakr, ḥadīth narrated by Mālik, Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām and Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (both by Imām al-Bukhārī).
A muʿjam is a collection of aḥādīth written in alphabetical order according to the narrator.
One of the more well-known collections classified as muʿjam is al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr by Imām al-Ṭabarānī, in which he selected one ḥadīth from each of his teachers.
A tajrīd is a collection of aḥādīth where the chain of narration is omitted, therefore bringing only the matn of the ḥadīth.
E.g. Imām al-Tabrīzī's Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.
Ibn Ḥajar's symbol system in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, indicating which of the six major ḥadīth collections (and related works) record each narrator.
A bibliographical survey of the major classical works in al-jarḥ wa al-taʿdīl, from the earliest rijāl compilations to Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī.
Definitions of shādhdh and munkar across Imām al-Shāfiʿī, al-Khalīlī, al-Ḥākim and the Aḥnāf, with the causes of inqidāḥ and a comparative table.
A condensed reference for the principal categories of ḥadīth, their conditions of acceptance, and the technical vocabulary used to grade narrators and chains.
