Hadith of the Quran and Sunnah accept the authenticity of the related Hadith of the two weighty things ("Hadith al-Thaqalayn"). In this hadith, Muhammad referred to the Qur'an and "Ahl al-Bayt" ('people of the house', Muhammed's family) as the two weighty things. Although the hadith is accepted by both Sunnis and Shi'as, the two groups differ on the exact wording of what Muhammad said, as well as how to interpret these words. The Shi'as use the Hadith of the two weighty things to prove their claim that Muhammad meant for all his successors to be from his own family ("Ahl al-Bayt"). The Sunnis reject this view
Introduction to the Science of Hadith chapters, each covering a hadith related issue. The first 33 chapters describe the various technical terms of hadith terminology which describe the conditions of a hadith's authenticity, or acceptability as a basis for Islamic jurisprudence. The following chapters relate to the "isnād", or chain of narration. Next are a series of chapters pertaining to the etiquette to be observed by hadith scholars and manners of transcription. The last chapters describe various issues relating to the narrators of hadith including naming conventions. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ began the "Introduction" as a series of lectures he dictated to his students in Damascus ending in