Contradictory Hadith and the Reliability of the Hadith Corpus

Introduction

In Sunni Islam the collected sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad—Hadith—form a large body of literature that supplements the Qur’an. Some believers regard the major collections compiled by Bukhari and Muslim as entirely reliable, but their own compilers acknowledged that some reports are stronger than others. Modern critical scholars have noted that many hadiths contradict one another and sometimes even contradict the Qur’an or history. This report surveys examples of contradictions within the hadith corpus and argues that these inconsistencies undermine claims of uniform reliability.

Examples of Internal Contradictions

Length of the Prophet’s mission. Bukhari’s collection offers two mutually exclusive chronologies for Muhammad’s ministry. Two hadiths (Bukhari 4:56:747 and 4:56:748) state that he spent ten years in Mecca after revelation began and ten years in Medina, implying that he was sixty at death. Other hadiths (Bukhari 5:58:242 and 5:59:741) say he remained thirteen years in Mecca and died at sixty‑three. Muslim’s collection records similar disagreements: one report says he died at sixty and another says he was sixty‑five. If these reports are all considered authentic, they cannot all be historically correct.

Contradictory legal rulings. Hadith scholars derive commercial law from the Prophet’s statements, yet Bukhari includes two incompatible rulings on the exchange of gold and silver. One narration quotes Umar as saying that the Prophet forbade trading gold for silver except when the exchange is hand‑to‑hand and equal in amount. A different narration permits exchange “as we wished” so long as the metals are of equivalent weight. Similarly, four narrations in Muslim’s Kitab al‑Buyuʻ describe a transaction in which Jabir sold his camel to the Prophet. The agreed price varies among the reports—one uqiya, five uqiyas, two uqiyas plus a dirham or two, or four dinars. Since they refer to the same incident, the different prices cannot all be correct.

Prayer practices. One section of Bukhari records ‘Aisha saying that the Prophet never missed performing two units (rakʿah) after the afternoon (‘Asr) prayer. Another narration states that he forbade praying after the ‘Asr prayer. These contradictory statements create confusion about whether the post‑‘Asr prayer was recommended or prohibited. Another set of hadiths describes the ablution (wudhu) ritual. In one report the Prophet washed each limb once, in another he washed twice, while in a third narration he washed thrice. Although minor differences might be accepted as permissible variety, the hadiths present them as statements of what the Prophet actually did, leaving readers uncertain which practice he prescribed.

Historical stories. Several narrations ascribe different numbers of wives to the biblical Prophet Solomon. One hadith attributes one hundred wives to him, while others mention ninety, seventy or sixty wives. Bukhari also offers multiple accounts of a story in which the Prophet’s wives tricked him by blaming the smell of honey. The reports disagree on which wife served the honey and on other details of the story. These discrepancies suggest that storytellers were embellishing or altering details.

Contradictory theological statements. In a famous Bukhari hadith, ‘Aisha emphatically denies that Muhammad ever saw his Lord, calling anyone who claims otherwise a liar. By contrast, a hadith in Muslim states that Ibn ʿAbbas said the Prophet “saw [Allah] with his heart”. Both reports are considered sahih (sound), yet they present opposing claims about a fundamental theological issue. Another pair of hadiths addresses superstition: one report in Muslim says there is no evil omen at all, whereas Bukhari quotes the Prophet saying that evil omen is only in three things—a horse, a woman and a house. Both cannot be correct simultaneously.

Conflicting depictions of the Dajjal. Muslim’s collection records two traditions about the Antichrist (Dajjal). In one narration Ibn ʿUmar reports that the Prophet said the Dajjal is blind in his right eye, while another hadith from Hudhayfa says he is blind in his left eye. The character of the Dajjal cannot be blind in both eyes, illustrating how hadith transmitters preserved divergent versions of the same teaching.

Inconsistent etiquette and ritual details. Some hadiths prohibit drinking water while standing, yet another shows the Prophet drinking Zamzam water while standing. Bukhari offers two contradictory statements about the reward for congregational prayer, saying in one hadith that it is 27 times greater than individual prayer and in another that it is 25 times greater. Reports on who memorised the Qur’an during the Prophet’s life differ: one list of four names includes the scribe Ubai bin Kaʿb, whereas another list replaces him with Abu Darda. Even bathroom etiquette is inconsistent: a hadith forbids facing the qiblah (direction of prayer) while urinating, yet another report narrates that Jabir saw the Prophet doing exactly that a year before his death.

Exegetical contradictions. Critical scholars have noted that exegetical hadith (reports explaining Qur’anic verses) often offer conflicting interpretations. For example, Surah 74:49‑51 describes people fleeing “from a qaswarah.” Some reports say that qaswarah means “lion,” others say it means “a party of men,” “hunters,” “archers,” “arrows” or even “human voices,” and most of these differing definitions are attributed to Ibn ʿAbbas. Each explanation fits the verse but contradicts the others, suggesting that narrators were offering educated guesses rather than preserving a single prophetic explanation.

Discussion

The examples above show that contradictions permeate even the most revered hadith collections. Proponents of hadith often respond that variant reports may reflect different circumstances or that later narrators misunderstood the context. However, this explanation fails to account for explicit inconsistencies where the same question receives opposite answers (e.g., whether evil omens exist) or where the same story records incompatible details (e.g., the camel’s price or the number of Solomon’s wives). Traditional hadith science focuses on evaluating chains of transmission, yet these examples reveal the limitations of relying almost exclusively on isnads. Because compilers prioritised chain authenticity over content criticism, they preserved divergent versions side by side. Modern historians argue that the proliferation of contradictory reports reflects the competing theological, legal and political agendas of early transmitters rather than accurate historical memory.

The presence of contradictions does not mean that all hadith are false, but it undermines claims that the hadith corpus as a whole provides an infallible supplement to the Qur’an. When even basic biographical facts like the Prophet’s age at death or the duration of his Meccan ministry cannot be established with certainty, it becomes difficult to rely on hadith for detailed legal rulings or theological doctrines. Muslims who wish to follow the Qur’an faithfully should be aware that the hadith literature was compiled generations after the Prophet and contains mutually exclusive statements. A critical approach that prioritises the Qur’an and applies historical scrutiny to extra‑Qur’anic reports is more consistent with reason and with the Qur’an’s repeated warning against following conjecture.

Conclusion

A survey of contradictory hadith reveals significant inconsistencies in narratives about the Prophet’s life, legal pronouncements and exegetical explanations. Reports in Bukhari and Muslim conflict on matters ranging from the Prophet’s age at death to the permissibility of post‑‘Asr prayers, from whether Muhammad saw God to the Dajjal’s blind eye, and from the number of wives assigned to Solomon to the price of a camel. These contradictions demonstrate that the hadith corpus cannot be treated as a uniform or infallible record. They invite Muslims and researchers alike to approach hadith with caution, to prioritise the clear teachings of the Qur’an and reason, and to recognise the human factors that shaped the transmission of prophetic reports.