- Ḥadīth (/ˈhædɪθ/ or /hɑːˈdiːθ/; Arabic: حديث, ḥadīṯ, Arabic pronunciation: [ħadiːθ]; pl. aḥādīth, أحاديث, ʾaḥādīṯ, Arabic pronunciation: [ʔaħaːdiːθ], lit. ’talk’ or ‘discourse’) or Athar (Arabic: أثر, ʾAṯar, lit. ‘remnant’ or ’effect’) refers to what most Muslims and the mainstream schools of Islamic thought believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators. In other words, the ḥadīth are attributed reports about what Muhammad said and did (see: Oral tradition).