Highly recommended to academic and public libraries seriously collecting works on Islam. John Burton demonstrates once again his penetrating insight into Islamic tradition. -- Uri Rubin The text is well-written and presented in a fairly lucid and simple style. -- Dr. Muhammed Haron, University of the Western Cape Presents comprehensively and critically the present state of Hadith studies. Glossary, bibliography and index as well as the other well-established high standards of production of volumes published in the Islamic Surveys series make the book a basic tool for the study of Islam in past and present. Highly recommended to academic and public libraries seriously collecting works on Islam. John Burton demonstrates once again his penetrating insight into Islamic tradition. The text is well-written and presented in a fairly lucid and simple style. Presents comprehensively and critically the present state of Hadith studies. Glossary, bibliography and index as well as the other well-established high standards of production of volumes published in the Islamic Surveys series make the book a basic tool for the study of Islam in past and present.