The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (913 page)

Hadewijch of Antwerp
(Christian mystical writer)
:

see
RHENO-FLEMISH SPIRITUALITY
.

 
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(Aram., ‘only one kid’). Folk-song chanted at the end of the Passover
Seder
. It is a sequence poem.

 
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(Arab., ‘narrative’). Muslim tradition—accounts of the ‘words, deeds or silent approval' of
Mu
ammad
during the period of his preaching, but especially after the beginning of the
Qur’
n
revelations. Although the plural is
ah
dith
, Hadith is used in English as a collective for ‘traditions’, as well as the word for a single tradition.
A
ad
th—a single item of tradition—consists of two parts:
matn
(‘text’) and
isn
d
or
sanad
(‘chain of authorities’). An elaborate science of
ad
th criticism grew up, mainly to ensure the authenticity of any given
ad
th. Of the major collections of
adith, the best known and most quoted is the
a