What makes a Hadith Sahih?

Saheeh (authentic) hadith in and of itself has a connected, uninterrupted chain comprised of trustworthy narrators with precise memories, without detrimental flaws or irregularities.

In Arabic this means:

الحديث الذي اتصل سنده بنقل العَدْل، تَامّ الضَّبْط، عن مثله، من أول السند إلى آخره، وسَلِمَ سنده، ومتنه من مخالفة روايات الثقات (الشُّذُوْذ)، ومن أي سبب قادح في الصحة (العِلَّة القَادِحَة)

There are five stipulations:

1. Each narrator must be trustworthy.
2. Each must reliably preserve the narration through strong memory or an unchanged written record.
3. The chain must be feasibly unbroken, with each narrator potentially receiving it from predecessors.
4. No hidden flaws establishing an impossible transmission.
5. No textual conflict with other verified hadith.

However, saheeh ahadith vary in rank. Relative strength involves the narrators’ precision and the specific compilation pathways.

Ranked by source, with Bukhari superseded only by inter-compilation consensus:

1. Mutually in Bukhari and Muslim
2. In Bukhari alone
3. In Muslim alone
4. Upon Bukhari and Muslim’s conditions
5. Upon Bukhari’s conditions
6. Upon Muslim’s conditions
7. Upon conditions of other compilers
8. Deemed saheeh externally but not meeting earlier criteria

In summary, saheeh conveys an authentic chain and text. Yet saheeh reports range in authority based on narrator quality and compilation inclusion. Widest acceptance establishes peak soundness.