Social, Legal, and Ethical Hadiths

The non-devotional sections of the Sahih of Ibn Hibban cover the full range of Islamic social life, legal obligations, and ethical conduct that one would expect from a comprehensive authenticated collection. The commercial law sections preserve important traditions on permissible and prohibited transactions, the prohibition of usury and deception in commerce, and the conditions governing contracts and partnerships. Ibn Hibban's authenticated versions of these traditions carry particular weight in legal discussions because their isnad meets at least his more expansive standard of authentication, and many of them are supported by parallel chains in other collections.

The family law sections are substantial and cover marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance in some detail. Several traditions on divorce and its various forms appear in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban with chains that either supplement or confirm what is found in the canonical collections, and scholars of family law have regularly cited these narrations as supporting evidence in juristic discussions. The sections on the rights and obligations within marriage are particularly valued for their practical guidance.

The ethical sections of the Sahih gather authenticated traditions on the major virtues — generosity, patience, gratitude, truthfulness, and humility — and the major vices that the prophetic teaching warns against. Ibn Hibban's authenticated collections in this area are considered especially reliable since they passed his rigorous screening, even if his standards differ from those of the strictest critics. Scholars who work in Islamic character education regularly draw on the Sahih of Ibn Hibban for authenticated ethical traditions that may not appear in quite the same form in the two primary Sahihs.

The eschatological sections of the Sahih — traditions about the Day of Judgment, the signs preceding it, paradise and hellfire, and the intercession of the Prophet — are another area of strength. Ibn Hibban compiled a particularly rich collection of authenticated eschatological traditions, and these have been cited extensively in works of Islamic theology and in sermons and educational materials throughout the Islamic world.