To understand the authoritative nature of the example of Mohammed, we have to understand something of the Muslim hadiths. They hold a higher place in Sunni Islam than church tradition does in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Sunni Muslims hold to six collections of hadiths as the most authoritative writings in Islam after the Qur’an.
Ili kuelewa asili ya mamlaka ya mfano wa Muhammad, ni muhimu tufahamu jambo moja kuhusu Hadithi za Kiislam. Hadithi zina nafasi ya juu sana katika madhehebu ya Suni kuliko mapokeo yalivyo na nafasi kwenye makanisa ya Katoliki na Orthodox. Waislam wa madhehebu ya Suni wanaamini kuwa mikusanyiko sita ya Hadithi ndiyo yenye mamlaka kubwa zaidi kwenye Uislam baada ya Kurani.