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As for “a single hadith,” this means the connected discourse narrated by a Companion, even if it consists of many sentences, such as the hadith concerning the repentance of Kaʿb ibn Mālik, the hadith concerning the beginning of revelation, the hadith concerning the slander, and other lengthy hadiths. Each of these is called a hadith. Likewise, what a Companion narrates consisting of one sentence, two sentences, or more, connected to one another, is called a hadith, such as his sayings:

“No prayer is valid without reciting the Opening Chapter of the Quran.”

“A neighbor has a greater claim by virtue of his proximity.”

“Allah does not accept the prayer of any of you who has invalidated his state of ritual purity until he performs ablution.”

And his saying:

“Actions are judged only by intentions, and each person shall have only what he intended,”

and the rest of that narration: this is called a hadith.

Likewise, his saying:

“Do not sever ties with one another, turn your backs on one another, hate one another, or envy one another. Be brothers, O servants of Allah.”

And his saying concerning the sea:

“Its water is purifying, and its dead creatures are lawful to eat.”

A hadith may be composed of statements of different kinds, but generally they share a common meaning, as in his saying:

“A man must not propose marriage where his brother has already proposed, interfere with his brother’s sale, or bid against his brother’s bid, nor