Asslamulaikeum
As part of our broader goal of Quranic Data Standardisation, we present an early practical step towards Hadith Data Standardisation: a unified API for Arabic Hadith text, audio and synchronized word-by-word timings.
The aim is not to declare a universal scholarly edition or numbering system. The present work standardizes how existing Hadith data is accessed and represented for websites, mobile applications, research tools and other software.
Previously, every collection required different logic for its text files, numbering, audio filenames and timing data. Some Hadith records share one recording, while others have Arabic text but no independent audio.
The Hadith.to API provides one consistent interface for handling these differences.
What does the API provide?
Each Hadith response can provide its collection and record identifiers, Arabic text, individually tokenized Arabic words, direct audio URL, synchronized word timings and audio-availability status.
The timing data allows applications to highlight each Arabic word while its audio is playing.
A full example containing Arabic text, audio and timings is available here:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/bukhari/1?include=timings
Applications that require only audio information can use:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/audio/bukhari/1
Audio is delivered directly through the Hadith.to CDN rather than being unnecessarily passed through the API.
Supported collections
The API currently supports Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Jami at-Tirmidhi, Sunan an-Nasa’i, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan Ibn Majah, Muwatta Malik, Riyad as-Salihin and Musnad Ahmad.
It also supports the Forty Hadith of Imam an-Nawawi, Forty Hadith Qudsi and Forty Hadith of Shah Waliullah.
This gives the API a total of 12 supported collections.
Synthetic-recitation disclosure
The 122 recordings associated with the three Forty Hadith collections are synthetic Arabic recitations.
These consist of 42 Nawawi recordings, 40 Qudsi recordings and 40 Shah Waliullah recordings.
They are not recordings of a human Hadith reciter. The API explicitly identifies these collections as synthetic, and individual responses include a written disclosure.
This distinction should remain visible in every application using these recordings.
Explore the API
API overview:
https://api.hadith.to/v1
Supported collections:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/collections
Main Hadith reader:
https://hadith.to
Examples
Sahih al-Bukhari:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/bukhari/1?include=timings
Sahih Muslim:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/muslim/93?include=timings
Jami at-Tirmidhi:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/tirmidhi/1?include=timings
Sunan an-Nasa’i:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/nasai/1?include=timings
Sunan Abi Dawud:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/abudawud/1?include=timings
Sunan Ibn Majah:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/ibnmajah/1?include=timings
Muwatta Malik:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/malik/1?include=timings
Riyad as-Salihin:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/riyad/1?include=timings
Musnad Ahmad:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/musnad-ahmad/844?include=timings
Forty Hadith of Imam an-Nawawi:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/nawawi40/1?include=timings
Forty Hadith Qudsi:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/qudsi40/1?include=timings
Forty Hadith of Shah Waliullah:
https://api.hadith.to/v1/hadith/shahwaliullah40/1?include=timings
What has been standardized?
The current project standardizes collection identifiers, record identifiers, Arabic token arrays, audio links, word-timing links, availability information, shared-audio handling, synthetic-recitation disclosure and API responses.
It does not yet standardize differences between scholarly editions, universal citation numbering, narrator identities, grading terminology or textual variants.
Future collaborative project: HadithUSX
As a future collaborative project, we hope to develop HadithUSX: a structured, versioned and verifiable format for Hadith data.
Potential areas include stable Hadith and token identifiers, structured isnad and matn, narrator authority records, source and edition provenance, book and chapter mappings, variant-text relationships, translation attribution, audio references, timing references and formal validation rules.
This work requires collaboration between Hadith scholars, Arabic specialists, developers, data engineers and digital-humanities researchers.
The present Hadith.to API is a practical starting point. HadithUSX remains a future open project for wider scholarly and technical consultation.
We welcome testing, corrections, feedback and collaboration.
May Allah place benefit and barakah in this work.
