The indistinct corpus of Hadiths in Sunni as well as Shiite Islam surrounds the solid nucleus of the Qur’an like a nimbus, its inner reaches made up of a narrow band of well-known Hadiths that circumscribe the established teachings and precedent of the Prophet. These are surrounded with layer after layer of more Hadiths, becoming less and less reliable and often more controversial as they stretch outward, until their muted light fades into profane blackness.
