Masood N. Khan M.D.   After Quran the holy scripture of Muslims, the voluminous collections of Hadith – the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet – have served as the most revered and consulted source for Muslims in religion. Meticulous work that underscores the encyclopedic compilations of Hadiths is indeed commendable but the real question is not of the availability of these books that supposedly contain authentic Hadiths but of the proper understanding and application of what they contain in today’s life. Ultimately that is what makes a Hadith capable of bringing a morally positive change in human conduct and therefore will determine its value and strength. For centuries, abuse of Hadiths by Muslims has been a serious problem that has given rise to a psychotic interpretation of religion. It has reflected negatively in their social conduct and has caused hostile sectarianism, narrow-minded and meaningless ritualism, violent extremism and a mindset with shallow and immature approach to religion in general. Naturally, these detriments are highly disconcerting for a modern, educated and practical Muslim desirous of seeking guidance from the life-model of the Prophet. Abuse may come from many directions but essentially from two very notorious sources, 1. Availability of fabricated Hadiths in the recognized books of collection and their irresponsible use. 2. A literalist understading of any Hadith with no insight into its implied meaning. Besides causing severe damage to the very essence of the message, the above phenomena which are interconnected, have misrepresented a great Prophet and have...