(The list is arranged alphabetically; all texts are available in either the ZITh library, online or via university access). This is by no means an exhaustive list and it will be updated periodically.

• Brown, Daniel W. (1996): Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  → This is an important overview of the approaches, questions and debates concerning Hadith in modern Islam.
   
• Brown, Jonathan A. C. (2009): Hadith. Muhammad's legacy in the medieval and modern world. Oxford: Oneworld.
  → This is a comprehensive historical, methodological and thematic presentation of the Hadith transmission. It includes a discussion of the state of research, an overview of academic approaches and the intra-Muslim debates on the topic. It is currently the best introduction to the subject, and it provides the most informative and insightful overview. It is an essential text for students of hadith studies.
   
• Brown, Jonathan A. C. (2014), Misquoting Muhammad. The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy, Oxford, Oneworld.
  → This is an easily readable and perceptive account of the "canonical culture" that underlies the Hadith transmission and the challenges it faces in modernity. It is an important contribution especially in the way is helps students frame contemporary discourses and debates about Hadith.
   
• Fück, Johann (1939): „Die Rolle des Traditionalismus im Islam“. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 93 (n.F. 18), Nr. 1/2: 1–32
  → Despite its obsolescence, it still a very illuminating essay on the importance of the prophetic tradition in Islam.
   
• Gharaibeh, Mohammad (2016), Einführung in die Wissenschaften des Hadith, seine Überlieferungsgeschichte und Literatur, Freiburg: Kalām Verlag.
  → This is a very useful and informative German overview of the history and genres of Hadith Literature.
   
• Graham, William (1993): „Traditionalism in Islam. An Essay in Interpretation“, in: Journal of Interdisciplinary History 23 (3), S. 495–522.
  → This important essay represents a religious studies approach to the Hadith transmission, its function and meaning in Islam. It provides an explanation of the so-called ‘Isnād paradigm’ and it is essential to understanding what Hadith transmission is, what it is based on and why it exists!
   
• Ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī, Taqī al-Dīn (2006): An Introduction to the Science of the Ḥadīth, übers. von E. Dickinson.
  → This is an English translation of the most important handbook of Hadith Sciences in Sunni Islam.
   
• Sarikaya, Yasar (2021). Hadith und Hadithdidaktik: Eine Einführung. Stuttgart: Schöningh UTB.
  → This is an important contribution on the importance of Hadith in school education and in teaching and learning processes. The first part is also suitable as a general introduction to Hadith Studies.
   
• Schöller, Marco (2007): Nawawī, Yaḥyā Ibn-Šaraf. Das Buch der vierzig Hadithe. Frankfurt/M: Verlag der Weltreligionen.
  → This is a short introduction to the Hadith transmission and a translation of a foundational work with classical commentaries and commentary on Islamic Studies. It should be in the bookshelf of every Muslim theologian.
   
• Speight, R. Marston: (1996): „Hadith and Gospel: Two Modes of Witness to Divine Revelation“. Listening 31, Nr. 3: 172–80.
  → This is an insightful comparative study of foundational texts of Christian and Muslim traditions. It offers additionally a good overview of the theological dimensions of Hadith.
   
• Vimercati Sanseverino, Ruggero (2021). „Die Sache des Hadith ernst nehmen: Theologische Hadithstudien und ihre Bedeutung für die Islamische Theologie“. In Perspektiven des Islam. Beiträge zu einer Theologie des Islam, herausgegeben von Jean Ehret und Mouez Khalfaoui, Freiburg: Herder, S. 78–134.
  → This is an introduction to Hadith Studies as a subject of Islamic Theology, with clarifications of scientific theory. It presents foundational concepts in the field and it addresses authoritative questions. This is an essential reading for graduate students.