Imam Mulsim described the reason of compilation himself in the foreword of the book saying: "A person wished to acquire the teachings of Hadith regarding the fundamentals of religion, practices, reward and punishment etc, so he expressed his desire to Imam Muslim and requested him to compile a book that contains all these things without repetitions. Also, Imam Muslim was grieved at seeing people not differentiating between true and false traditions. So, Imam Muslim started this work and completed it in a span of fifteen years.