The frailties of human nature allow us to transmit events in a way in which they did not actually occur and to flatter people whom we love and have sympathy for. Another reflection of this kind of behavior is acting in this manner for the sake of some kind of spiritual or material interests. It is certain that this characteristic of human nature can turn a person into one who exaggerates, or even lies; in return, it has had an undeniable effect on the birth and development of mawdū‘(fabricated) hadiths (sayings of the Prophet). The strong personality of the Prophet and the divine assistance he received led to him being accepted as an excellent being by his Companions, contemporaries and even the following generations. In addition to several insincere people who acted with the desire of taking advantage of the widespread acceptance of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Muslims, many ignorant Muslims who desired to serve Islam in the beginning attempted to ascribe thousands of words and deeds that they had fabricated to the Prophet.

In spite of the Prophet's direct warning, some people did not abstain from fabricating hadiths in his name. The thousands of fabricated and foul words in legislation books are undeniable evidence of this fact. However, there were also some people who have tried to deny the existence of mawdū‘ hadiths.

In hadith terminology, the term mawdū‘ is used for words that have been forged or falsely ascribed to the Prophet, and the words "invented, fabricated" are used to explain this term in English.

Some words that have been falsely attributed to the Companions and the persons of the following generations have also been included in this term. However, if the word mawdū‘ is used alone, it refers to the fabricated words attributed to the Prophet. For the words fabricated and ascribed to other people, the expression "this is falsely ascribed to so and so," is used.