The compilation of Hadith

The compilation of Hadith

The writing of Hadith, or rather the compilation of a permanent book, had already begun during the blessed era of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). It is narrated about a large group of the Companions that they had collected the Tayyiba Hadiths in writing in various numbers and in various forms.

The collection of Hadith “Sadiqa” compiled by Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas is not hidden from the eyes of the people of knowledge, which contains more or less one thousand Hadiths. The written collections and books of Hazrat Saad bin Ubadah, Hazrat Abdullah bin Abi Awfi, Hazrat Samura bin Jundab and Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah are mentioned in reliable books. After the death of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), Hazrat Abu Hurairah wrote many books.

One of them was compiled by his distinguished student Hammam bin Munabbah, the “Sahifa Hammam bin Munabbah”, the permanent copy of which is still available today, and whatever Hazrat … had written is also a link in this chain.

  Especially those writings in which some kind of rulings were written by you… For example, your…’s letter to Amr bin Hazm – the result is that the process of compiling and editing the books of hadith had already begun during your…’s lifetime.

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In the beginning of Islam, when Muslims in general did not have special practice with the Holy Quran

However, in the beginning of Islam, when Muslims in general did not have special practice with the Holy Quran, and were not fully informed about the reasons for the miracles, facts and knowledge of the Quran, and did not have complete access to the difference and distinction between the words of Allah and the words of the Messenger …, the writing of Hadith was prohibited due to the fear of confusion. But later, when these reasons were removed and no such fear remained, the Prophet … permitted the writing of Hadith, and the previous order of “Let no one write down the meaning” was abrogated.

Compiling Hadith continued among the Tabi’in

Then this process of compiling Hadith continued among the Tabi’in, and the great Tabi’in, such as Hazrat Saeed bin Musayyib, Sha’bi, Mujahid, Saeed bin Jubayr, Ata, Qatada, etc., were also engaged in compiling Hadith with full dedication. Yes, it was so necessary that this process of compiling and compiling was only done individually.

There was no regular organized form for it. Even at the end of the first century AH, in view of the abundance of seditions, the threat of the loss of Hadith became severe and strong. So in 99 AH, the Rightly Guided Caliph Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz issued official orders to compile the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah in an official manner.

Thus, apart from the Governor of Medina, Abu Bakr bin Hazm, other religious scholars also started the work of compiling Hadith in compliance with the order of the aforementioned Caliph.  The first book that came to the hands of the Muslim Ummah in this regard was the book of Imam Ibn Shihab Zuhri (died 123 AH), which he compiled during the time of Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz. Then, following him, great and eminent hadith scholars from different cities also engaged in the sacred work of compiling hadith. Thus, in Makkah, Ibn Jurayj (died 150 AH), in Madinah, Imam Darul Hijrat Imam Malik bin Anas (died 179 AH) and Muhammad bin Ishaq (died 151 AH) and Sahib al-Maghazi (died 151 AH), in Basra, Rabi’ bin Subih (died 160 AH), Sa’d bin Abi ‘Uruba (died 156 AH) and Hammad bin Salama (died 167 AH), in Kufa, Sufyan al-Thawri (died 161 AH), in Syria, Imam al-Awza’i (died 158 AH), in Yemen, Mu’mar (died 153 AH), and in Egypt, Laith bin Sa’d (died 175 AH).  In Wasit, Hashim died in 183 AH. In Ray, Jarir bin Abdul Hamid died in 188 AH. In Khorasan, Abdullah bin Mubarak died in 181 AH. The outstanding works that the world-renowned scholars have done in the field of compiling and arranging Hadith are worthy of being written in golden letters.

The formal compilation of Hadith took place at the end of the first century

From these brief historical facts it is clear that the formal compilation and compilation of Hadith took place at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century. And this process continued until the end of the second century. This was the first period of compilation and arrangement of Hadith, of the compilations of this period, only the “Muwatta ma’am Malik” has reached us.

 Two types of compilations were made during this period. One type is that in which the authentic chain of transmission was not adhered to, but the hadith that had reached was recorded. The second type is that in which the accuracy was adhered to, but the marfu’ (a hadith in which a companion reports the saying or action of the Messenger of Allah…) hadith was not adhered to. Rather, the manqee’ (a hadith from whose chain of transmission several narrators are omitted from different places), the mursal (a hadith in which the first companion narrator is not mentioned by the follower), the Athar al-Sahaba, and even the maqtoo’ (sayings of the follower) were mixed and combined with the marfu’ (a hadith in which a companion reports the saying or action of the follower).  Thus, the great services rendered by Ibn Jurayj (died 150 AH), Ibn Ishaq (died 151 AH), Rabi’ ibn Sabih (died 161 AH), Sufyan Thawri (died 161 AH), Imam Awza’i (died 156 AH), Ibn Mubarak (died 181 AH) .

And others in the compilation of Hadith were all of this nature. In that era, since the Mursal Hadith was an independent source of evidence according to the scholars and jurists, there was no need to separate the Mursal from the Marfu’. Later, when Hazrat Imam Shafi’i was the first to deny the source of evidence and then, after seeing him, this idea gained strength among the general scholars of Hadith,

It was felt that it was necessary to produce such works that would not have this defect, but rather, the Marfu’ Hadith should be completely distinguished from the Mursal and Athar.  In view of this need, the scholars of this era started compiling works in a modern and very new style, and this second period of compilation of Hadith began from the beginning of the third century. In the works of this period, the Marfu’ah Hadiths were distinguished and refined from all other things, and the Hadiths were collected in the order of the Companions, which led to the compilation of “Musanid”. In this period of compilation of Musanid also, great scholars showed the essence of their art.

Thus, Abdullah bin Musa in Kufa. Musaddid bin Misrah in Basra. Yaqub bin Shaybah Maliki in Dawar Egypt prepared such a thick Musnad that if he had reached the stage of completion, it would have been a collection of about two hundred volumes. Similarly, Hafiz Hassan bin Ahmad bin Muhammad in Samarkand wrote several Musnads. Imam Dhahabi states that he had written such a large book that it contained a collection of one hundred and twenty thousand hadiths. The Musnad of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal is also from the same family. In it, he selected and collected one hundred and forty thousand hadiths from his memory out of seventeen hundred and fifty thousand hadiths. Some Musnads are also attributed to Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Shafi’i, but this is not a collection written by them, but a collection of hadiths narrated by them.  So many eloquent efforts were made during the era of the Musnad, but it is a pity that among the works of that period, only the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal is published and available. To the extent of my incomplete information, other Musnads are only mentioned in history books.

Anyway, the works of that period became separate and distinguished from the Marfu’ and non-Marfu’ Hadith, but in the eyes of the Muhadditheen, one shortcoming still remained that in these books, all the authentic and unauthentic Hadiths were mixed, of which the Musnad of Ahmad is a clear example.

That is, the works of that period were also not such that they could be followed with complete confidence and trust, therefore, there was still a need for such a work for the Ummah in which only the Marfu’ Hadiths were collected and the non-Marfu’ Hadiths were not mixed with the Marfu’ Hadiths, as was the case in the works of the earlier period. Also, complete accuracy should be ensured in the compilation of the Marfu’ Hadiths.  And only those hadiths that are completely unblemished in terms of chain of transmission should be collected.

The authentic and the unauthentic should not be mixed as in the second period

The authentic and the unauthentic should not be mixed as in the second period. This style of writing and compiling of Hadith began in the middle of the third century, and with it the third period of compiling books of Hadith begins. In this period, Allah Almighty was the first to accept Imam Bukhari for this service.

He was engaged in this great effort, and the mercy of Allah was with him. He was completely successful. From his precious pen, the Muslim Ummah received such a valuable book that will remain unparalleled until the Day of Judgment. After him, Imam Muslim, following him, wrote a book of a unique style. These two books were remembered by the scholars as “Sahiheen”. And the entire Ummah agreed on the acceptance and reliance of these two books. Then, from around these seven authentic books, useful books such as Sunan Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi Sharif, An-Nasa’i Sharif, Ibn Majah, etc. were also compiled.