Compilation of Hadith

Outline

 Introduction and Importance of Hadith

 First Stage: During the lifetime of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
 Second Stage: During the time of the companions after the Prophet‟s ‫ﷺ‬demise
 Third Stage: During the time of the Successors (Tabi‟een)
 Fourth Stage: During the time of the Successors of the Successors (Atba‟ at-Tabi‟een),
and those after them

Note:
Example done for each stage must be mentioned.
Above mentioned stages are required to be mentioned according to the question requirement
 „Compilation of Hadith‟

Main Outline of „Compilation of Hadith during the Age of successors of successors‟

 Introduction and Importance of Hadith
 Two Main Categories of Compilation
 Six Authentic Books of Ahadith and their Features:
 Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud
 Jam‟e Tirmidhi, Sunnan Nasa‟I, Sunnan ibn Majah
 Shia Books
 Conclusion

Introduction and Importance of Hadith

There is common misconception that the ahadith were compiled and written down only in late 2 nd
century Hijri, and based on this, there are those who cast doubts about the authenticity of hadith.
However, this is a feeble claim, not supported by evidence. Firstly, the primary method of
transmitting information in the early generations was memorizing the texts, and verbally passing
them on to the next generations. Secondly, there is ample evidence of hadith being written down
and compiled since the time of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬.

First Stage: During the lifetime of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬:

The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬initially had prevented the Companions from writing down ahadith. Abu Sa‟eed al-
Khudri narrates that the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬said: “Do not write from me. Anyone who writes anything
from me other than Quran must erase it.” (Sahih Muslim). This was to ensure the preservation of
Quran, and avoid the ahadith of the Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬getting mixed with the Quran. Other
reasons include the fact that the strong memories of the Arabs were sufficient to carry the Prophet‟s
words to the next generation, so writing was to be restricted only to Quran to ensure its complete
preservation.

The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬thus encouraged the oral transmission of his hadiths, saying: “May Allah give
freshness to a slave [of Allah], who hears my saying, grasps, and communicates it [to
others] the way he heard it.” (Sunan Abi Dawud). The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬likewise encouraged it in his
farewell sermon, saying, “Those who are present should propagate [my words] to those
absent.” (Sahih Bukhari). Hence, during the lifetime of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, the primary method of
collecting and propagating ahadith of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬was through oral transmission.

However, there were many instances where the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬also allowed the writing of hadith, where
there was no fear of it mixing with the Quran, and the companions showed eagerness or insisted
upon writing:
1. Abdullah ibn „Amr said, “I used to write all that I would hear from the Messenger of Allah ‫ﷺ‬, to
memorize it. Quraysh prohibited me saying: Do you write everything that you hear from him while
the Messenger of Allah ‫ﷺ‬is a human being: he speaks in anger and pleasure? So I stopped writing,
and mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah ‫ﷺ‬. He pointed with his finger towards his mouth and
said: „Write, for by Him in Whose hand my soul lies, only truth comes out from it.‟” (Sunan Abi
Dawud). Abdullah ibn „Amr used to called this Sahifah Sadiqah (truthful), and it was very dear to
him. It is said to have contained around 250 ahadith, much of which are incorporated in the Musnad
Ahmad, and other books of hadith.
2. Likewise, at the time of the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬delivered a sermon in which he
clarified some rulings related to Makkah. A man from Yemen, called Abu Shah, requested the
Prophet ‫ﷺ‬to write them down for him. So, the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬commanded his companions, “Write for
Abu Shah!” (Bukhari and Muslim).
3. Similarly, „Ali (RA) had a Sahifah in which he had noted down rulings from the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬related
to blood money, ransom for captives, and Qisas.
4. Anas ibn Malik was also known to have a Sahifah.
5. Likewise, the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬sent „Amr ibn Hazm to Yemen with writings containing rulings related to
Zakat and blood money. These writings were called „Kitab „Amr ibn Hazm‟.

Second Stage: During the time of the companions after the Prophet‟s ‫ﷺ‬demise:
After the Prophet‟s death, After the Prophet‟s death the Companions assumed both religious and
political leadership in the community. The senior-most companions like Abu Bakr and „Umar did not
narrate a large number of ahadith, but rather preserved the teachings in their actions and methods
of reasoning, and would cite the ahadith when required. Other companions, however, devoted
themselves to educating the Ummah and took the responsibility of teaching the new generation. For
example, Abdullah Ibn Mas‟ud in Kufa, Ibn „Abbas in Makkah, „Aishah and Ibn „Umar in Madinah,
Anas ibn Malik in Basra, Abdullah ibn „Amr in Egypt were all considered authority in knowledge from
whom people would learn. The most prolific of collectors and narrators of hadith however were the
junior companions, who devoted themselves to propagating the ahadith. For example, Abu
Hurayrah narrated around 5374 ahadith, Ibn „Umar 2630 ahadith, Anas 2286 ahadith, „Aishah
2210 ahadith, Ibn „Abbas 1696, Jabir 1540 ahadith.
Despite there being extensive narration of hadith, the primary method of collection and preservation
still was memorization and transmission was done verbally. However, just like in Prophet‟s ‫ﷺ‬time,
there were several instances where the Companions wrote down ahadith.
1. Abu Bakr (RA) had appointed Anas (RA) as governor of Bahrain, and wrote to him rulings
related to Zakat as mentioned by the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬.
2. Likewise, „Umar (RA) wrote to the Muslims while they were in Azerbaijan some of Prophet‟s ‫ﷺ‬
commands related to wearing silk.
3. Ibn „Abbas used to inquire the senior companions about the sunnahs of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, and he
would be accompanied by someone who would write it down for him.
4. Similarly, it was reported that Anas ibn Malik (RA) asked his son to write down some ahadith he
had heard from Itban ibn Malik (RA).
5. Usaid ibn Hudair (RA) wrote some ahadith to Marwan ibn al Hakam.
6. Samurah ibn Jundub (RA) wrote the ahadith he had learnt, and sent them to his son
Sulayman.
7. Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa (RA) also wrote some ahadith to Umar ibn Ubaydillah. (Sahih Bukhari
2818)

Third Stage: During the time of the Successors (Tabi‟een):

During the era of the successors, the reliance upon writing hadith had increased, as the need for
compilation was greater. The memories weren‟t as strong as they were in the previous generation,
and false ahadith were being circulated, due to which compiling hadith had become essential.
Hence, Caliph „Umar ibn „Abdil Aziz (98-101 AH) ordered the compilation of hadith. He wrote to
the people of Madinah, “Search for the hadith of Allah‟s Messenger, and compile it.” (Tareekh
Asbahan).
He commanded Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn „Amr ibn Hazm to compile the ahadith narrated
by two prominent scholars of the tabi‟een, „Amrah bint Abdir Rahman and Qasim ibn Muhammad
ibn Abi Bakr, both of whom were students of Aishah.
He also commanded Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri to compile hadith. Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri narrates, “We
were commanded by Umar ibn Abdil Aziz to compile the ahadith, so we wrote down
multiple copies. Then, he sent to each governorate under his rule one copy.” Due to this
effort of Ibn Shihab, the historians say: “Ibn Shihab was the first to [officially] compile hadith.”

Several other successors also compiled hadith on their own. Amongst the most prominent
successors to compile hadith were two students of Abu Hurayrah: Hammam ibn Munabbih, and
Abdur Rahman al-A‟raj. The sahifah of Hammam ibn Munabbih is fully incorporated in Musnad
Ahmad. Similarly, students of Ibn „Abbas, Mujahid and Ikrimah are known to have compiled
books. Likewise, Urwah ibn az-Zubayr would also write the ahadith he had learnt from „Aishah.

Fourth Stage: During the time of the Successors of the Successors (Atba‟ at-Tabi‟een), and
those after them:
This era is considered the „Golden Age of Hadith compilation‟, as hadith compilation had spread
far and wide, and had become the primary method for hadith transmission. Hence, many
hundreds of thousands of hadiths were compiled. During this period, Hadith scholars established
rules of Matn and Sanad to sift through the Hadiths to categorize them and include them in their
collections.
The Muhadditheen compiled their books mainly in two categories: Musnad and Musannaf.
Musnad refers to books in which the ahadith were compiled with respect to the first narrator, i.e.
the companion. Amongst the most prominent works from this category are:
1. Musnad al-Humaydi (d. 219 AH),
2. Musnad Abi Dawud at-Tayalisi (d. 204 AH),
3. Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH). Musnad Ahmad is the most comprehensive work
from this category, compiling over 27000 ahadith. The book starts with the ahadith narrated by the
4 caliphs, then the rest of the 10 blessed companions, then the family of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, and
likewise.
As for the Musannaf category, it refers to books that organized the ahadith topic-wise. The books
belonging to the Musannaf categories were further classified as Jami‟ (contains all topics of the
religion), Sunan (contains topics related to legal rulings only), Sahih (contains only sahih ahadith).
The 6 canonical books (al-Kutub as-Sittah) of hadith all belong to this category. Amongst the most
prominent works from this category are:
1. Muwatta Malik:

Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH) collected in his Muwatta around 2000 narrations. These include
the ahadith of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, as well as the sayings of the Sahabah. Likewise, Imam Malik also
included his verdicts in the book.

2. Musannaf Abdir Razzaq:

Abdur Razzaq ibn Hammam as-San‟aani (d. 211) collected in his book around 20,000
narrations. These include the ahadith of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬as well as the sayings of the Sahabah
and Tabi‟een.

3. Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah:

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah (d. 235) collected in his book around 38,000 narrations. These
also include the ahadith of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬as well as the sayings of the Sahabah and Tabi‟een.

4. Sahih Bukhari:

Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH) devoted sixteen years of his life in travelling to
collect hadith. He had collected around 600,000 narrations. However, from these, he
incorporated in his Sahih only 7563 ahadith, which met the most rigorous standards of
authenticity. Many of these ahadith were repeated in multiple topics, hence, the total of different
ahadith without repetition comes to 2762 traditions. These narrations only contain the sayings
of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. Imam Bukhari also added chapter headings, which reflect his legal opinions.

5. Sahih Muslim:

Muslim ibn Hajjaj al-Qushayri an-Nisaburi (d. 261 AH) also restricted his book to only Sahih
ahadith. His collection comprises 9200 Hadiths. Imam Muslim kept all narrations of a certain
hadith in the same section, which enables the reader to compare the wordings of the different
narrations. Unlike Imam Bukhari, he did not add chapter headings.
 6. Sunan Abi Dawud:

Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn Al Ash‟ath as Sijistani (d. 275 AH) compiled the Sunan from a
pool of 500,000 hadith, including 4800 hadiths in his book, which are mainly related to legal
rulings only. He added chapter headings before mentioning the ahadith, that allude to his legal
opinions. His book largely contains Sahih and Hasan ahadith.

7. Jami‟ at-Tirmidhi:

Muhammad ibn „Isa at-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH) collected 3,956 ahadith in his book. These
ahadith are largely Sahih and Hasan, and some Daeef hadiths as well. In addition to chapter
headings, at-Tirmidhi would also mention the rulings of the ahadith, legal opinions of the
scholars, and comments on the trustworthiness of the narrators.

8. Sunan an-Nasa‟ee:

Ahmad ibn Shu‟ayb an-Nasa‟ee (d. 303 AH) collected in his book roughly 5700 hadith (with
repetition). His collection largely includes Sahih and Hasan ahadith, which he had selected from
a larger collection he had authored known as as- Sunan al-Kubra. Imam an-Nasa‟ee also tends
to mention narrations of a certain hadith in the same section, often to point out the differences
between them. He also added chapter headings, which indicate his legal opinions.

9. Sunan ibn Majah:

Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majah al-Qazvini (d. 273 AH) collected in his book around 4341
ahadith. These include Sahih, Hasan, and many Daeef ahadith. He also added chapter
headings to each hadith.

Shia Books
Shias also accept the Hadith as an important source of guidance. Their books include the
principles of religion, history, ethics, supplication, the details of religious law and other practical
and legal issues. They also cover various religious aspects and includes some lengthy letters and
speeches narrated by the Imams. From the most important Shiah hadith books are The most
important Sh'iah hadith books are:

i. Al-Kafi fi Ilm ad-Din (The Sufficient in the Science of Religion). It is divided into three sections:
 Usûl al-Kâfi
 Furû al-Kâfî
 Rawdat al-Kâfi.
ii. Al-Istibsar (The Perspective).

Conclusion:
Many other scholars also compiled their collections of hadith, which made hadith literature
exceedingly rich and finally came to the state, as we know it today, a guide for all Muslims.
 Reason of Hadith Compilation

Main Outline of „Reasons of Compilation‟

 Introduction and Importance of Hadith

 Reasons of Compilation

 Four Rightly Guided Caliphs Efforts

 Death of Several companions before 100 A.D.

 Anti-Islamic groups and over enthusiastic Muslim teachers fabricated ahadith

 Several teachings centers arose

 Circulation of many Ahadith

 Three major Hadith compilations prepared during that time

 Use of Hadith for Islamic legal thinking/jurisprudence (Ijma & Qiyas)

 Efforts of Prominent Tab‟een

 Conclusion

“Reason of Compilation of Hadith”

Introduction and Importance of Hadith

 During the first century of Hijra (1 AH to 100 AH) the process of preservation of Hadith
had been carried out by selected companions of the prophet (SAW).
He had forbidden the scribes of the Quran from writing his Hadith side by side with the
Quranic verses lest the two might get mixed up. Moreover, the literacy ratio of early Muslims
was quite low.
 He therefore, encouraged his followers to preferably memorize his Hadiths while his scribes
continued to write down the Quranic verses.
 Most of his Companions were gifted with an unusually sharp memory and so, it was sufficient
for them to learn the sayings of the Prophet.
 However, some of his companions had sahifas in which they wrote down some ahadith.
 Sahifas of Ali (RA) and Abdullah ibn „Amr ibn Al „Aas are prominent among others.
 In his Farewell sermon, the prophet (SAW) had instructed his followers to convey his teachings
to those who were absent on that occasion.
 Reasons of Compilation
Four Rightly Guided Caliphs Efforts:
 The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs being close Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) had enforced
the shariah based on the Quran and Hadiths as they had been very close to the prophet in his
life. They also exercised Ijma and Qiyas whenever a new issue challenged the Muslim
community.
 The institute of the Rightly Guided Caliphate ended in 661 A.D. after the martyrdom of Ali that
was followed by a critical period of the early Islamic history. The Islamic governments that
followed the Khulafa e Rashideen were more political and divisive
 After the end of their caliphate, it became important to compile the Prophetic Hadiths so that
future generations could use the Prophet‟s example to clarify and resolve questions and
disputes.
Death of Several companions before 100 A.D.:
 Last of the Companions had died before 100 A.H. due to age or wars, and they included Anas
bin Malik, Abdullah bin Abu Awfa and Samurah bin Jundub. These were among the major
reporters of Hadiths whose death necessitated compilation of ahadith even more. Several
companions also died during the reign of the four Caliphs.
Anti-Islamic groups and over enthusiastic Muslim teachers fabricated ahadith:
 In these circumstances, there arose many anti-Islamic groups who began to craft fabricated
Hadiths.
 Similarly, some over enthusiastic Muslim teachers of Hadiths also began to circulate fabricated
Hadiths with the noble intention of attracting non-Muslims to the fold of Islam. However, this could
not be justified in the light of this Hadiths, “Whosoever tells lies about me, deliberately, let
him take his place in fire of Hell" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Yet some heretics attributed Hadiths to
the Prophet (pbuh) that were false.
 Hence, to eliminate genuine errors in Hadiths on account of verbal narrations, faulty
memories, forgetfulness, etc., Hadiths needed to be compiled.

Several teachings centers arose:

 Several centers of teaching Hadiths began to evolve in non-Arab territories conquered by the
Muslim armies, and newly converted Muslims needed to have Hadith‟s literature in a written
form and wanted to follow the pattern of conduct set by the Prophet (pbuh).
 Therefore, the successors of the Companions, the Tabi'een, began to collect and compile
Hadiths of the Prophet (SAW). Accordingly, as many as around 250 books were compiled by
the Tabi'een about Hadith.

Circulation of many Ahadith:

 By then so many Hadiths were in circulation that it became essential to contain this expanding
treasure of Hadiths. Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz instructed a teacher of Imam Malik,
Muhammad bin Muslim bin Shahab az- Zuhri to collect Hadiths from all the reporters in
Madinah.
 He issued an official circular by around 98-99 AH, and wrote letters to governors of several
provinces in this regard. These letters contained this instruction the Caliph, "Scrutinize the
Hadiths of the Prophet (SAW) thoroughly and compile them in form of books."
Three major Hadith compilations prepared during that time:

 Hadiths experts quote three major compilations that were prepared during that time. One Qazi
Abu Mohammad bin Amr bin Hazam, another by lady compiler Amrah bint Abd Rehman,
and the third one was that of Caliph Abu Bakr‟s grandson Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abu
Bakr.

Use of Hadith for Islamic legal thinking/jurisprudence (Ijma & Qiyas)

 With the passage of time, Islamic legal thinking/jurisprudence became an established science
that was based on the Asl or the primary sources, Quran and Hadiths.
 The two secondary sources, Ijma/consensus and Qiyas/analogy cannot be exercised in working
out Islamic laws, thus the need of Hadith books, as source materials became more important
during the age of the successors of the Tab'een, called the Atbaa‟ at-Tab'aeen.

Command to follow Prophet (SAW) is given in Qur‟an

 The command to follow the Prophet (pbuh) is given in the Qur‟an and it was with the help of the
Hadith movement that the Prophet‟s Hadiths were preserved and spread for all time.

Efforts of Prominent Tab‟een

 Prominent among these were Imam Malik ibn Anas and Abdur Razzaq bin Hammam, teacher
of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, who prepared huge collections of hadiths.
 So, these scholarly people continued the process of Hadith compilation by examining the Matn or
text and Isnad of the chain of reporters of Hadith.
 As a result of the efforts of the six major collectors like Imam Bukhari and imam Muslim, the six
authentic hadith compilations were prepared in the third century of Hijra.

Conclusion
In the third period, many other scholars compiled new collections. Their contents were taken from
the six books and rearranged in various ways until it was felt that all the ahadith circulating orally had
been reduced to writing. Hence, the hadith literature became exceedingly rich and finally came to
state, as we know it today, as a guide for all Muslim.

Reference:
 Islam Beliefs and Practice by Yasmin Malik
 Cambridge O level Islmaiyat by Dr.Saqib Muhammad Khan & Habibur-
Rehman