14. COMPILATION OF HADEETH
1. Era of The Prophet
During the life of the Prophet there was no pressing need to write down all of his various statements or record his actions because he was present and could be consulted at any time. As a matter of fact, the Prophet himself made a general prohibition against writing down his statements which were other than the Qur’an itself. He was reported to have said, “Don’t write anything from me besides the Quran. If you do so, erase it.” This was to prevent the possibility of mixing up the Qur’an with his own words during the era of revelation. Consequently, the greatest stress regarding writing was placed on recording the Quranic verses. However, there are many authentic narrations collected by the Scholars of Hadeeth, that prove that Hadeeth were recorded in writing even during the lifetime of the Prophet. For example, ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr said: “I used to write everything which I heard from the Messenger of Allah with the intention of memorizing it. However, some Quraishes forbade me from doing so saying, ‘Do you write everything that you hear from him, while the Messenger of Allah is a human being who speaks in anger and pleasure?’ So I stopped writing, and mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah. He pointed with his finger to his mouth and said: ‘Write! By Him in whose hand is my soul, only truth comes out from it.’
Aboo Hurayrah said: When Makkah was conquered, the Prophet stood up and gave a sermon [Aboo Hurayrah then mentioned the sermon]. A man from Yemen, called Aboo Shaah got up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Write it down for me.” The Messenger of Allah replied, “Write it for Aboo Shaah.” Al-Waleed asked Aboo ‘Amr, “What are they writing?” He replied, “The sermon which he heard that day.”
Aboo Qaabeel said: We were with ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas and he was asked which city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Rome? So ‘Abdullaah called for a sealed trunk and he said, “Take out the book from it.”
Then ‘Abdullaah said, “While we were with the Messenger of Allah writing, The Messenger of Allah was asked, “Which city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Rome?” So Allaah’s Messenger said: “The city of Heracilius will be conquered first.” meaning Constantinople.“
2. Era of The Sahaabah
After the death of the Prophet his saying and action took on a new importance because he was no longer there to consult when problems arose. The practise of narration on a large scale started during this period. For example, when the Prophet died, the Sahaabah debated about where to bury him. This debate ended when Aboo Bakr told them that the Prophet had said, “Prophets should be buried wherever they die.” Thus a grave was dug immediately below the bed on which he died in the house of ‘Aa’ishah. In this period a number of the leading Sahaabah wrote down hadeeths of the Prophet.
The following are just a few of the leading narrators of the Prophet’s traditions who were known to have recorded them in writing.
Aboo Hurayrah: to whom 5374 channels of hadeeth narrations are attributed, actually narrated 1236 hadeeth. Hasan in ‘Amr ad-Damaree saw many books in his possession.
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Abbaas: to whom 1660 channels of narrations are attributed used to write whatever heheard and even employed his slaves to record for him.
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al- ‘Aas: to whom 700 channels are attributed was known to recorded books of hadeeths during the Prophet’s lifetime with he titled as-Saheefah as-Saheehah. Aboo Bakr was reported to have written down over 500 different sayings of the Prophet.
Ibn al-Jawzee, who provides a list of all the companions who related traditions, gives the names of about 1,060 together with the number of hadeeths related by each. 500 related only 1 hadeeth each; 132 related only 2 each; 80 related 3; 52 related 4; 32 related 5; 26 related 6; 27 related 7; 18 related 8; 11 related 9; 60 related between 10 and 20; 84 related between 20 and 100; 27 related between 100 and 500 and only 11 related more than 500 of which only 6 related more than 1,000 hadeeth, and they are commonly referred to as the mukaththiroon (the reporters of many traditions). Today, a graduate of the college of hadeeth in the Islamic University of Madeenah is required to memorize 250 hadeeth during each of the four years of his study (i.e., a total of 1,000 hadeeths).
From the above, it can readily be seen that fewer than 300 companions related the vast majority of traditions.
3. Era of The Taabi’oon1) 11st Century Hijrah)
After Islaam had spread into the Middle East, India, North Africa and the narration of Hadeeth had become widespread, there arose people who began to invent Hadeeths. To combat this development, Caliph ‘Umar ibn Abdul-Azeez (reign 99 to 101 AH – 71 8 to 720 C.E.) ordered the scholars to compile the traditions of the Prophet. The scholars had already begun composing books containing biographical data on the various narrators of Hadeeth in order to expose the liars and fabricators. Aboo Bakr ibn Hazm (d.120/737) was among those directed by the Caliph to compile the Hadeeth. Caliph ‘Umar requested him to write down all the hadeeths of the Prophet and of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab and to pay particular attention to gathering the hadeeths of ‘Amrah bint ‘Abdir- Rahmaan, who was at that time the most respected custodian of the narrations of ‘Aa’ishah. Sa‘d ibn Ibraaheem and Ibn Shihaab az-Zuhree were also requested to compile books and az-Zuhree became the first compiler of hadeeth to record the biographies of the narrators with particular reference to their character and honesty. In this period the systematic compilation of hadeeths was begun on a fairly wide scale.
However, among the students of the companions, many recorded hadeeths and collected them in books. The following is a list of the top 12 narrators of hadeeths among the Prophet’s companions and their students who had their narrations in written form.
Aboo Hurayrah (5374)12: Nine of his students were recorded to have written hadeeths from him.
Ibn ‘Umar (2630): Eight of his students wrote down hadeeths from him.
Anas ibn Maalik (2286): Sixteen of his students had hadeeths in written form from him.
‘Aa’ishah bint Abee Bakr (2210): Three of her students had her hadeeths in written form.
Ibn ‘Abbaas (1660): Nine of his students recorded his hadeeths in books.
Jaabir ibn ‘Abdillaah (1540): Fourteen of his students wrote down his hadeeths.
Aboo Sa‘eed al-Khudree (1170): None of his students wrote.
Ibn Mas‘ood (748): None of his students wrote.
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (700): Seven of his students had his hadeeths in written form.
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (537): He recorded many hadeeths in official letters.
‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib (536): Eight of his students recorded his hadeeths in writing.
Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aree (360): Some of his hadeeths were in the possession of Ibn ‘Abbaas in written form.
Al-Barraa ibn ‘Aazib (305): Was known to have dictated his narrations.
Of Aboo Hurayrah’s nine students known to have written hadeeths, Hammaam ibn Munabbih’s book has survived in manuscript form and has been edited by Dr.Muhammad Hamidullah and published in 1961 in Hyderabad, India.
4. Era of The Taabi’ut-Taabi’een2) 14nd Century)
In the period following that of the Taabi’oon, the Hadeeths were systematically collected and written in texts. One of the earliest works was al-Muwatta composed by Maalik ibn Anas. Other books of hadeeth were also written by scholars of Maalik’s time by the likes of al-Awzaa‘ee who lived in Syria, ‘Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak of Khurasaan, Hammaad ibn Salamah of Basrah and Sufyaan ath-Thawree of Kufah. However, the only work which survived from that time is that of Imaam Maalik. It could be said that in this period the majority of the hadeeths were collected in the various centers of Islaam.
The reason why these three generations have been given special consideration is because the Prophet was reported to have said, “The best of generations is my generation, then the one which follows them, then the one that follows them.” It was through these three generations that hadeeth was first transmitted orally and in writing, until they were completely compiled into collections on a wide and systematic scale.
5. Era of The Saheehs (3rd Century Hijrah)
There arose in the third century scholars who undertook the job of critical research of the Hadeeths which were narrated and compiled in the first two centuries. They also grouped the Hadeeths which they considered to be accurate according to the branches of Islaamic Law. E.g. From this period is the book Saheeh al-Bukhaaree containing 7,275 Hadeeth which al-Bukhaari (died- 870 C.E.) chose from 600,000 and Saheeh Muslim which contains 9,200 Hadeeths which Imaam Muslim selected from 300,000. Besides these two works of Hadeeth, there are four other works which became famous during this period. They are the four sunan of Aboo Dawud (died 889 C.E.), at-Tirmithee (died 893 C.E.), an-Nasaa’ee (died 916 C.E.) and Ibn Maajah (died 908 C.E.).
Stages of writing
1. The first stage covers the period of the first century A.H. which began in July 622 C.E. or the early \part of the century C.E. It was the age of the companions and their successors often referred to as the age of the Saheefah, that is, a sheet or some sort of writing material such as shoulder blades or parchments on which a number of hadeeth were written. E.g. Saheefah Aboo Bakr and Saheefah Saadiqah of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr. The aim of the first stage was mainly recording the hadeeth without any particular format.
2. The second period covers the middle of the second century A.H. is referred to as the stage of Musannaf (i.e. classified organized work). The second stage represents a planned compilation of hadeeth grouped under headings denoting their subject matter. E.g. Muwatta Maalik
3. The third stage is known as the stage of Musnad (compilation of hadeeth according to the companion’s names). This stage began at the close of the second century A.H. e.g. Musnad Ahmad.
4. The fourth and most important stage is known as the stage of Saheeh. This stage began during the first half of the third century A.H. (9th century C.E.) and overlaps the period of the musnad e.g. Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, Saheeh Muslim and Saheeh Ibn Khuzaymah.
By Bilal Philips
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