History and Importance of Hadith

Compilation of Ahadis

Compilation during Life of Holy Prophet (pbuh):

Prophet himself would give instructions about the transmission of what he taught,

“Preach what you hear me say. Also let those who see and hear me, take upon themselves to
communicate my words to others and preach to their children, relatives and friends.”

There is another report according to which on the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet said,

“He who is present here should carry this message to him who is absent.”

The companions considered it their duty to preach the Ahadis to those who had not seen or
listened to him A party of students called Ashab-e-suffah lived in the mosque itself were
entrusted with the teaching of religion to tribes outside Madinah . From this group most
famous was Abu Hurairah who remained in The Prophet Company at all the times and store
up his memory every thing that Prophet said or did. Abu Hurairah efforts were from the very
beginning directed towards the preservation of Ahadis.

It is related from Abu Hurairah that once one of the companions told the Prophet of his
inability to remember what he heard from him. His reply was:

“Take the help from your right hand” (Tirmizi)

i.e., write it down. Abdullah bin Umar (R) began to write down whatever he heard from the
Holy Prophet (pbuh) . His collections contained around 10,000 Ahadis. Abdullah bin Umar
himself said: “I used to write everything that I heard from the Prophet (pbuh) intending to
commit it to memory”. I spoke about it to the prophet (pbuh) who said:

“Write down, for I only speak the truth” (Abu Daud)

An other report of Abu Hurairah: ‘None of the companions preserved more traditions than
myself , but Abdullah bin Amr is an exception for he used to write and I did not’. Hazrat Ali
used to write down ahadis concerning the Orders, Instructions issued from Holy Prophet
(pbuh). Hazrat Aisha also used to preserved the says of Holy Prophet (pbuh) Abdullah bin
umar and Abdullah bin Abbas were engaged in preserving and transmitting the ahadis. The
Compilation of Abdullah bin Umar was known as Sadiqa. Process of compilation started in
the Life of Holy Prophet (pbuh)

Collection and Compilation After the death Of Holy Prophet (s)

After the Death of Holy Prophet , Islam was widely spread , new converts wanted to hear
about Prophet (pbuh) from close companions and associates The companions were the beat
authority for Knowledge of ahadis and sunnah as they had listened to Prophet(pbuh) Abu
Hurairah , Abudullah bin Abbas , Abdullah bin Umar, Anas bin Malik became the centre to
whom people came from different parts of the Islamic empire to gain Knowledge about the
Prophet (pbuh). Prophet (pbuh) wives were also vital custodians of Ahadis and were
approached for instruction by other companions. Hazrat Aisha, Hazrat Hafsa, Hazrat umm-e-
Habibah , Hazrat Maimunah and Umme-e-Salamah are among the earliest and most
distinguished transmitters.

The Age of Companion ( 11-100 AH ) Approximately During this period Caliph Umar bin
Abdul Aziz wrote to the governor of Madina to write down all the tradition of the Holy
Prophet(pbuh) During this period the companions spread far and wide and settled in almost
all the countries conquered by the Muslims. There was no book of compilation. The only
alternative was to go to companion and hear the tradition from him. Thus, different centers of
learning arose Students were not satisfied with only one centre, because that particular
companion might have no Knowledge of all the traditions. It was reported that Jabir bin’
Abdullah travelled from Makkah to Syria to hear a single hadith. Similarly there were many
students who undertook long journeys to verify or hear sayings of Holy Prophet (pbuh) The
important works of that period were: 1 : The works of Shihab Al Zuheri. 2: Collection of Abu
Bakr Al Hazim

The Age of followers of the Companions (Tabaeens 101-200 AH): This is the age of
followers of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh). The most important works of this period
were carried out by:
· Abudullah bin Mubarik at Khorasan.
· Abu Bakr Rabi Shybah at Kufa
· Sufyan bin’Uyaina at Madina
· Imam Makhul in syria.
· Abu Kilabah.

The out standing works of this period were:

· Al Muwatta by Imam Malek bin Anas Kittab

· Al-Athar by Imam Ahu Hanifa
· Al-Musanaf by Imam Razzak
· Jami Thauri by Imam Sufyan al-Thauri Kitab
· Al-Kharaj by Imama Yousaf
· Masnad Ahmed bin Humbal by Imam Ahmed Hanbal
· Al-Maghazi by Waqidi

The Hanafi and Maliki School of Legal thoughts were formulated during this period in the
light of the ahadith. Abu Hanifa founded the school of deduction or Qiyas By the end of
second Century Imam Shafey and Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal also flourished.

Age of followers of the followers (Taba Tabaeen 200-300 AH): This is Golden age of
Traditions. The six authentic books of traditions (al Sahah –al Sitta) were written. These are
the most reliable books of traditions.

(1) Sahih Bukhari: Written by Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah’ Ismael al-Bukhari(195-256 AH)
Took 40 years for collection. His Sahih is next to Quran in authenticity. He selected nearly
7275 out of 600,000 traditions. He accepted only reliable traditions.
(2) Sahih Muslim: written by ‘Abdul Hussain Muslim bin al Hajaj al-Nishapuri-Qushaieri
(304-216 A.H) . He travelled many places to learn Hadith. His Sahih consist of 9200
traditions selected out of 300,000. It is considered next to Bukhari . Any tradition accepted by
both Bukahri and Muslim has been termed as agreed.
(3) Sunan of Abu Daud: Abu Daud wrote it during 202-275 AH. He travelled to all important
centers of traditions. It consists of 4800 traditions selected out of 500,000 and it took him 20
years to complete his book.
(4) Jami Tirmidhi: written by Abu’Isa-al-Tirmidhi during 209-279 AH. He was first man to
determine the names, surnames and titles of narrators of traditions.
(5) Sunan of Nisai: was written by Abu’Abdur Rahman an Nisai during 214-303 AH . It
also contains weak and doubtful traditions.
(6) Sunan of ibn Majah: written by Mohammad bin Yezid ibn Majah during 209-273.AH.

SHI’A BOOKS:

Authentic books of Shia’s were also compiled during that period. Important are:

(1)Al-Kafi fi ilm al deen (the sufficient in the science of religion): it was written by Abu
J’afar Muhammed who died in 339 AH.
(2)Al-Istibsar (the prespective): written by Abu J’afar Bin Al Hassan who died in 389AH.
(3)Tehzeeb-ul-Ahkam (the revision of judgemens)t: written by Abu J’afar Mohammed Bin
Al Hassan.
(4)Man la Yahzoroh ul Fiqh (one who has no legal expert present): written by Abu J’afar
Muhammad’ Ali.

Authenticity Of Hadiths — the Conditions Established

Is there any Hadith, which is included in the two collections of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, which can be
described as “weak”?

Scholars look at each Hadith, or statement attributed to the Prophet, from two angles: its chain of
reporters and its text. As you realize, by the time the great scholars of Hadith such as Ahmad ibn
Hanbal, Al-Bukhari and Muslim, made their valuable collections, each Hadith should have been
reported by four or more reporters. This is what we call sanad or chain of reporters. Before each
text, you will find Al-Bukhari or Muslim or any other scholar of Hadith stating who told him the
Hadith he is quoting and from whom that person heard it, and on whose authority that second
person is reporting it, and so on until he reaches a companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
who says: “I heard Allah’s messenger saying…” The text of the Hadith then follows.

Scholars have laid down five conditions for the acceptability of any Hadith. Three of these conditions
relate to the sanad or chain of reporters and two to the text. The first three are:

1] The reporter must be intelligent and accurate and must report the Hadith exactly as it was
reported to him;

2] The reporter must be known for his high moral standards, his piety and scholarly work which
makes him reject all types of distortion;
3] These two qualities must apply to all reporters in the chain. If either or both are not met by a
single reporter in the chain, the Hadith is considered to lack in authenticity.

The other two conditions, which relate to the text, are that the Hadith must not suffer from:

a] An oddity or

b] A defect which detracts its validity.

What is meant by oddity with regard to the text of a Hadith is the case when a reliable reporter is
found to be at odds with an even more reliable one. In other words, there is no question of the
reliability, intellectual standard or accuracy of either of the two reporters. Indeed both are
acceptable and the Hadith they report are taken as correct in the first instance. But when we find
the reporter giving us a text, which we find to contradict another text reported by someone who is
even more reliable, then the case is certainly odd.

On the other hand, there are defects, which may detract the validity of a particular Hadith. The
clearest example of these is when the text of a particular Hadith is found to contradict a statement
in the Qur’an.

The five conditions together provide a system, which enables us to establish the authenticity and
accuracy of every statement, attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him. Indeed, no other
creature has ever had his statement subjected to such a thorough system of verification and
establishing authenticity and accuracy. The important thing is, of course, that the system should be
well applied.

Methods used by Muhadditheen

(Compilers of Ahadith) to ensure the
authenticity of Ahadith
 The compilers of six authentic books applied a very strict criterion in selecting the
Ahadith for their books. They did not accept any Hadith that did not meet the set
criteria. They checked the chain of narrators as well as the text.
 Every Hadith is divided into two parts, the first part is the Sand (chain of narrators)
and the second is the Matn(text of Hadith). This is explained through the following
Hadith, Muhammd bin Al Muthanna reported from Abdul Wahab from Ayub from
Abu Killabah, from Malik that the Prophet said, “Pray as you have seen me offering
prayer”. (Agreed upon)
 The first part which mentions the chain of transmitters is the Sanad and the second
part which the body or text is the matn. The Muhaddithun assessed both parts of the
Hadith scrupulously.

Rules adopted to check authenticity of the chain of narrators (Isnaad)

1. For the Sanad, the chain of narrators were carefully studied through the art of Asma-
Ur-Rijal (Names of Men), their biographies were collected and investigated in detail.
2. They ensured that the narrator was pious, noble, honest and well-reputed person.
 3. Even if the transmitter had ever cheated anyone or even lied to anyone in the matter of
joke, the Hadith was rejected.
4. They also ensured that the narrator had good memory and had preserved what he had
heard.
5. A narrator actually met the other narrator and in this way the chain of narration went
right back to the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
6. The narrator was physically, mentally and intellectually fit to understand the full
importance and impact of all what he had heard.
7. Each transmitter must have known the transmitter before him, and also the transmitter
after him.
8. The last person in the chain of narration was a companion of the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) who had himself either heard. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) spoke the
particular words or seen him performing the action quoted in the Hadith.
9. The chain of narration from beginning to the end had un-interrupted continuity.

Rules adopted to check authenticity of the Matn(Tex of Hadith)

1. The compilers ensured that the text of Hadith was not in conflict with the content,
spirit, philosophy or the commandments of the Holy Quran in any manner.
2. It was not in conflict with the content of a Hadith which had already stood the test of
reliability / authenticity or the consensus (Ijma) of the community. For example the
Hadith will not be accepted if it says to offer four daily prayers.
3. It was not against the historical facts already established and proved.
4. It was not against the dictates of reason, logic, rationale common sense or the laws of
nature. For instance , “brushing teeth increses wisdom”.(Fabricated)
5. The matn should have pure Arabic as the Prophet,s language was pure and perfect.
6. It did not, in any way, hurl accusation at the family of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and
caliphs.
7. The Hadith which promised a high reward for a small virtue, or severe punishment for
the slightest fault was rejected.

In short Hadith researchers paid critical attention to the science of biographies and criticism
(Asma’ al Rijal) of the hadith narrators in each generation. And so, narrators of hadith (isnad)
were subjected to severe tests and were graded according to varying degrees of reliability and
genuineness depending upon their character, religious reputation and orientation, depth of
knowledge, and the soundness and accuracy of their memories.

Outline the major differences between the Musnad and Musannaf collection of Hadith.
[4-J-06][4-N-08]

Q Explain the main differences between musnad and musannaf Hadiths. [4-J-09]

Musnad collection of hadith are the ones in which Hadith is collected according to the name
of the first arrator. For example, all Ahadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (ra) are collected in
one place. Musnad Imam Ibn Hanbal is famous for this collection. These collections are
useful where we have to find Hadith narrated by a particular person.
Musannaf collection is the one in which Hadith are collected according to their subject
matter. For example, all Ahadith on Hajj are collected in one chapter irrespective of the
personality narrating that hadith. All six authentic books on Hadith (Bukhari, Muslim and
others) are the example of this collection. These collectios are extremely useful in order to
know about Prophet (saw)’s teachings on a point of Faith or his practice. These collectios
also help in establishing Islamic law.

Kinds of Hadith / categories (see in book)

Activities of major compilers (see in the book)

Teaching of hadiths (learn from 20 hadiths in course)