ISLAMIYAT (2058)

NOTES

History and Importance of Hadith

By: Talha Afzal

Hadith and Sunnah:
• These two words have almost always been used by scholars to describe the same thing.
• Hadith, derived from ‘Tahdis’ means ‘to inform’ and represents an account of what happened.
• Sunnah means ‘a practice’ and implies the actions and doingsof the Prophet.
o It is the actual embodiment of the will of Allah, shown through actions of the Prophet.
• With Muslims, these terms came to be applied to matters relating to the Prophet and customs
followed by him.
• After the Prophet’s demise, the importance of Hadith inevitabely increased to explain
revelations, especially in the form of the Quran.
• Hadith includes:
o All sayings of the Prophet.
o Deeds of the Prophet.
o His silent approval to the behavior of his companions
• Hadith of the Prophet are the second most important source of guidance after the Quran.
History of the Compilation of the Hadith:
• The words of the Holy Prophet were also compiled by his companions just like they did the
Quran and gave extreme importance to it.
• “Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.” (53:3-4)
• The First Period of Compilation:
o This was during the Prophet’s lifetime.
o The companions had three methods of learing or preservation:
▪ Memorizing
▪ Writing
▪ Practicing
o The companions focused on observing the Prophet carefully, remembering his sayings,
and then applying them.
o Abdullah bin Umar wrote everything he heard from the Prophet. Some companions
forbade him to do so but the Prophet said, “By God Who owns my life, nothing comes
out of this mouth except the truth.”
o Several people including Abdullah bin Amr, Abu Hurairah, Anas, Ayesha, Abdullah bin
Umar, and Ali had written collections of Ahadith.
o Companions individually acted on and wrote the Hadith during this period.
• The Second Period of Compliation:
o This period was after the Prophet’s death, during the time of the Sahabah and Taibeen.
o Bashir bin Nuahik compiled the Ahadith narrated by Abu Hurairah, Oban wrote the
Ahadith of Anas, Urwa bin Zubair and Nafey wrote those of Ayesha, and Abbas’s
students also wrote his Ahadith.
o Compilations based on tracing back to each companion are called “Musnad.”
▪ For instance, the Musnad of Abu Bakr, Abu Hurairah, Ayesha etc.
▪ A famous Musnad is “Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal.”
o Another category of compilation was by grouping into chapters, “Musannaf.”
▪ Al-Muwta by Imam Malik and Al-Musannaf of Imam Abd-al-Razzaq.
o In the second century A.H, writing of Ahadith was taken up by Umar bin Abdul Aziz
(considered by many as 5th righteous caliph). He set up a committee of great scholars in
99 A.H to write Ahadtih.
o Famous members of this committee where Imam Muslim, Shubi, and Makhool.
 o Imam Zuhari also wrote Ahadith and organized them.
o Famous books were: “Sunan-e-Abul Walid” and “Jam-e-Sufyan Suri.”
• The Third Period of Compilation:
o This period beagn with the death of the Comanions.
o Muslims relied on the commuinication of successors, who narrated to “Taba-i-Taibeen.”
o Compilation was done enthusiastically in the 3rd century, The Golden Age for Hadith.
o Reciting and memorizing Ahadith was considered a privelage.
o A great number of Ahadith had been collected and scrutiny of the Ahadtih was done.
o Originally, it was Imam Bukhari’s idea to compile authentic Hadith. He gathered 600,000
but added only 7,000 to his work which is considered the most authentic collection.
o He was followed by Imam Muslim; Collectively, they’re known as the two “Sahih.”
o Sunan-e-Abu Dawood, Jam-e-al-Tirmidhi, Sunan-e-Nisai, and Sunane- Ibn-e-Majah, are
four books/authors along with the Sahih whose books became widely recognized.
▪ Their books are known as “Al-Kutub-ul-Sitta” or “The Six Sahihs.”
o In this period, many other scholars compiled new collections.
o The content was taken from the Six Sahihs and rearraged till it was felt that all orally
circulating Ahadith had been reduced to writing.
o Hence, Hadith literature became exceedingly rich and finally came into a state we know.
The Earleist Collections:
• Sahifa:
o Collections of the sayings of the Prophet which were written down by one of his
Companions during his lifetime or by successors of the next generation.
o Most important is the Sahifa of Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas.
▪ He titled it al-Sahifa al-Sadiqa, contained 1000 traditions.
o Sahifa Amr bin Azam which includes rulings about prayer, Zakat, and governance laws.
o Other Sahifa included Sahifa Anas bin Malik and Sahifa Ali inb Abu Talib.
• Musannaf:
o More comprehensive collection of Hadith in which traditions related to belief, laws and
rulings, piety and asceticism, Quranic commentry, historical and biographical matters,
Jihad, and the virtues and defects ofvarious people, places etc. are arranged in various
books and chapters, each dealing with a particular topic.
o Examples include Muwatta of Imam Malik and Sahih of Muslim etc.
• Sahih:
o Contains only Sahih Ahadith. Examples are Sahih Bukhari and Muslim.
• Musnad:
o Collections in which Ahadith are arranged according to the names of their original
narrators, regardless of topic.
o A collector of Musnad is a “Musnid.”
o Arranged in alphabetical order, merit of contribution to Islam, or according to affinity of
their tribe to the Prophet.
o Examples include Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal (30k Ahadith from 700
companions) and Musnad of Abu Abd al-Rahman (narrated by 1,300 companions).
• Mujam:
o Applies to any collection arranged in alphabetical order.
o Collections of traditions under names of companions in alphabetical order are called
“Mujam al-Sahaba.
o The collection of al-Tabarani belongs to this.
 • Jame:
o Collection which contains traditions related to all 8 topics: belief, laws and rulings, piety
and asceticism, Quranic commentry, historical and biographical matters, Jihad, and the
virtues and defects ofvarious people, places etc.
o The Sahih of Bukhari and the Jame of al-Tirmidhi are examples.
• Sunan:
o Collections that only contain “Ahadith al-Akham” (legal traditions) and omit material
related to historical, spiritual, or other matters.
o Examples are Sunan of Abu Dawood, al-Nisai, and many others.
• Mustadrak:
o A collection in which a complier accepts the conditions laid down by a previous compiler
and collects traditions missed by their predacessors.
o Example is Mustadrak of al-Hakim al-Nisaburi, who assembled a large number of
Ahadith which fulfilled the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim but were omitted by them.
• Mustakhraj:
o A later scholar chooses an early work like Sahih Bukhari and narrates the same Hadith
in his books, passing Bukhari and joining the Isnad.
o Many books on this pattern with example of Al-Mustakhraj of Ismail on Al-Bukhari.
• Arbainiyyat:
o Collections containing only 40 Ahadith related to one or more subjects which may have
appeared to be of special interest to the compiler.
o The best known example is the 40 Ahadith of al-Nawawi.
Judging the Authenticity of a Hadith
• Sciences to protect the sayings and actions of the Prophet:
o Asma-ur-Rijal: thousands of biographical accounts of the narrators of Ahadith have
been recorded.
o Jarawah Tadeel: principles were made to scrutinize the Ahadith and find out whether
one can be accepted or rejected. Has principles of “Riwayat” and “Dirayat.”
• Principles of Riwayat (Examining the chain of transmitters):
o The Isnad (chain) of the transmission must be continuous; The narrators must have
been known to have met each other, and every narrator must possess certain qualities.
o Qualities of a ‘sound’ narrator:
▪ The narrator must be a sane adult muslim who has never committed a major sin
and is known to avoid even minor ones. Trustworthiness must be above par.
▪ They must have an excellent memory and transmit the Hadith as it is.
▪ Truthfulnes must be above board and must have never been accused of lying.
▪ Should be careful and intelligent and have shown responsibility in narration.
▪ The name, title, parentage, and occupation should be know so the narrators
biography can be investigated.
▪ The original narrator must have heard the Hadith directly from the Prophet.
▪ The narrator and the one its passed onto should have lived during the same
period.
• Principles of Dirayat (Examining the text):
o The Matn (text) must be free of any defect in language, and must not clash with
established Islamic belief.
 o Conditions for the text to be considered ‘sound:
▪ It should not contradict or clash with a Quranic verse or Sahih Hadith.
▪ It should be in classic Arabic language, the tongue spoken by the Prophet.
▪ There shouldn’t be any vulgar or odd language that the Prophet couldn’t have
used and neither should it have any moderm words that didn’t exist at the time.
• Classification of Hadith:
o Hadith Qudsi:
▪ Statements of Allah told by the Prophet.
▪ Fewer in number, less than 1000.
▪ Topics regarding man-God relationship, Tawhid, and worship.
▪ They are only sayings
o Hadith Nabawi:
▪ Statements of the Prophet
▪ There are over 100,000.
▪ They have a wide range of topics.
▪ They can be sayings or actions.
• Types of Hadith (per Authority):
o Qudsi – Divine: revelation from Allah, relayed by the Prophet.
o Marfu – elevated: a narration from the Holy Prophet.
o Mauquf – stopped: a narration from a Companion only.
o Maqtu – severed: a narratiom from a successor.
• Types of Hadtih (per Authenticity):
o Sahih (Authentic): absolutely correct, no weakness in chain of transmission and text.
o Hasan (Good): like Sahih but slightly lower in status, slight weakness in chain.
o Daeef (Weak): some problem in either transmission or its contents.
o Maudu (Fabricated): false Hadith insert, made up, has no place in Sahih collections.
The Main Compilers of Hadith:
• Imam Bukhari:
o Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara in 194 A.H (d. 256 A.H).
o Possessed a sharp, intelligent mind with photographic memory.
o He started the study of Hadith at an early age and progressed fast.
o He traveled to Makkah for Hajj and then various places all over the Islamic empire to
meet Muhadditheen to collect Ahadtih.
o He used to seek guidance in prayer before accepting any Hadith.
o He followed very strict rules for his compilation of Ahadith.
o He collected 7563 Ahadtih, which is reduced down to 2230 accounting for repetition.
o His book, Sahih Bukhari, is considered the most authentic after the Quran.
• Imam Muslim:
o Muhammad bin Muslim was born in 202 A.H (d. 261 A.H).
o He traveled widely, visitng all important learning centres in major countries.
o He collected approximately 12,000 out of 330,000 Ahadith (2200 without repetition).
o His book, Sahih Muslim, is considered to be very close to the book of Imam Bukhari.
• Imam Abu Dawood:
o Abu Dawood was born in 203 A.H (d. 275 A.H).
o He aslo traveled widely, visiting major countries and meeting several Muhadditheen.
o He collected approximately 500,000 Ahadtih but included only 4,800 in his Sunan book.
 • Imam Al-Tirmidhi:
o Tirmidhi was born in Makkah in the year 206 A.D (d. 279 A.H).
o He traveled a good deal in search for Ahadith, visitng many major Islamic centres where
he associated with other Imams such as Bukhari and Muslim.
o He was a student of Abu Daud.
o He had a very remarkable memory and provided a critical analysis of the Ahadith.
o His book contained Ahadtih from the Hasan category too.
• Imam Al-Nisai:
o Abu Abdul Rahman Abmad ibn Shuayb al-Nisai was born in 214/15 A.D (d 303 A.H).
o He traveled widely in pursuit of Ahadtih to collect.
o He also compiled a book on the merits of Hazrat Ali to correct erroneous views.
o Leading traditionalist of his time.
• Imam Ibn Maja:
o Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Maja was born at Qazwin (d. 273 A.H).
o He visited the important Islamic centres of learning and studiest under the great
traditionalists of his time.
o Compiled several books, most important one being Sunan Ibn-e-Maja.
The Six Authentic Books of Hadith:
• Sahih Bukhari:
o The most important work in the field of Hadith, considered most reliable collection.
o Said to have questioned more than 1,000 masters of Hadith.
o Devoted nearly a quarter of his life (16 years) to compilation.
o Sahih Bukhari contained 7563 Ahadtih with 2,230 without repetition, out of 600,000.
o Hadith selected using very strict rules.
o Most authentic book after the Quran.
o Bukhari used to seek prayer guidance before accepting any Hadith.
• Sahih Muslim:
o Considered above Bukhari by some, equal by some, and second to it by most.
o Examined a third of a million Hadith from which 12,000 were selected (2200 without
repetition).
o Strictly observed the principles of the science of Hadith, more consistent than Bukhari in
pointing out the differences between narrations of various narraters, as in stating their
characer and other particulars.
o Bukhari and Muslim are collectively called “al-Sahihain” (The Two Most Authentic
Collections).
• Sunan Abu Dawood:
o One of the most celebrated books on traditions and Sacred Law, regarded as the first of
this type of work and the best as well.
o Examined over 500,000 Ahadith and selected 4,800 for his book over 20 years.
o Collected most reliable Ahadith on every subject of the Fiqh.
o Containing all legal traditions, and furnishing notes on the value of them, his book is
considered the most important Sunan book.
• Jame Tirmidhi:
o The principles of Abu Daud were imroved on by his student, Tirmidhi.
o Contains the bulk of legal traditions which had been accepted by the jurists of the main
juridical tendences as the basis of Islamic Law.
o The book is divided into 50 chapters and contains nearly 4000 Ahadith.
 o The book is a Sahih and Tirmidhi went to a great extent by finding out the identity,
names, titles, and the kunya of the narrators of the traditions he cited.
o He also attempted to state their degree of reliability.
• Sunan Nisai:
o It contains 5662 Ahadith and is well divided into chapters.
o He was the best evaluator of the narrators of his time.
o He compiled legal traditions which were considered fairly reliable.
o Now his book is a part of the 6 authentic books.
• Sunan Ibn Maja:
o It contains 4341 Ahadtih spread over 32 books and 1500 chapters.
o It has less repetition and is one of the best in arrangement of chapters.
Sunnah as a source of Islamic Law:
• Refer to the “History and Importance of Quran” notes for this section.