The two fundamental sources of Islam are the Qur’an (the word of God) and the Sunnah (the

example) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). By Sunnah, we mean the actions,
sayings and silent permissions (or disapprovals) of the Prophet. The word "Sunnah" is also used
to refer to religious duties that are optional. Here, we are concerned with Sunnah in the sense of
the recorded sayings (Hadiths) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In this
sense, Hadith is considered to be second to the Qur'an. It is impossible to understand the Qur'an
without reference to the Hadith; and it is impossible to explain a hadith without relating it to the
Qur'an.
Speaking of the importance of Hadith, we need to take into consideration two broad aspects of
the subject. We know that Allah Almighty revealed the Qur'an to His chosen Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So it is through the Prophet we come to hear
the word of Allah; and it is the Prophet himself who can properly explain and demonstrate the
precepts in the Qur'an. Without the required explanations and illustrations given by the Prophet,
the Qur'an may be misunderstood and misinterpreted by people. So the Prophet took care to
explain and demonstrate to his companions how the Qur'anic verses must be read and
understood. That is to say, the importance of Hadith is linked to the importance of the Qur'an.
For example, the details of how to perform salah (ritual prayer), for instance, were given by the
Prophet through his words and action, and not by the Qur'an. This means that we wouldn't know
how to pray, fast, pay zakah, or perform Hajj without the examples given by the Prophet as
recorded in the Hadith. Indeed, all necessary details are given in the Hadith, not in the Qur'an.

Importance of compilation of Hadith in light of Quran

The Qur’an has advised us that we should accept every advice which we get from the Prophet and avoid
or keep oneself aloof from that everything which Prophet has prohibited. It is said:

Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern [of conduct] for anyone whose hope is in
Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the praise of Allah, (al Ahzab 33:21)

There are various names of this last revealed Book of Allah when we notice reciting aspect of the
Qur’an, the name Qur’an gets prominence. When it is presented against falsehood it’s another name, al
Furqan becomes dominant al Furqan, one who differentiates between truth and falsehood. When its
meaning is under discussion it’s another important name, al Zikar becomes appropriate name of this
revealed Book, thus it is distinguished as remembrance al Zikar through which sense of understanding
and wisdom is produced and truth and reality becomes visible. Instead of the name al Quran and al
Furqan Allah while taking responsibility for its protection calls it al Zikar.

We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly
guard it [from corruption], (al Hijr 15:9)

Which itself is an ample proof of protection of its words and their meaning. Thus the word of Allah for
the protection of al Zikar clearly indicates that this protection is not confined to its words only it includes
its details also which were presented by Muhammad Rasul-Allah who was made duty bound for
providing its detail wherever felt necessary:

[We sent them] with Clear Signs and Scriptures and We have sent down
unto thee [also] the Message; that thou mayest explain clearly to men what is sent
for them, and that they may give thought, (al Nahl 16:44)
Here ( f ^ 1^ '- “') ‘what is sent down to them’ means the Qur’an and (t**13) ‘you may explain’ means
the words and actions of Prophet, this is called Hadith. It is understood by this Quranic verse that the
word al Dhikr includes side by side the ‘explanation’ explanation of the Rasul-Allah and it is also a Divine
gift.
Mankind has been given promise for the protection of Hadith.

We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it [from corruption], (al
Hijrl(5:9)
in the Qur’an and whole stock of authentic Ahadith which is available to ummah is witness to this fact
that Allah no doubt keeps His promise. How this protection of Hadith became possible, what kind of
ways and means were adopted to fulfill this Divine mission, it ranks a milestone for all of us. It is
compulsory for all Muslims to obey the Holy Prophet.

O you who believe, obey Allah and Obey the Prophet (pbuh)(4:59)

Prohibition of writing Hadith

There are several Hadiths, in which the Prophet warns his followers not to record his words out of fear
that they might be confused with God’s words as revealed in the Quran. As the Quran was still being set
down in writing during the prophet’s lifetime by numerous scribes and in many private notebooks,
collections of the prophet’s teachings might easily be conflate with the Holy Book. It was unrealistic;
however, that law maker and political leader like the prophet could allow no written record keeping. It
would simply have been impossible for Muslims to preserve accurately the teachings they heard from
the prophet without some recourse to writing. We thus find reports encouraging it.
The companion Anas Bin Malik is even quoted as saying,
“We did not consider knowledge of those who did not write it down to be [real] knowledge.”
We thus also find Hadiths in which the Prophet allows new Muslims visiting from outside Medina to
record lessons he gave in a sermon.

Six different Companions, i.e., Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (42/662), Zayd b. Sabit (45/665), Abu Hurairah
(58/678), Abdullah b. Abbas (668/687), Abdullah b. Umar (73/693) and Abu Said al-Hudri (74/693),
narrated hadiths which state that the Prophet had prohibited the recording of hadith, that he did not
allow the Companions to write them down and that he prevented those he saw from recording hadiths.

The narrations from these Companions are as follows:

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari narrated that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said "The people of Israel abandoned the
Torah because they themselves wrote some books and adapted them." In this hadith, although there is
no direct prohibition of recording hadiths, with an analogy it can be implied that writings other than
Allah's revelation caused the people of Israel to disregard the Torah, and in the same way, texts other
than Quran might cause Muslims to disregard the Quran.

As narrated in the sources, Muawiya b. Abu asked Sufyan Zayd b. Thabit about a hadith and then he
wanted this hadith to be written down by his men. But Zayd b. Thabit said: "Allah's Messenger ordered
us not to record the hadiths" and he destroyed the written text. This hadith clearly illustrates that the
Prophet prohibited the recording of hadiths.

Abu Hurairah narrated: "While we were recording hadiths the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) approached us
and asked what we were writing. We replied that we were recording the hadiths we had heard from
him. Then the Prophet (pbuh) said: "Do you want a book other than Allah's book? The nations before
you wrote down books in addition to Allah's book which caused them to stray."

In different versions of the above-mentioned narrations it is reported that the Prophet said "Write down
only Allah's book" and "Report hadiths orally"; upon the Prophet's warning his Companions burned all
copies of hadiths.

According to Abdullah b. Abbas and Abdullah b. Umar's narrations, the Prophet climbed the minbar
(pulpit) and said: "What are the books you are writing? Do you want a book in addition to Allah's book?
If you abandon the Quran, one night, Allah will suddenly annihilate the written verses and even the
verses in your memory."

There are two narrations from Abu Said al-Hudri about Prophet Muhammad's prohibition of recording
hadiths:

"We asked permission from the Messenger of Allah to record hadiths, but he did not give us permission
to do so."
"The Prophet said: ‘Do not write anything from me except the verses of the Quran. If there are any of
you who have written anything other than Quran, he must destroy it. You can only report orally from
me; there is no objection to this. And, whoever tells a lie referring to me should prepare his place in
Hell!'"
None of the above narrations about the prohibition of recording hadiths, except for that of Abu Said al-
Hudri's, are sufficient as evidence against such an act. The chain of some of them is considered to be
weak, while Abu Hurairah's narrations were criticized as they lacked a sound chain or a reliable text.
Although there is disagreement about whether one of Abu Said al-Hudri's narrations is marfu' (i.e., its
chain of narrators reaches back to the Prophet) or mavquf (i.e. its chain of narrators does not reach back
to the Prophet), it is clear that both of them are marfu, thus both can be seen as evidence. Views
claiming that these narrations have been forged show a malevolent intention and they are not
scientifically based
 Permission of writing Hadith
It is possible to analyze the narrations about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) granting permission for
recording hadiths under three categories: those in which the Prophet himself had his
Companions write down his sayings, those in which he allowed those Companions who asked for
permission to record hadiths, and those in which the Companions recorded hadiths during the
lifetime of the Prophet and after his death. In this article, our purpose is not to bring together all
the narrations about this subject, but rather to clarify the issue by discussing some of them.

a) Narrations reporting that the Prophet himself had his Companions record his sayings
One of the most important pieces of evidence that the Prophet gave permission to record
hadiths is that he himself had some of his hadiths written down. Prophet Muhammad had
written correspondence with state leaders, including the Roman emperor Heraclius, the Egyptian
king Muqawqis, the Abyssinian king Najashi, the kisra of Iran, the ruler of Bahrayn Mundhir b.
Sava al-Abdi, the governor of Ghassan, Harith b. Abu Shamra, the rulers of Oman Jayfer b. Julandi
and his brother Abd b. Julandi, the ruler of Ghassan, Jabala b. Ayham, the Dumatu'l Jandal, the
ruler Uhaydir b. Abdulmalik, the ruler of Khimyar Kharis b. Abdukulal, and the governor of
Yemama, Havza b. Ali al-Hanafi. Additionally, he passed on his commands to his governors Amr
b. Hazm al-Ansari (53/673) and Muaz b. Jabal (98/639) in writing. He had his commanders, for
example, Abdullah b. Jahsh and Khalid b. Velid, write his regulations. He invited tribes and
committees like the Juhayna, Khas'am, Khadas, Beni Zuhayr b. Ukaysh, and Khamdan to Islam or
he sent the basic principles of Islam in writing to them. He corresponded with the Jews of
Khaybar and the Christians of Najran and he sent a letter to Suraka b. Malik al-Mudliji (24/645),
granting him safety.

In addition to the written texts transmitted from Prophet Muhammad, there are also some
narrations which state that the Prophet had his hadiths recorded. When Abu Rashid al-Khibrani
asked Abdullah b. Amr b. As to narrate the hadiths he had heard from the Prophet, he took out a
paper and said "This is the page that the Messenger of Allah had me write." This shows that
Prophet Muhammad himself had the hadiths that were on this paper written down (Musnad, II,
196).

Ummu Salama, Prophet Muhammad's wife, reported that once the Messenger of Allah asked for
a piece of leather and had Ali b. Abu Talib write on both sides of it. Additionally, there are some
narrations reporting that the Prophet wanted to have a testament written to restrain his people
from falsifying hadiths (Musnad, I, 324-325, 336; Buhari, "‘Ilm", 39, "Merda", 17, "I'tisam", 26;
Muslim, "Vasiyyet", 20).

This information shows that on different occasions Prophet Muhammad had some hadiths
recorded.

b) Narrations reporting that Prophet Muhammad allowed the Companions to record hadiths
There are some narrations that act as evidence that Prophet Muhammad was tolerant toward
the recording of hadiths; he allowed his Companions to record his sayings and he did not restrain
those who recorded hadiths in front of him.
It is reported that while Abdullah b. Amr was recording everything he heard from the Prophet so
that he could memorize it, some Companions of the Prophet opposed this action, saying, "The
Messenger of Allah is a man too; he is sometimes happy, sometimes angry." Upon this warning,
Abdullah went to Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet permitted him to record the hadiths,
saying: "Continue to write". Abdullah asked; "Should I write down everything you say, even when
you are happy or angry?" Prophet Muhammad replied: "Yes, write down everything, even when I
am in a mood of compliance or anger, because from this mouth emerges only the word of truth."

When Abdullah b. Amr was asked whether Constantinople or Rome would be conquered first, he
went over to a chest and took out a book. Then he explained: "Once we were recording what the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said. He was asked whether Constantinople or Rome would be
conquered first. He stated that the city of Heraclius would be first, thus implying Constantinople
(Musnad, II, 176; Darimi, "Mukaddime", 43; Hakim, al-Mustedrak, IV, 508, 555)."

When one of the Companions complained about his inability to keep all the hadiths in his mind,
the Prophet advised him "Help your memory with your hand." Also, Prophet Muhammad was
asked "Should we write what we hear from you?" He replied: "There is no problem with your
recording what I say." These narrations show that Prophet Muhammad allowed the recording of
hadiths.

Even though some of these narrations have been criticized, when all the narrations are assessed
it can be seen that there is nothing that prevents us accepting these as narrations that support
sound hadiths.

c) Companions who recorded hadiths

The fact that some Companions of the Prophet recorded hadiths while the Prophet was alive and
that they also had others record hadiths after the death of the Prophet shows that Prophet
Muhammad tolerated the recording of hadiths and that he did not set a strict principle that
prohibited the recording of hadiths.

As-Sahifat As-Sadiqa, as narrated by Abdullah b. Amr, Ali and Amr b. Hazm (53/673) have
manuscripts that were written in the period of Prophet Muhammad.

Abu Hurairah (58/678), Semura b. Jundab (60/679), Jabir b. Abdullah (78/697) and many other
Companions of Prophet Muhammad wrote down hadiths or had someone write the hadiths. The
number of hadith texts written by the Companions of the Prophet is not known exactly. Nabia
Abbot says, "Hadiths were written down by a few people at the time of Prophet Muhammad",
thus stating that there were not many Companions who had recorded hadiths. However, Rifat
Fawzi Abdulmuttalib believes that there were more than a few hadith texts written at the time of
Prophet Muhammad. According to A'zami, there were fifty-two Companions who wrote down
hadiths. This shows that the number of Companions who wrote down hadiths and the texts of
hadiths were more than just a few.
 Formal writing of Hadith
The Holy Qur'an contains all the fundamental teachings of Islam, all beliefs and all orders on
different issues. Every word of the Holy Qur'an was committed by memory by the people, by
people. Reliable scribes were engaged by the Holy Prophet to write down contents. Similarly,
Hadith which contains all beliefs and practical details were committed to memory by
companions of Prophet.
Prophet himself dictated necessary orders and instructions on different occasions. These things
are mentioned in the standard books of Hadith. In addition to these are the written instructions
to tribes, replies to letters, the record of first census in Madinah, invitation to famous rulers and
many writings which got written by Prophet from time to time. After Battle of Badr in 2.AH, the
Muslims, Prophet gave option to the prisoners of Kuffars to teach Muslims by which they learnt
writing and scribing of Hadith finally started. Although, Arab nation was illiterate prior to Islam,
after embracing Islam, they took special interest in reading and writing and there were a number
of persons, who took down every word uttered by Holy Prophet to learn the same by heart. This
shows that the companions of the Prophet were keen to learn the Ahadith and collect them. This
is why the Holy Prophet often said,
‘’May Allah keep that person happy who listened to my Hadith, learnt it by heart, and then passed
it on as he had heard it.’’

Compilation and preservation during the lifetime of Prophet

During the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) there was no pressing need
to write down all his statements or to record his actions because he was present and could be
consulted at any time. Though there was no regular compilation of the traditions, for they were
not generally recorded in writing. However, they were orally transmitted, with great accuracy of
detail,
thanks to the Arabs’ exceptionally retentive memories.
Some companions had, however, prepared written collections of traditions for their own
personal use. Those companions, in particular, who had weaker memories used to write them
down for memorizing and preservation. These were also dictated to their disciples. Then there
were those companions who had administrative offices arranged for written copies of traditions,
so that they might carry out their duties in the true spirit of Islam. For instance, while appointing
Amr ibn Hazm as the governor of Yaman, the Prophet himself gave him a letter containing the
times of prayer, methods of prayer, details of ablution, booty, taxation, zakat, etc.

Holy Prophet himself encouraged people to write down his words. Abdullah ibn `Amr said, “I
used to write everything which I heard from the Messenger of Allah with the intention of
memorizing it. However, some Quraishites 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 (peace
and blessings be upon him). 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."
Holy Prophet also said :

“Those who are present should convey the message those who are not here.
”

At Madina the Holy Prophet himself appointed some persons to acquireknowledge of

Islam.These were called as Ashabb-us-Suffah ( the people of Bench).Suffah meansshaded area or
an area covered by some roof.There was such a small area in the
Prophet’s mosque designed for residence and educational activities of the poor and
neddy.Most of the Hadith of that time were compiled and narrated by Ashaab-us-Suffahand
their guide and teacher was the Prophet himself.Some official narration/compilations of that
time are:The Book of Sadaqa which contained specifications of Zakat rateSahifa Amr-bin-Hazm
which was dictated directly by the Prophet himself to Ubay-bin-Kab who handed it over to Amir
ibn Hazam , governor of Yemen.Hadiths were also compiled on the occasion of Farewell
Pilgramage of the Prophet. Holy Prophet reported to have said:
Convey to others on my behalf, even though it be a single verse.

This Hadith is ample proof that Prophet was very much concerned about the propagation of
Hadith, the word ('-***’) ‘from me’ indicates that they were sayings of Prophet about which they
were ordered to carry forward these sayings.

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 retained
everything 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 and the process of compilation started in the Life of
Holy Prophet (pbuh)

Compilation and preservation during period of sahabas(11-100 A.H)

After the death of the Prophet his sayings and actions took of a new importance because he was
no longer there to consult when problems arose The Companions who knew the Hadith at first
hand were gradually passing away. Their number continued to diminish day by day. Therefore,
people became more keen to preserve the precious Hadith literature that had been stored in
their memories. The number of converts was also growing and they showed great eagerness to
learn as much about the traditions as possible..So The practice of narration on a large scale
started during this period.

Abu Huraira one of Prophet’s Closest Companions is knows to have narrated more than
5374 Hadith, more than any other companion. He devoted his entire life in hearing and
preserving Hadith of Prophet. Later one of his students Hamam bin Munabah wrote a collection
under his supervision knows as Sahifa Hammam bin Munabah Abdullah bin Umar transmitted
2630 Hadith and compiled the script called as Sahifa-al-Sadiqah. It was written on instructions of
Holy Prophet. Anas Bin Malik served the Holy Prophet and transmitted many Hadith.He wrote a
script called Sahifa Anas bin Malik. Abdullah bin Abbas transmitted 1660 Hadith and many of his
students transmitted Hadith from him in written form.

Close companions such as Jabir and Ali also compiled the Hadiths. Jabir is said to havecompiled
1560 Hadith.
Abu Sa’eed al Khudree also narrated 1170 Hadith. The wives of the Prophet were also looked
upon as vital custodians of Ahadith. The names of Ayesha, Hafsa , Umm-e-Habibah,, Mamunah
are famous transmitters. Ayesha which is one of the most important figures is said to have
transmitted 2210 Hadith. Famous works in this Stage :Hazrat Abdullah ibn Amr Saheefah-e-
Sadiqah Hazrat Ali Saheefah-e-Ali Hazrat Humam bin Munabbih Saheefah-e-Abu Hurairah Hazrat
Saad bin Ubadah Book of Saad Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah Book of Jabir
After the death of the Prophet, interest in Hadith literature increased greatly on two accounts.
Firstly, the Companions who knew the Hadith at first hand were gradually passing away. Their
number continued to diminish day by day. Therefore, people became more keen to preserve the
precious Hadith literature that had been stored in their memories. Secondly, the number of
converts was growing and they showed great eagerness to learn as much about the traditions as
possible.

This was the age of the rightly guided Caliphs. In this age the Companions had settled in almost
all the countries conquered by the Muslims. People flocked to them to hear traditions from
them. Thus a number of centres for the learning of traditions came into existence with these
Companions as the focus. When a disciple had learned all the traditions he could from one
Companion, he would go to the next Companion and so on, collecting as many traditions as
possible. The zeal of these disciples was so great that they undertook long journeys to collect
traditions from different Companions.

In this period, there were not many regular compilations. This was rather the period of collecting
traditions. The work of compilation took place on a large scale during the age of Tabiun, the
disciples of the disciples.

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 companions 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
\
Compilation and preservation during period of Tabeen (101-200 AH)
This is the age of the followers of the companions of the Prophet. They devoted their entire lives
to collecting traditions from different centres of learning, with the result that alarge number of
traditions were preserved. Now it became possible to collect severalmemoirs in larger
volumes.Islam had spread into the Middle East, India, and North Africa and the narration of
Hadith had become widespread, there arose people who began to invent hadiths. Tocombat this
development, `Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz (reign 99 to 101 A.H.)
–
718 to 720 A.C.) ordered the scholars to compile the traditions of the Prophet (peace and
blessingsbe upon him). The scholars had already begun composing books containingbiographical
data on the various narrators of Hadith in order to expose the liars andfabricators. Abu Bakr ibn
Hazm (died 120/737) was among those who was directed bythe khalifah to compile Hadith.
`Umar asked him to write down all the hadiths of theProphet (peace and blessings be upon him)
and of `Umar ibn Al-Khattab and to payparticular attention to gathering the hadiths of `Amrah
bint `Abdur-Rahman, who was at
that time the most respected custodian of the narrations of `A’ishah Mohd. ibn Shihab Al Zuhri,
the first regular compiler, was one of the most distinguishedtraditionists. Ibn Shihab Zuhri and
Abu Bakr Al-Hazm were asked by Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, the Umayyad caliph, to prepare a
collection of all available traditions. Umar bin Abul Aziz wrote to Abu Bakr Al Hazm: “Whatever
sayings of the Prophet can be found, write them down, for I fear the loss of knowledge and
disappearance of learned men,and do not accept anything but the Hadith of the Holy Prophet,
and people should make knowledge public.”

Other famous Tabein were Sa’eed Ibn al Mussayab , Urwah ibn ZUbair , Saalim ibn
Abdullah ibn Umar and Naaf’I. The famous Sahifa of Shihab al Zuhri was compiled in this
period.The sahifa of Abu Huraira’s student Hammam ibn Munbah known as Sahifa Hamam bin
Munabah wasalso transmitted and compiled in this time of Tabi’in.

This is the age of the followers of the companions of the Prophet. They devoted their entire lives
to collecting traditions from different centres of learning, with the result that a large number of
traditions were preserved. Now it became possible to collect several memoirs in larger volumes.

Mohd. ibn Shihab Al Zuhri, the first regular compiler, was one of the most distinguished
traditionists. Ibn Shihab Zuhri and Abu Bakr Al-Hazm were asked by Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, the
Umayyad caliph, to prepare a collection of all available traditions. Umar bin Abul Aziz wrote to
Abu Bakr Al Hazm: “Whatever sayings of the Prophet can be found, write them down, for I fear
the loss of knowledge and disappearance of learned men, and do not accept anything but the
Hadith of the Holy Prophet, and people should make knowledge public.”

The compilations made in this period do not exist today independently, having been
incorporated into the larger collections of the later period. These collections were not exhaustive
works on Hadith. Their nature was that of individual collections.

After the individual compilations of this period, comes the Al Muwatta of Imam Malik (716-795),
the first regular work which contained a well-arranged collection of traditions. The number of
the traditions collected by him is put at 1700. This came to be accepted as a standard work.

In this period the traditions respectively of the Prophet and his companions, and the decisions /
edicts of the Tabiun were collected together in the same volume. However, it was mentioned
with each narration whether it was that of the Prophet, his companions or of the followers.

Compilation and preservation during the period of Taba Tabeen

This age of the followers of the companions’ successors from 200 to 300 A.H., is the golden age
in Hadith literature.
1. In this age the Prophet’s traditions were separated from the reports of the companions and
their successors.

2. The authentic traditions were very carefully and painstakingly sifted from the “weak”
traditions and then these were compiled in book-form.

3. Elaborate rules were framed, canons were devised to distinguish the true from the false
traditions in accordance with clear principles.

The period following that of the Tabi`in (era of Tabi`ut- Tabi`in), the hadiths weresystematically
collected and written in texts. One of the earliest works was Al-Muwatta' composed by Malik ibn
Anas.

Other books of Hadith were also written by scholars of Malik’s time; by the likes of Al -Awza`i
who lived in Syria; `Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak of Khurasan; Hammad ibn Salamah of Basrah; and
Sufyan Ath-Thawri of Kufah. However, the only work which survived from that time is that of
Imam Malik. Itcould be said that in this period the majority of hadiths were collected in the
variouscenters of Islam.There arose in the third century scholars who undertook the task of
critical research of hadiths that were narrated and compiled in the first two centuries. They also
groupedthe hadiths which they considered to be accurate according to the branches of
IslamicLaw. For example, from this period is the book Sahih Al-Bukhari containing 7,275hadiths
which Al-Bukhari (died- 870 C.E.) chose from 600,000; and Sahih Muslim whichcontains 9,200
hadiths that Imam Muslim selected from 300,000. Besides these twoworks of Hadith, there are
four other works which became famous during this period.They are the Sunan of Abu Dawud
(died 889 C.E.); Sunan of At-Tirmidhi (died 893C.E.); Sunan of An-Nasa'i (died 916 C.E.); and
Sunan of Ibn Majah(died 908 C.E.)

The main attention of scholars who engaged themselves in the critical scrutiny of Hadith was
given to the recorded chains of witnesses (isnad); whether the dates of birth and death and
places of residence of witnesses in different generations were such as to have made it possible
for them to meet, and whether they were trustworthy. This activity, to be properly carried out,
involved some feeling for the authenticity of the text itself; an experienced traditionist would
develop a sense of discrimination.

All traditions therefore fall into three general categories: (sahih) sound, having a reliable and
uninterrupted isnad and a (matn) text that does not contradict orthodox belief; (hasan) good
those with an incomplete isnad or with transmitters of questionable authority. (dhaif) weak
those whose matn or transmitters are subject to serious criticism.
By the use of these criteria the Hadith scholars were able to classify the traditions according to
their degrees of reliability.

This is the period in which six authentic collections of traditions were compiled. These works are
considered standard works on Hadith, and are known as the six correct books (sihah-e-sittah).
The authors’ names and book titles are as follows:

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.

1. Muhammad b. Ismail al Bukhari, (194 A.H.-256 A.H.): Sahih. This work is next to the Quran in
authenticity.

2. Muslim bin Qushairi (204 A.H.-261 A.H.): Sahih. This is the next most important work on
Hadith.

3. Ibn Majah (202 A.H.-275 A.H.): Sunan

4. Abu Isa al Tirmizi (209 A.H.-279 A.H.): Jame

5. Abu Abdur Rahman an Nasai (214 A.H.-303 A.H.): Sunan

6. Abu Da‘ud (202 A.H.-275 A.H.): Sunan

Compilation and preservation of Hadith in present era