The Story of Hadith
Hadiths come from the Bringer of the Qur'an
upon him blessings and peace - and they were heard, practiced,
narrated, preserved, and compiled according to his instructions and in
obedience to Its commands.
When the best generation of humankind ever to walk the earth
realized that the Lord of the Heaven was addressing them directly with
His timeless Speech in the language which they had mastered better than
any human nation ever mastered a language, they realized that not only
had Allah Almighty deputized the worthiest of them as the carrier of
the final Message to humanity, but He had also made belief in that most
honorable, most distinguished, and most accomplished Messenger - our
liege-lord Muhammad
- an integral condition of belief in Allah Himself by saying repeatedly
"Believe in Allah AND the Messenger."
They also heard Allah again and again command them to
"Obey Allah AND the Messenger."
They also realized that Allah Almighty stressed to them that this
Messenger was their paramount model of behavior and of belief in Allah
and the Last Day. They also heard and understood it meant they had to
follow him and love him before they could claim to follow and love
Allah.
They further understood the required levels of following the Prophet
properly and truly on which one's actual belief in Allah Most High depended:
{But nay, by your Lord! they will not believe (in truth) until they make you judge of what is in dispute between them}. But to make the Prophet
judge is not enough, this must be done without any mental reservation toward the Prophet
and his decision:
{and find within themselves no dislike of that which you decide}.
Even this unalloyed acceptance of the Prophet's judgment is not enough,
there must be full embrace of the heart, mind and soul for the Prophet
:
{and submit with full submission} (4:65)!
They also noticed that Allah had made such love and following of His Prophet
the easiest and most natural thing in the world for people of sound
hearts, because that blessed man encompassed all the human qualities
imaginable. So they understood it all the more when Allah Himself
stressed that whatever magnificent human character there could exist,
the Prophet
possessed it, and more.
Hence, by listening to the majestic Qur'an and taking to heart its
message, the Companions realized that its study and practice
necessitated the absolute study, understanding, and imitation of the
Prophet
himself. Allah Most High further reassured them that this same Prophet
did not speak out of whim. Accordingly those most pragmatic and wisest
of people - whom Allah Himself chose as the friends and companions of
His dearest Beloved - set to the task of obeying, following, imitating,
and loving the Prophet Muhammad
as no other leader and savior was ever faithfully obeyed, followed,
imitated, and loved before. They became absorbed into his paradigm yet
with their eyes wide open and in a systematic manner like the dedicated
and uncompromising hunters of blessings that they were.
So they learned from the Prophet and they worshipped with the Prophet
. They lived with the Prophet and for the Prophet. They moved with the Prophet and they rested with the Prophet
. They sought to look through his eyes, hear with his hearing, fight
when he fought, make peace when he made peace, taste what he tasted,
love what he loved, and hate what he hated. They wished to think his
thoughts. They longed to visit him again, gaze at him again, be
addressed by him again. They found they could not exhaust nor begin to
describe the endearment of his voice, his touch, his scent, his gaze,
his gait, his energy, his repose, his bravery, his intelligence, his
eloquence, his generosity, his gentleness, his humbleness, his majesty.
His comfort and safety, or rather the comfort and safety of his very
foot they would ransom with their lives and that of their own parents.
They lived to act as his human shields from spears and arrows or spend
the last of their honor in defense of the first of his. When he spoke
they were attentive and when he was silent they observed him with
baited breath. Their hearts kept custody over their senses in his
presence so that they understood, they obeyed, they memorized, and they
taught one another in turn with full discipline. They knew Allah had
changed them forever at his hands, turning the humblest of them into a
reformer for humanity!
The Prophet
encouraged them and said
"Bright does Allah make the face of his servant that records and conveys what he hears from me." And he said
"Narrate from me and let those that are present teach those that are absent." And he pointed to his noble mouth and said
"Nothing but truth issues from this."
And he formed them under his kind gaze, asking Allah Most High to give
this one a flawless memory, that one an encyclopedic pen, the third one
superlative understanding, the fourth one faith to lead all others, the
fifth one the wisest judgment. His wife `A'isha became in ten ineffable
years the most knowledgeable woman of humankind.
Allah then turned them, at His Prophet's hands
, into the paragon teachers of the next layer and so forth:
"From
every succeeding generation its upright folk shall carry this knowledge
in turn...." "This knowledge is Religion, so watch from whom you take
it...." When He took back His Beloved, Allah did not leave us but in the best hands!
"We are blessed, Muslim kind, for we enjoy
of Divine support an indestructible Pillar!" (al-Busiri, Burda)
The Companions knew better than anyone he was a human being and they saw in the Prophet
, also better than anyone, a living Qur'an brimming infinitely with all
sorts of qualities that spelled perfection. Those sincere and pure
Arab-tongued men and women vied in poetic expressions because prose was
too poor to describe the rising sun of Hashim that he was, the full
moon in its beauty, goodness itself, and the nearest thing to eternal
beauty they felt they could experience here and now: their forerunner
to Paradise, the Mercy to the worlds! No wonder they recorded
faithfully, in addition to his description of the Creator's Names and
Attributes and the purpose of our creation, also: his Prophetic
dispensation, "the Wisdom" which Allah mentions in so many verses and
which refers to what we call the Sunna of the Prophet. It includes not
only the do's and don'ts of the Religion that elucidate and illustrate
the Qur'anic rulings but also his historical battles, treaties, polity,
travels, marriages etc. which we call the Sira; his states, character,
moral and psychological traits, and physical features which form the
genre we call the Shama'il; and his exclusive special and specific
characteristics which we call the Khasa'is.
This Prophetic Wisdom of the Sunna comes to us, textwise, in the
form of transmitted sayings which in Arabic are called Hadeeth, plural:
Ahaadeeth. This is the "genesis of the hadiths" the question asked
about. Most importantly to us, this Sunna and its practicing servants
among the Friends of Allah represent the Prophet
among us - a living body of Prophetic knowledge and practice of which
this Umma shall never be bankrupt, without which there is no Qur'an,
and of which the Qur'an is never divorced nor orphaned until they both
return back to the Prophet
at his Kawthar-Pond in Paradise!
Our forefathers and mothers carried that huge responsibility and
trust. They collectively and individually transmitted, as faithfully
and to the nearest detail possible, the totality of the information
Allah wanted the last, mercied community of mankind to receive and
preserve about His final elect representative for the guidance and
happiness of humanity here and hereafter just as they faithfully
transmitted His Book. No one could have done their job better because
Allah chose them. He was and is well-pleased with them and they are
well-pleased with Him, He loves them and they love Him; see for
yourself what He says of
{The First and Foremost of the Muhajirun and the Ansar}!
Allah Most High also says:
{Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those
with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among
themselves. You (O Muhammad) see them bowing and falling prostrate (in
worship), seeking bounty from Allah and (His) acceptance. The mark of
them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration. Such is
their likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the Gospel like as
sown corn that sends forth its shoot and strengthens it and rises firm
upon its stalk, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the
disbelievers with (the sight of) them} (48:29). Imam Malik said:
* Whoever harbors spite toward any of the Companions of the Prophet,
this verse has hit him! * May it never hit you, dear reader, or me!
Allah Most High chose them and they are all upright. He made them
the strongest of people in memory, the most precise in language, the
most familiar with the Prophet's gracious person
and the most masterful of the Revelation he had brought, both its
recited aspect (the Qur'an) and its non-recited aspect (the Sunna) in
its language, meanings, and subtle explanations and applications.
It pleased our bountiful Creator, also, to make knowledge of
Hadith and its related sciences the exclusive characteristic of Muslim
civilization. Alone among the nations that walked the face of the
earth, the Umma received and kept this Divine trust together with the
Last Testament - the Qur'an - to pass it on to subsequent generations
unchanged with an ever-refined array of disciplines for verification
and authentication. Among those disciplines, Hadith methodology and
criticism ensured that nothing alien crept into the pure Prophetic
Sunna as conveyed by the upright (
`adl) and precise (
dabit) transmitters known as the "trustworthy" (
thiqa, pl.
thiqat) under the strict perusal of their peers and subsequent experts.
When Ibn al-Mubarak was asked about the forgeries he replied, "The giant scholars (
al-jahabidha) dispose of them!" Then he recited,
{Lo! We, even We, have revealed the Reminder, and lo! We verily are its Guardian}
(15:9). Thus he reiterated in the pithiest way that the Prophetic Sunna
and authentic Hadith are part and parcel of the Final Revelation *
which no Muslim denies! * and that the Lawgiver preserves His Dhikr
through the surest human means imaginable.
To that end, the Friends of Allah Most High and caliphal inheritors of the Prophet
known as the Huffaz spared no effort. Those were the Repellers of False Imputations to the Prophet
, the Preservers, Custodians, Protectors, Caretakers, Trustees, and
Storehouses of the Faith envied by the erudite Caliph Abu Ja`far
al-Mansur who described them as "the stained-clothed, scalyfooted,
long-haired rovers of faraway lands." With their photographic memories,
inkwells in hand, wearing out * like Dulaf ibn Jahdar * up to seventy
book-satchels, obsessed with detail, these hawk-eyed jewellers tracked
the Prophetic narrative and its reporters to the ends of the earth,
oblivious of food and sleep, laughing at wealth and the world, selling
the shirt on their back and eating grass if necessary as did Muhammad
ibn Isma`il al-Bukhari, losing their eyesight through candle-lit night
work as happened to his tireless student Abu `Isa al-Tirmidhi, moving
their libraries on camel-back through three continents like Abu Tahir
al-Silafi, sifting the sound from the unsound, the fair from the weak,
the Prophetic from the non-Prophetic, the broken-chained, and the
fabricated hadiths, living only for the three words "
Qala Rasul Allah" which they compiled into manuals they named with various names according to their arrangement such as:
- The Jami`-type compilations, i.e. encyclopedias arranged by
topical sub-divisions. E.g. by Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Bukhari, Muslim,
al-Tirmidhi....
- The Muwatta', Musannaf, and Aathaar-type topical compilations
that focus on legal rulings and include non-Prophetic fatwas. E.g. by
Malik, `Abd al-Razzaq, and Abu Hanifa.
- The Sunan-type topical compilations: like the previous type but
consisting only of Prophetic reports e.g. the Sunan of Abu Dawud,
al-Nasa'i, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, al-Darimi, and others.
- The Musnad-type compilations arranged by Companion-narrators e.g. by the heroic Imam Ahmad and Ishaq ibn Rahuyah.
- The countless Juz'-type compilations i.e. "Monographs" on a single topic or from a single narrator and so forth.
- The Mu`jam-type compilations i.e. alphabetical Musnads of
Companions or other authorities narrating back to the latter e.g. the
works of al-Tabarani.
Among the extant manuscripts of the numerous hadith collections
compiled in the first Hijri century are `Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As'
(d. 63) al-Sahifat al-Sadiqa, originally containing about 1,000 hadiths
of which 500 reached us, copied down by `Abd Allah directly from the
Prophet
and transmitted to us by his great-grandson `Amr ibn Shu`ayb (d. 118);
Hammam ibn Munabbih's (d. 101 or 131) al-Sahifa al-Sahiha which has
reached us complete in two manuscripts containing 138 hadiths narrated
by Hammam from Abu Hurayra (d. 60) from the Prophet
; and, from the second Hijri century, the massive, partly-recovered
Musannaf of the Yemenite hadith Master `Abd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam ibn
Nafi` al-San`ani (d. 211), which includes the compendium of his teacher
Ma`mar ibn Rashid al-Azdi (d. 151 or 154) * both principal sources of
the Two Arch-Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs * and is, with
its 21,000+ narrations, the largest authentic early source of hadith
extant.
The earliest Siras or Prophetic biographies are the lost folios of
Aban (d. 105), the son of `Uthman ibn `Affan (d. 35), from whom
Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi (80-150/152) narrated; the
accomplished works of `Urwa (d. c.92-95) (ra) the son of al-Zubayr ibn
al-`Awwam and grandson of Asma' and `A'isha the learned daughters of
Abu Bakr the Truthful (
rad.i-Allahu `anhu)
which he ordered burnt, after a lifetime of teaching from them, during
the sack of Madina by the armies of Syro-Palestine under Yazid ibn
Mu`awiya in 63; the most reliable Muhammad ibn Shihab al-Zuhri's (d.
120) Sira, from which Ibn Ishaq borrowed much; `Asim ibn `Umar ibn
Qatada ibn al-Nu`man al-Ansari's (d. 120 or 129) Maghazi and Manaqib
al-Sahaba, another principal thiqa source for Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi;
`Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn `Amr ibn Hazm al-Ansari's (d.
135) tome, another main source for Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa`d, and
al-Tabari; the most reliable, partly preserved Sira of the Madinan Musa
ibn `Uqba al-Asadi (d. 141), praised by Imam Malik and used by Ibn Sa`d
and al-Tabari; Muhammad ibn Ishaq's Sira, praised by Imam al-Shafi`i,
the oldest extant; Ibn `A'idh al-Azdi's (d. 191) Maghazi; and Sayf ibn
`Umar al-Tamimi's (d. 200) al-Ridda wal-Futuh and al-Jamal as per Ibn
Hajar in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib. A junior contemporary of Ibn Ishaq, the
erudite Muhammad ibn `Umar ibn Waqid al-Aslami al-Waqidi (d. 207)
compiled the Maghazi and Futuh al-Sham among others. He is the
principal source of Imam al-Tabari (d. 310) in the latter's Tarikh and
his student and scribe Muhammad ibn Sa`d (d. 230) relied heavily on him
in his Tabaqat.
The early and late masters devised finely-tuned scientific
gauntlets for the verification of hadith authenticity. The hadiths of
the Two Sahihs * by the Arch-Masters al-Bukhari (194-256) and Muslim
(204-261) * and the Muwatta' of Imam Malik (93-179) are rigorously
sound and need no further authentication. Next in reliability come the
Sunan of the major Masters al-Tirmidhi (c.210-279), Abu Dawud
(202-275), al-Nasa'i (215-303), al-Darimi (181-250), and Ibn Majah
(209-273) as well as the Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164-241).
Next come the lesser collections of Sahih narrations such as * in
descending order of strength * the Sahih of Ibn Khuzayma (223-311),
three quarters of which are lost; that of his student Ibn Hibban (d.
354); al-Diya' al-Maqdisi's (567-643) al-Ahadith al-Jyad al-Mukhtara;
Ibn al-Sakan's (294-353) al-Sunan al-Sihah; Ibn al-Jarud's (d. 307)
al-Muntaqa min al-Sunan al-Musnada; Abu `Awana's (d. 316) Musnad;
al-Hakim's (321-405) Mustadrak. Next come * in chronological order *
the compilations of Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi (d. 204), Ibn Abi Shayba (d.
235), Ibn Abi `Asim (d. 287), al-Harith ibn Abi Usama (d. 282),
al-Bazzar (215-292), Abu Ya`la (210-307), al-Tahawi (229-321), the
Narrator of the World al-Tabarani (260-360), al-Daraqutni (306-385),
Abu Nu`aym (336-430), al-Bayhaqi (384-458), al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
(392-463), al-Baghawi (d. 516), Ibn `Asakir (499-571), and many others
including the Sira sources already mentioned.
Forgeries were identified and tagged in the two or three dozen
compilations in the sub-genre devoted to their diagnosis. It is
impermissible to use or narrate them as Prophetic reports. Preventive
knowledge of the forgeries is an indispensable part of hadith science.
The guideline in this is the verdict of the authorities in this
science. The Prophet said time and again
upon him blessings and peace:
"Avoid
relating my words except what you know for sure. Whoever lies about me
willfully, let him take from now his seat in the Fire!"
This terrible threat addresses not only wilful liars but also those
well-intentioned Muslims who, in the course of da`wa or otherwise, are
habitually lax in attributing to the Prophet
untraceable or unverified matters. Let not their good intentions become
their own specious law over and above the emphatic command of the
Lawgiver! We belong to Allah and to Him do we return.
This in short is the story of the Prophetic Hadith, its origins
and why and how it was compiled. Allah revive our hearts for its sake
with His ancient blessing, as He blessed those who preserved and kept
it alive it for us. Allah bless our Prophet and his Family and
Companions, and may Allah be well-pleased with all of the sincere
scholars and students of Hadith to the Day of Judgment!
Hajj Gibril