The Compilation of The Sayings of

Prophet Mohamed ‫ﷺ‬

in the first Centuries of Hijra

A Paper

by

Heba M.I.M. Aboul-Enein

Draft Version (Sept. 2021)

The Compilation of The Sayings of Prophet

Mohamed ‫ﷺ‬
in the first Centuries of Hijra
 Abstract

Some people claim that the Hadiths or sayings of prophet Mohamed ‫ ﷺ‬weren’t
collected at his time or right after his death. However, this contention is false,
as is discussed in this paper. The study reviews the collection of Hadiths by the
Companions or Sahabah of prophet Mohamed ‫ﷺ‬, and by the Tabi‘iin or their
followers. The paper shows that the task of the compilation of Hadiths was
accomplished quite early by separate Sahabis; then it was made systematically
later on by the rulers or Caliphs of Muslims. Hence, the Hadiths weren’t
initially grouped by Al-Bukhariy and Muslim, as maintained by some; yet much
earlier than their era.

Preamble
At the time of prophet Mohamed ‫ﷺ‬, his companions used to
record Qur’anic verses on the leather of animals or other substances, and in
some Hadiths, it is stated that specific companions documented his sayings or
Hadiths as well. However, it is reported that he ordered them to erase such
writings. Most scholars agreed that he said that; because they used to write
Hadiths along with Quranic verses in the same manuscript; thus, he feared that
this would cause the confusion of hadiths with Qur’anic verses. Afterwards,
prophet Mohamed ‫ ﷺ‬allowed them to write down his words, for
the Quran was now memorized by his companions. After the prophet’s death,
some of his companions had Sahaa’if or booklets of his Hadiths. These were
collected in the subsequent centuries, till they were finally assembled into the
famous anthologies of Imam Ahmed, Al-Bukhariy, Muslim, among others.

Collecting Hadith at the Era of Prophet

Mohamed ‫ﷺ‬
Mahdi (2018) emphasized that the hadiths in early Islam were memorized
by the prophet’s companions “(al-ḥifẓ fī al ṣudûr) or writing (al-ḥifz fī al-
suṭûr)”. The solid custom of “memorization among the Arab community caused
them to prioritize and rely on memorization rather than writing”. Nonetheless,
some companions were allowed by Prophet Muhammad to write down his
words like “‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amrû ibn ‘Āṣ (d. 65H), ‘Abdullah ibn Abī ‘Awfā (d.
86H), Abû Mûsa al-Asy’ārī (d. 50H)[Ash‘ariy], Jābeer ibn ‘Abdullah al-Anṣārī
(d. 78H), ‘Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib, and others” (p.131).
 Moataz (2019) highlighted that at first the prophet prohibited Sahabah
from recording his sayings so that it wouldn’t be mixed with Quranic verses.
However, afterwards, he ordered them to write down his hadiths (n.p.).
Likewise, Islam Web (2003a) stressed that early Muslim scholar accounted for
the prevention then permission by several accounts such as avoiding the
permeation of Hadith into Quranic verses; or preventing writing them on the
same manuscript, or in order to memorize hadith; not simply to write it (n.p.).
Therefore, there were two phases of the recording of Hadiths; the first is
of prohibiting the documenting of Hadith; the second, of allowing it. In the
Book of Muslim, it is reported that the prophet said “whoever wrote after me, let
him erase it”, even though they persisted asking the prophet; yet he disallowed
it. Soon after, he permitted writing his sayings, as narrated by Imam Ahmed and
Imam Abi Dawuud after Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr, where he asked the prophet to
write down his words, and the prophet allowed him (Islam Web, 2003a, n.p.).
These varied Hadiths are represented as follows:
Abu Sa'id Khudri reported that Allah's Messenger (
‫ )ﷺ‬said:
Do not take down anything from me, and he who took down
anything from me except the Qur'an, he should efface that and
narrate from me, for there is no harm in it and he who attributed
any falsehood to me-and Hammam said: I think he also said:"
deliberately" -he should in fact find his abode in the Hell-Fire.
Sahih Muslim 3004 Book 55, Hadith 92 (Sunna.com, prohibition)

Hence, he allowed the oral recitation of his Hadith; yet forbade the writing of
anything except Qur’anic verses at that point in time. Al-Sahib (2018)
elucidated that, if this Hadith forbids writing the sayings of the prophet,
numerous other hadiths allow their writing. Therefore, writing down hadith was
made quite early (p.25). Some of the prophet’s hadiths that permit his
companions to record his words are:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

I used to write everything which I heard from the Messenger of

Allah (‫)ﷺ‬. I intended (by it) to memorise it. The
Quraysh prohibited me saying: Do you write everything that you
hear from him while the Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬is a
human being: he speaks in anger and pleasure? So I stopped
writing, and mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah (
‫)ﷺ‬. He signalled with his finger to his mouth and
 said: Write, by Him in Whose hand my soul lies, only right
comes out from it. (Sahih Al-Albani: Sunan Abi Dawud 3646
Book 26, Hadith 6, Sunnah.com)
Al-Sahib (2018) clarified that dictation was known at the time of the
prophet, where he sent messages to Caesar and kings. The Sahabah did the
same, and the matter developed into dictation sessions. Dictation is mentioned
in a number of Hadith of Sahabah dictating Tabi’iin, or other Sahabah (p.18).
These Hadith include:

Narrated Warrad:

(The clerk of Al-Mughira bin Shu`ba) Once Al-Mughira dictated

to me in a letter addressed to Muawiya that the Prophet (
‫ )ﷺ‬used to say after every compulsory prayer, "La
ilaha illa l-lahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahu l-mulku wa lahu l-
hamdu, wa huwa `ala kulli shay'in qadir. Allahumma la mani`a
lima a`taita, wa la mu`tiya lima mana`ta, wa la yanfa`u dhal-jaddi
minka l-jadd. [There is no Deity but Allah, Alone, no Partner to
Him. His is the Kingdom and all praise, and Omnipotent is he. O
Allah! Nobody can hold back what you gave, nobody can give
what You held back, and no struggler's effort can benefit against
You]." And Al-Hasan said, "Al-jadd' means prosperity [??]."(Sahih
al-Bukhari 844 Book 10, Hadith 236, Sunnah.com)

Bahz reported:

This hadith has been narrated by Wuhaib on the authority of 'Amr

b. Yahyi with the same chain of transmitters and it has been
mentioned therein: He rinsed his mouth. snuffed up water in
nostrils and cleaned the nose with three handfuls and wiped his
head moving (his hand) in front and then back once. Bahz said:
Wuhaib narrated [rather dictated ‫]املي‬1 this hadith to me and
Wuhaib said: Amr b. Yahya narrated [rather dictated ‫ ]املي‬to me
this hadith twice. (Sahih Muslim 235d, Book 2, Hadith 25,
Sunnah.com)

It was narrated from Ibn Juraij:

"Nafi dictated to me, from Ibn 'Umar who said: The Messenger of
Allah said: 'the two parties to a transaction both have the choice so
long as they have not separated, unless they have both chosen to
1
[] added by the researcher
 conclude the transaction. If they have both chosen to conclude the
transaction, then the transactions binding." (Sahih, Sunan an-Nasa'i
4468, Book 44, Hadith 20, Sunnah.com)

It is narrated on the authority of 'Itban b. Malik that he came

to Medina and said:

Something had gone wrong with my eyesight. I, therefore, sent (a

message to the Holy Prophet): Verily it is my ardent desire that you
should kindly grace my house with your presence and observe
prayer there so, that I should make that corner a place of worship.
He said: The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬came there, and those
amongst the Companions whom Allah willed also accompanied
him. He entered (my place) and offered prayer at my residence and
his Companions began to talk amongst themselves (and this
conversation centered round hypocrites), and then the conspicuous
one, Malik b. Dukhshum was made the target and they wished that
he (the Holy Prophet) should curse him and he should die or he
should meet some calamity. In the meanwhile the Messenger of
Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) completed his prayer
and said: Does Malik b. Dukhshum not testify the fact that there is
no god but Allah and verily I am the messenger of Allah. They
replied: He makes a profession of it (no doubt) but does not do it
out of (sincere) heart. He (the Holy Prophet) said: He who testifies
that there is no god but Allah and I am the messenger of Allah
would not enter Hell or its (flames) would not consume him. Anas
said: This hadith impressed me very much and I told my son to
write it down. (Sahih Muslim 33a Book 1, Hadith 56,
Sunnah.com)

According to Al-Sahib (2018), Anas Ibn Malik heard the hadith from Mahmoud
Ibn Ar-Rabii’, and he ordered his son to write it down. This shows how the
hadith was written at that era (p.14). Anas even said “we didn’t consider those
who don’t write down their knowledge as handling a science” (Al-
Bughdadiy,1994, p.96).

Hadith in Sahaa’if of Sahabah and Tabi‘iin

As was mentioned in the previous section, there had been some written
manuscripts by the companions of the prophet. Following the age of Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh), conserving his sayings became essential. This phase of
hadith conservation by the prophet’s companions commenced at the middle of
the first century AH, after the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) died (Alam &
Schneider, 2020, p.1). Moataz (2019) avowed that we can safely say that the
sciences of Hadiths and Sunna, in their basic aspects, initiated at the time of the
companions (n.p.). Furthermore, Erdil (2016) highlighted that the hadiths were
documented by certain companions on the material utilized at the era like
“leather, wood and date leaves”. A few companions gathered and collected
hadith in “small booklets called sahifah” (p.16), and Sahaa’if (pl.).

The two most well-known of these leaflets are “Abd Allah b. ‘Amr b.
al-‘As’ (684 CE/65 AH) collection called Sahifah Sadiqah and Abu Hurayrah
(681CE/59 AH)’s Sahihah” (Erdil, 2016, p.16). Furthermore, amid the principal
companions who recounted most hadiths, in addition to Abu Hurayrah and
Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al-Aas, were Abdullah Ibn Abbas, Abu Bakr, Ibn Umar,
etc. (Alam & Schneider, 2020, p.1). Moreover, there are famous Sahaa’if such
as Sahifat Abi Mousa Al-Ash‘ariy, and Sahifat Jabir Ibn ‘Abd Allah (RAA)
(Moataz, 2019)..

One of the Sahaba’s early manuscripts is that of ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn
Aal-‘AaS. It is named Al-Saadiqah, it was inherited by his grandson Amr Ibn
Shu‘ayb, and was later reported a great deal by Al-Imam Ahmed, in addition to
the manuscript of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, which enlisted a few hadiths on certain
rules. There is also Sahifat Sa‘d Ibn ‘ubaadah which was reported by At-
Tirmithiy (Islam web, 2003b). Another Sahifah is that of Samrah Ibn Jandab
(Al-Sahib, 2018, p.10). Moreover, certain companions like Ali ibn Abi Talib,
Sa’ad ibn ‘Ubadah (d. 15H), Anas ibn Malik (d. 93H), the servant of Prophet
Muhammad, had sahifah or “(sheet)” and he even presented it to the prophet to
review it, and he stated “Hadzihi ahaditsun sami’tuha wa katabtuha min
Rasulillah wa ‘aradtuha‘alaih”2 (Mahdi, 2018, p.131). The hadith is included in
Fath Al-Mughiith for Al-Sakhawiy 2/160, as weak hadith (Dorar.net).

Khatabi (2017) underscored that there are different classifications for

Hadith, one of which is Al-Masaniid, i.e., books that include the narrations of
every companion separately, regardless of the topic it addresses (n.p.). Al-
‘Awniy (2012) explained that the Masaniid include the Hadiths of every
companion, where some classifications were made according to the
companions’ affinity to the prophet; others according to the city of the
companions, among other classifications. Of such Masaniid are the ones of Sa‘d
Ibn Abi Waqqaas and Musnad Ibn ‘Umar (pp.18, 20). Mansour (2019)
mentioned several Masaniid which were included by Ahmed like Musnad Abi
Hurayrah; Musnad Abi Bakr, Musnad ‘Umar, Musnad ‘Uthman Ibn ‘affaan;
Musnad Jabir, Musnad Abi Sa‘iid Al-Khudariy (pp.343, 351).

2
hathihi ahaadithun sami‘tuha wa katabtuha min rasul-lilaahi wa ‘araDtuha ‘alayh
 Moataz (2019) referred as well to the followers, At-Tabi‘iin, who
registered the hadiths such as Sa‘iid Ibn Jubayir, and Sa‘iid Ibn Al-Musayyab
(n.p.). There were also:

1-Saha’if written by tabi ‘iy Ibn Munabbih, As-Sahifah As-Sadiqah, it was

investigated and published and it verifies the recording of Hadith.
2- Sahifat Sulayman Al-Yashkiriy from Jabir, and it remained with his wife after
his death.
3- Sahifat Ibn Nahiik, following Abi Hurayrah. He stated that he told Aba
Hurayrah that he wrote some hadiths from him. When he wanted to leave the
city, he told him to check what he wrote; and Abu Hurayrah did and confirmed
them (Al-Sahib, 2018, p.20).

Compilation by Women
Women had their share in recording Hadiths, so we have Sahabiyyat
[women companions]; they are numbered (216) in Musnad Baqiy Ibn
Mukhallad, and they were followed by the followers who encountered Sahabis.
There are about 115 Sahabiyyah who have accounts in the six books of Sunna 3,
whether directly or indirectly. Moreover, the followers were quite many like the
maid slave of Um Salama, wife of prophet Mohamed ‫ ;ﷺ‬wife of
Anas Ibn Malik, Um Kalthuum daughter of Abi Bakr, wife of ‘abd Allah Ibn
‘Amr, among several others. For Aisha, wife of prophet Mohamed
‫ﷺ‬, there are 2081 hadith in the main six books of Hadiths, and for
Sahabiyyat 2539 hadiths (Omar, 2015).

Second Period of Compilation

There were official attempts to collect the hadiths such as the trials of
‘Abd Al-Aziz ibn Marawaan, the ruler of Egypt, who ordered Kathiir Ibn
Murrah Al-Hadramiy to write down what he heard from the Hadiths of the
companions of prophet Mohamed (Moataz, 2019, n.p.). However, the compiling
and revision of hadiths was formally done by the close of the first century by
the ruler ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz (w.101H). He commanded Aba Bakr ibn
Muhammad ibn Hazm among others to assemble these hadiths (Mahdi, 2018,
p.131).

In the year 99 of Hijra, ‘Umar Ibn Abd Al-Aziz ruled the Muslim world,
so he decided to collect the sayings of prophet Mohamed. He ordered his
officials everywhere to do so, for fear of losing hadiths. He sent to Abi Bakr Ibn
Hazm- his ruler of Madinah- telling him to record the hadith written at ‘Amrah

3
The books of Al-Bukariy; Muslim, Abu Dawuud, At-Tirmithiy, An-Nisaa’iy, and Ibn Majaah.
Bint ‘Abd Ar-Rahman Al-AnSariyyah4 and Al-Qasim Ibn Mohmaed Ibn Abi
Bakr. He told the Muslim scholars everywhere to collect hadiths, among who is
the knowledgeable Imam Mohamed Ibn Muslim Ibn Shehab Al-Zuhariy (died
124 Hijrah). Therefore, Al-Zuhariy gathered the hadiths of the people of
Madinah and presented it to him, thus, paving the way for his followers (Islam
Web, 2003 c).
Erdil (2016) clarified that the method of hadith compiling started by the
end of the 1st century and the start of the 2nd century AH. The primary
collection was made by Hammam b. Munabbih (719 CE/101 AH). He
assembled “news from the companions alongside the traditions of the Prophet”
(p.16). However, the first regularized attempt to collect Hadith was performed
by Imam Mohamed Ibn Shehab Al-Zuhariy, responding to the call of Umar Ibn
Abd-Al-Aziz (Moataz, 2019). Al-Zuhariy was the first one responsible for
writing down Hadith [systematically]. He is one of Tabi‘iin, and it is said that he
was contemporaneous with ten Sahabis or even more. He was also known as the
most knowledgeable person in Madinah (Mohamed, p.36).

After Al-Zuhariy, we have Imam Malik’s compilation of Al-MuwaTTa’,

and other works, to be followed by the notable Imam Ahmed. Hence, this
science reached a new stage of registering the sayings of prophet Mohamed
‫ﷺ‬, which initiated by Imam Malik, and was perfected by Al-
Bukhariy, among others. Imam Al-Shafi‘iy testified that the book of Imam
Malik comes in its authenticity after the Qur’an, as specified in Al-Tamimi’s
Muqaddimah (Moataz, 2019). Masri (2004) illuminated that the registration of
hadiths flourished in the middle of the 2 nd century; however, few anthologies
survived like those of Muwata’ Malik; Musnad Ash-Shafi’iy, and Al-Aathaar for
Al-Shaybaaniy, which were the first that survived and came down to us )p.4).

More about the Saha’if of Sahabah and

Tabi‘iin:
First Period of Compilation
Rehmaanee (n.d.) enlisted the writings of the First Period of compilation,
and classified them as follows:

1. Sahifa Saadiqah by Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr al-Aas (d.63H at the age of 77). He
registered reports and everything he learned from Prophet Muhammad (
‫)ﷺ‬, who allowed him to do so. This Sahifah comprises nearly 1000
hadith. It is now quoted in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad.
4
A woman follower
2. Sahifa Sahiiha by Humaam Ibn Munabbih (d.101H). He was one of the
famed followers of Abu Hurairah; and recorded every hadith of his instructor.
Some copies of this manuscript are in the libraries in Berlin, in Germany, and
Damascus in Syria.

3. Sahifat Bashiir Ibn Nahiik, who was another follower of Abi Hurairah. He
similarly collected a treatise of hadiths which he recited to Abu Hurairah, and
he confirmed it.

4. Musnad Abu Hurairah (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu), which was composed at the

era of the companions.

5. Sahifat Ali (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) which is evident in Al-Bukhariy.

6. Sahifat Jabir (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu), and his students, Wahb Ibn Munabbih
(d.110H), and Sulayman Ibn Qais Lashkariy assembled the accounts of Jabir.

7. Narrations of ‘Aisha Siddiiqa were recorded by her student, ‘Urwah Ibn

Zubair.

8. Hadith of Ibn Abbaas (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu), which were voluminous

collections of the hadiths of Ibn Abbaas (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu), and were
collected by Sa‘iid Ibn Jubair .

9. Sahifat Anas Ibn Maalik.

10. in addition to those of Sa’ad Ibn ‘Ubaadah, and Ibn Mas‘uud, among
others (Rehmaanee, n.d., pp.10, 11, 12).

Second Period of Compilation

It includes works such as:
1. MuwTTa’ Imaam Maalik, recorded between 130H and 141H,

and other Books Collected in this era:

2. Jaami Sufyaan ath-Thawree (d.161H)

3. Jaami Abdullaah Ibn al-Mubaarak (d.181H)
4. Jaami Imaam al-Awzaa’ee (d.157H)
5. Jaami Ibn Juraij (d.150H)
6. Kitaab al-Akhraj of Qaadhi Abu Yoosuf (d.182H)
 7. Kitaab al-Athaar of Imaam Muhammad (d.189H).
(Rehmaanee, n.d., p.14)
Of the third century of Hijra, we have works like Musnad ‘Ubayd Allah
Ibn Mosa 213) H(; Musnad Al-Humaydiy (219) , Musnad Musadad (228);
Musnad Ibn Rahawiyah (237), Musnad Ibn Abi Shaybah (239); Musnad Ahmed
(241), Musnad Ibn Humayd (249), Musnad Ibn Mahdiy (272), Al-Musnad Al-
kabiir for Baqiy Ibn Mukhallad (276), Al-Bukhariy (256); Muslim (261); Abu
Dawuud (275), Al-Tirmithiy (279), and Al-Nisaa’iy (303) (Masri, 2004, pp.4-
5).
Therefore, we can conclude that ever since the time of prophet Mohamed
‫ﷺ‬, recording Hadith went through four major phases. The first
with permission from the prophet, in some manuscripts specific to their writers;
the second, registering at the beginning of the 2 nd century of Hijrah, collecting
and circulating hadiths, without classifying their topics. The third, Hadiths were
classified and chapterized; and the fourth they progressed and matured in the
third century. These phases were recorded in several sources (Masri, 2004, p.5).

Fabrication of Some Hadiths

Fabrication of Hadiths emerged and spread in the second century Ah. It
wasn’t known in the ages of Sahaba and their followers; because of their solid
stance in their religion, and the existence of the memorizers of Hadiths which
made such fabrication not possible at that time. There are several reasons for
such falsification such as political schisms, issues relevant to sects, or for
defaming Islam, among other causes. However, Imams of Hadiths resisted the
process of fabrication, and this resulted in creating certain criteria for judging
the validity of Hadiths and critiquing such false hadiths, and exposing their
creators. They also warned people not to take these as truthful and to reject
them (Ghouri, 2017, pp.31, 32, 34, 111-112). Even if this creator of Hadiths
declared his repentance, they wouldn’t accept his narration anymore; so as to
help preserve the integrity of this science (Al- ‘Anziy, 2020, p.226).
Hafith (2007) studied this topic and emphasized that: First, it was these
Muslim scholars of Hadiths who first detected these fabricated hadiths and
exposed them. Second, Sahih hadiths of prophet Mohamed were collected in
acknowledged anthologies. Third, Muslim scholars critiqued Hadiths both in
their sequences of narrators ‘Sanad’ and their texts ‘Matn’, creating the science
of Jarh and Ta‘diil5, whose basics are considered to be among the most accurate
research methodologies, as we know them today (p.43). Shahin (2020)

5
Science of discrediting or confirming the reliability of narrators (TerminologyEnc.com)
explained the first, i.e., Jarh, as exposing the liars who are composing hadiths;
since they warn people of their danger (pp.125, 126).

Criteria for Judging the Authenticity of

Hadiths
The companions were very keen on preserving hadiths, and they took
extreme measures for scrutinizing and checking their authenticity. Thus, they
would examine the narrators and their sequences or Isnad of hadith; so they
wouldn’t accept a hadith from a dishonest person, and the science of hadith
originated and developed as such (Islam web, 2003e). The narrators of hadith
used to verify the authenticity of their hadiths in front of their audience. The
first to do so was Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, who used to ask for a testimony of a
companion on the truthfulness of the hadith. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab did the
same, and Ali Ibn Abi Talib also, who used to take the hadiths under oath to
confirm their authenticity (Islam web,2003d).
Thus, Hadith authentication started at the era of the first Caliph Abu Bakr
who declined to assent to any hadith related by merely one companion; except if
a further companion substantiated it. Accordingly, sages or scholars from the
age of the companions were unwilling to consent to a hadith without additional
authentication. In subsequent eras, specialists considered a hadith as accurate; if
its narrators were exceedingly trustworthy. Since the second part of the first
century of hijra, “the chain of narrators and their associated biographic
dictionaries assumed a significant place in Hadith authentication”. If a chain
was proved dependable, the text related via that chain was recognized as
genuine; otherwise, it would be “weak or unreliable”. Hadith verification
persisted in “verbal form for around the first century and a half of Islam” (Khan,
2012, pp.7-8).
In addition, Khan (2012) averred that, generally, at the era of the
companions, Muslim scholars were keen on the conservation and verification of
the Prophet’s legacy, and Hadiths were initially investigated from “both the
angles of their chain of narrators and the Hadith text”. He further elucidated
that, in order to demonstrate the companions’ tradition of scrutinizing Hadith,
the scholar Misfir Gurm Allah al-Dumayni tracked the technique utilized by
Hadith scholars for recognizing any drawbacks in hadiths. He observed that the
practices were confirmed by the Qur’an, and by likeness amid “solitary
traditions, relatively authentic traditions, established history, freedom from
unsound words and meanings, fundamental rules and principles of Islamic law,
and freedom from abomination and impossibility”. When investigating the
methodology of Muslim jurists to Hadith texts, al-Dumayni referenced their
norms or standards, which are: “the Qur’an, the Sunnah, consensus of the
Ummah, practice of the companions, logical analogy, general principles, and the
impact of solitary tradition” (Khan, 2012, p.9).

Therefore, Hadith authorities established five “universally acceptable

criteria” to decide the reliability and validity of Hadith:

chain continuity; integrity of narrators’ character; report precision;

non-deficiency; and non-aberrance. If a hadith fulfils all these five
criteria, it is declared authentic. A weak hadith is short of fulfilling
the conditions of the authentic one. The chain of transmitters must
be unbroken for the hadith to be acceptable; none of the
transmitters can be missing from the chain of narrators.
Every transmitter must have received the hadith precisely from a transmitter.
Every chain must connect straightforwardly to the Prophet or one of his
companions. The reporter in a chain must be a Muslim and of reliable character.
Moreover, “he would be disqualified by disbelief, hypocrisy, insanity, or
biological immaturity. Finally, the narrator should have a strong and sound
memory” (Khan, 2012, p.8).

Conclusion
Contrary to the allegations of some, collecting Hadiths was conducted
quite early, ever since the time of the prophet. He allowed certain companions
to record his sayings, and this was made after a suggested period of prohibition,
where he feared the confusion of Qur’anic verses with his sayings. After the
prophet’s death, several companions recorded his Hadiths, and these hadiths
were subjected to scrutiny by other companions, where they were not accepted
unless under oath and testimony from other companions.

Later on, compilations were made like Anas’s Sahifah, which he actually
revised with prophet Mohamed. Others followed like those of Ibn Munabih;
Imam Ahmed, Al-Shafi‘iy, till we reach the era of Al-Bukhariy and Muslim.
Some of the early works still survive, which serve as clear evidence of the
compilation of this science of Hadith. What show this science to be extremely
accurate are the criteria devised by scholars to judge Hadiths’ authenticity, and
to preserve them from fabricators. These criteria and their strict application
ensured the truthfulness and the validity of such a tradition.
 References
Al-‘Anziy, Ruwaidah Mohamed. (2020). Al-Hadith Al-Mawduu ‘.. Sharruh wa-
Khutuuratuh wa- Subul Al-Wiqaayah minh. Majalat Kulliyat Al-Diraasat
Al-Islamiyyah wa-l- ‘Arabiyyah lil-Banaat bi-l-Iskandariyyah. No.36,
Vol.10, pp.213-252. Retrieved from
article_144812_a033855335cf22794298206cd66943d7.pdf (ekb.eg)

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