‘Compilation of Hadith’

Part ‘A’ (10 marks Question)

Past Paper Questions and Examiner Report

Q1 (a) Write an account of the compilation of Hadiths during the period of the successors
of the Successors (tabi’ al tabi'in)? 22-May/June-2019

Examiner Report
(a) This period is considered as the Golden Age of Hadith compilation and many hundreds of
thousands of Hadiths were compiled by the Successors of the Successors. During this period,
Hadith scholars established rules of Matn and Sanad to sift through the Hadiths to categorise them
and include them in their collections.
A large number of jurists combined the two categories of musnad and musannaf in the form of
sunan / sahih books. A sunan was organised topic-wise and thus could be easily used as legal
reference, and it focussed on Ahadith-e-Nabvi with full isnads.
Foremost amongst the jurists at this time were Bukhari and Muslim. They broke away from the
tradition of using weak Hadiths in law and their collections were devoted only to Hadiths whose
isnads met with the requirements of authenticity.
The collections of Bukhari and Muslim became the most famous books of Hadith collection called
the Sahihayn (literally meaning the two Sahihs). Bukhari devoted sixteen years of his life to sifting
the Hadiths he included in his Sahih from a pool of 600 000 narrations. The finished work was a
massive expression of Bukhari’s vision of Islamic law and belief. Backed with Hadiths, the author
felt the most rigorous standards of authenticity were met.
Muslim’s Sahih contains fewer chapters and lacks Bukhari’s legal commentary. Muslim kept all
narrations of a certain Hadith in the same section but without the commentary reports from
Companions and later figures. Their work had a great influence on their students and
contemporaries.
Candidates can go on to give the names and collections of the other muhaddithun of this time
to develop their answer. Four books in particular attained great renown and together with the
Sahihayn have come to be known as the Sahih Sitta. The names of these four books with some
detail about them and a brief account of the Shi’a collections that are comparable to the Sahih
Sitta could be given by candidates to develop their answer.
Clarity of the points in the answer and their development will help the candidates get to the higher
levels.
 Reason of Hadith Compilation

Past Paper Questions and Examiner Report

Q2 (a) Why did it become important to compile the prophetic Hadiths after the time of the
Rightly Guided Caliphs? 22- May/June-2018

Examiner Report

Unfortunately, quite a large number of candidates did not grasp the requirement of this question.
The word after the time of the Rightly Guided caliphs was critical in getting the response geared
to the question. Some wrote about compilation in the time of the Prophet. Many candidates wrote
about the components of Hadiths and the musnad and musannaf collections. Others wrote what
they remembered of Hadith compilation. A small minority did grasp the question and wrote about
why Hadith compilation became all the more important after the time of the four Rightly Guided
Caliphs. Answers should have focused on: to preserve Hadiths for future generations, to clarify
issues and resolve disputes, to have only authentic Hadiths in circulation, to develop Islamic
jurisprudence, to eliminate genuine errors in Hadiths on account of faulty memory etc.
 Past Paper Questions and Marking Scheme

Q3 (a) Write an account of the collection of Hadiths during:

• the Prophet’s lifetime, and
• the time of the Companions immediately after the Prophet’s death. 21-May/June-2020

Marking Scheme:

During the Prophet’s time there was no official recording or transcripts of Hadiths of what he said.
Instead, the generation of Muslims who lived with the Prophet (pbuh) sought to preserve his words
and deeds either in their memory or through some means of writing. Amongst the documents that
became part of Hadith collections were the official records of the Prophet’s discourses and
statements etc. e.g. The Peace deal for Suraqa bin Naufal; As -Sahifa ‘Ali etc.

After the Prophet’s death the Companions assumed both religious and political leadership in the
community. For example, Ibn Abbas in Makkah, Ibn Masud in Kufa, and Salman Farsi in Isfahan
had the responsibility of teaching the new generations of Muslims and new converts about the
religion and Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). Thus, the study of Hadiths began as a practical attempt
to gather, organise and sift through the authoritative statements and behaviour attributed to the
Prophet (pbuh).

It was often the junior Companions who became the most prolific collectors and transmitters of
Hadiths. Abu Hurayra narrated 5300 Hadiths, Abdallah ibn Umar was 23 years old when the
Prophet (pbuh) died but is the second largest source of Hadiths, narrating 2600 Hadiths, Ibn Abbas
narrated 1700 Hadiths. Though narrators like Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra knew the Prophet (pbuh)
for a short period of time they gathered their vast volumes of Hadith by seeking them out from the
senior Companions.

The Prophet’s wives were also a great source of Hadiths. Ayesha was gifted with a great memory
and not only narrated 2,200 Hadiths but was a critic of badly remembered ones. Companions like
Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Ali did not record large number of Hadiths but rather preserved the teachings
in their actions and methods of reasoning rather than by citing them directly.
 Part ‘b’ (4 marks Questions)

Past Paper Question and Marking Scheme

1 (b) Why do you think it was important for The Prophet (SAW) to give permission to his
Companions to write down Hadith? [4] 2017-Oct/Nov-22

Marking Scheme

Candidates could say that the Prophet (pbuh) gave permission to his companions to write down
his traditions so that they could be recorded for future generations of Muslims to read and
understand and thus gain a better understanding of their faith. It could also be said that he wanted
his message to be passed on to those who had not heard him speak, yet another opinion could be
that he was setting precedents in his rulings and conduct with other states etc. and he wanted
Muslims to follow in his footsteps and do the right thing. All valid responses must be credited and
should be backed by sound evaluation.

Past Paper Question, Examiner Report and Marking Scheme

2 (b) What was the significance of the Prophet not allowing the writing down of Hadiths in
the early days of his prophethood? [4] 2013 – Oct/Nov – 21

Examiner Report

In part (b), students had to write the reasons of Prophet not allowing the companions to write the
Hadith in early days. It was found that in the majority of cases the response was satisfactory with a
few very well evaluated answers.

Marking Scheme:
Candidates could say that the Prophet prevented the companions from writing down the Hadiths
during the early days of prophethood as he wanted to establish Islam and make sure his sayings
were not mixed up with the words of the Qur’an which was still being revealed. Good candidates
may well mention that when the Prophet was certain that his companions would be able to
distinguish between the Hadiths and the words of the Qur’an he encouraged them to write down the
Hadiths to pass them down to others.
 Past Paper Question, Examiner Report and Marking Scheme
3 (b) Briefly discuss why the need arose during the early Islamic period to compile the
Hadiths of the Prophet? [4] 2013 – May/Jun – 02

Examiner Report
In part (b) of this question the response was largely satisfactory. Candidates wrote about how it
was feared the Hadiths might get lost or corrupted if not recorded but did not discuss points like
there was no single collection of the Prophet’s Hadiths that could be referred to so the need arose
to compile one or that different centres arose around each companion where they lived, however
candidates were not satisfied with one centre as that companion may not have known all the
Hadiths. It was important not to confuse the compilation of the Hadiths with details of the
compilation of the Qur’an during Abu Bakr’s time. On the whole this question was well
answered by the candidates.
Marking Scheme

Here candidates could discuss in their answer that during the early Islamic period the companions
had spread far and wide and had settled in countries that had been conquered by the Muslims.
There was no single collection of the Prophet’s Hadiths that could be referred to. Different centres
arose around each companion where they lived, however students were not satisfied with one
centre as that companion may not have known all the Hadiths and as the Muslims in that period
were anxious to guide themselves and the future generations by following the teachings of the
Prophet as closely as they could they felt the need to compile the Prophet’s Hadiths.

Past Paper Question, Examiner Report and Marking Scheme

4 (b) In your opinion what were the main reasons for Hadith collections? Give reasons for
your answer. 2020 – May/June – 21

Examiner Report
In part (b), students had to write the main reasons the Hadith was collected. Students with better
response wrote full detail and development of the reasons.

Marking Scheme
A whole range of reasons can be given in response to this question. For example, it could be said
that the Prophet (pbuh) was the final authority on all secular and spiritual matters and with his
death a template was needed to clarify, adjudicate or resolve questions and disputes as he would
have done.
Another reason could be that the Prophet’s Companions, who had first-hand knowledge of his
Sunnah, were themselves dying and hence a need was felt to preserve the Hadiths for future
generations.
All valid answers backed by reasoning to be credited.
 Main Features of the Six Authentic Books
 Compilers of the Hadith
Guidelines about this topic:
Learn first three books and their compilers thoroughly, for remaining compilers and their
books, proper reading is required.