Week 01
Day 02 [Paper 02]
Successors of the Successors (Taba’eTabe’een)
M/J 2019
Q2(a) Write an account of the compilation of Hadiths during the period of the Successors
of the Successors (taba’ al tabe’een). [10]
• From the early third to the early fourth century A.H, a large number of scholars compiled hadiths. This
period that followed the Successors of the companions is considered the golden age of Hadith
compilation. Hundreds of thousands of hadiths were compiled by the Successors of the Successors in
the form of Sunan / Sahih/ Musannaf books.
• A sunan was organized topic wise and thus could easily be used as a large reference and it focused on
Hadith Nabvi (Prophetic Hadith) with full isnad. The scholars who compiled the sunnan, devoted great
efforts in ensuring the authenticity of its contents and only used Hadiths that were proven authentic.
This emphasis on authenticity led many of the collections produced in the sunan movement to be called
sahih books by the authors or the Muslims readers.
• Foremost amongst the Muhadditheen(scholars) were Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari
(d.870) and his student Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d.875). Their books were the first of ‘sahih movement’.
The Sahihayn (the two sahihs) of Bukhari and Muslim became the most famous books of Hadith in
sunni Islam.
1. Sahih of Bukhari was compiled by Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari. He devoted 16 years to sifting
the Hadiths that he included in his Sahih(Bukhari) from a pool of 600000 hadiths. It contains 97 chapters
according to topics. There are 7397 full Hadiths with full isnad in Sahih of Bukhari however, these would only
be 2762 if the repetitions are excluded. Sunni Muslims regard it as the most authentic collection of Hadith.
2. Sahih of Muslim was compiled by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. He traveled widely to gather his collection of ahadith
and Out of 300,000 hadith 9200 were accepted as authentic. There are a total of 2,200 hadiths without repetition. It
contains 54 chapters and does not have legal commentary like Bukhari. Muslims kept all narrations of a certain hadith
in the same section but without the commentary reports from companions and later figures.
Other participants in the Sahih movement also focused on hadith with strong and reliable isnad but they also
included some weaker hadiths because they were widely used among jurists or because the authors. Four
of these books attained great renown:
3. Sunan of Abu Daud was compiled by a close student of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. He collected
500,000 hadith in 20 years research, but included only 4,800 in this collection. He made a series of journeys
to meet most of the foremost traditionists of his time and acquired from them the most reliable hadiths,
quoting sources through which it reached him. He collected hadiths which no one had ever assembled
together.
4. Jami of Tirmizi was compiled by a student of Bukhari. It contains 3,956 Ahadith, and has been divided into 50
chapters according to topics. His method was that of placing the heading first, then mentioning one or two Ahadith
which were related to the heading. His book bears the distinction of being one of the oldest texts dealing with the
difference of opinion amongst the various law schools. It also includes detailed discussion of their authenticity
5. Sunan of al-Nasai was also compiled by a student of Bukhari. It has about 5,270 hadiths, including
repeated narrations. It contains 52 chapters. It contains the fewest da‘eef (weak) hadiths among the six
books after Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim. There is not a single mawdhoo (fabricated) hadith in it.
6. Sunan of ibn Majah was compiled by Ibn Mājah. It is widely considered to be the sixth of the six
collection of Ḥadīth . It consists of 4341 ahadith in 37 chapters. It includes 1339 additional aḥādīth, which
are not found in the other five major books of Ḥadīth.
These four books together with the Sahihayn of Bukhari and Muslim have come to be known as the SihahSitta.
‘The Six Sound Collections’. With their compilation the Shaih/ Sunan movement and the Hadith tradition
reached its climax.
Shia Collections
Like Sunni Muslims Shia Muslims also accepted Hadiths as source of understanding the Quran and as guidance
in everyday matters. They however, only consider those Hadiths as most reliable that based on the authority
of Hazrat Ali and the twelve imams, who are the descendants of Hazrat Fatima and Hazrat Ali. The prominent
Shia collections are:
1. Al-Kafi fi ilm al-din (The sufficient book) is a Shia collection of Hadith compiled by the Abu
JafarMuhammad ibn Yaqub al-Kulayni. It has three sections Usul al Kafi which is related to history
morals and ethics prayers and worship and the Quran, Furu al-Kafi which is about with practical and
legal issues and Raudat al-Kafi which includes various Hadiths transmitted from the imams. Altogether
al-Kafi comprises over 16000 Hadiths.
2. Man la yahduruhu al-Faqihis a Shia Hadith collection by the famous scholar Abu Jafar
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babuyah commonly known as ibn Babuyah or Al shaykh al-Saduq. This collection
has just over 9000 Hadiths.
3. Tahzib al-Ahkam has been compiled by the shia scholar Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Hassan Tusi
commonly known as sheikh Tusi. This work comprises close to 13600 Hadiths.
4. Al-Istibsar is a Hadith collection also by sheikh Tusi. It includes the same topics as Tahzib al-Ahkam
but in a shorter from.
All of these four collections were compiled during the period from the mid-fourth to mid-fifth centuries Hijri.
2(b) Why do you think the chain of narrators (isnad) of a Hadith is given so much
importance in establishing its genuineness? [4]
The importance of the isnad lies in the fact that it allows scholars to verify the authenticity of hadith
and to ensure that they are transmitted accurately from one generation to the next through a chain of
narrators. By tracing the origin of a particular hadith back to its source, scholars could be confident
that the tradition was accurate and reliable. By examining the credentials of the transmitters, scholars
could determine the authenticity of a particular hadith. For example, if a hadith was transmitted by a
reliable and trustworthy source, it was more likely to be considered authentic. On the other hand, if a
hadith was transmitted by a source with a questionable reputation, it would be considered less reliable.
O/N 2019 (22)
2. (a) Write a detailed account of the Musannaf and Musnad collections of Hadith. [10]
The collection Hadiths became very important after the Prophet’s (pbuh) death. Two techniques were were
mainly adopted resulting in two types of collections i.e Musannaf and Musnad.
The first organized compilations of Hadiths that had developed during the first two centuries of Islam are called
Musannaf hadith collections. They are defined by their arrangement of content according to topic e.g
Zakat, Prayer, purity, inheritance etc and constitute a major category within the class of all such works.
Musannaf is from the Arabic verb sannafa, meaning to arrange by chapter, and so has the literal meaning of
something that is sectionally arranged.
The Muwatta by Imam Malik is an early example of an earliest Musannaf collection. He was the founder of
Maliki school of law. His collection contains 1720 hadiths. Another compilation of this category is al- Musannaf
of Abdul Razzaq al Sanani which contains 11000 hadiths. Six authoritative collections of sunni hadith (Sihah
al Sitta) belong to this category of hadith collections.
the Musannaf collections served an important function in law and Hadith literature. Later scholars referred to
Musannaf collections to know legal opinions of the Companions and Successors and Hadith critics used them
as evidence when establishing the authenticity of a Hadith. These collections are very useful for ordinary
Muslims, who want to know answers to specific questions on a single topic. Similarly, new converts to Islam
seek guidance from these collections. Musannaf collections are also used by the scholars for practicing ijma
and Qiyas in legal thinking.
The late second/early third century AH saw a shift towards Musnad collections which were arranged
according to isnads. In these collections the hadiths are arranged according to the names of companions and
the content of hadiths is not taken into consideration. These collections begin with the companions who were
closest to the Prophet (pbuh), the four Caliphs, Ten Blessed Companions, wives of the Prophet (pbuh) , other
leading companions from Muhajirin and Ansar. Under the name of each companion there are hadith narrated
by that companion. In this way, every single hadith can be traced back to the Prophet (pbuh). Therefore, the
titles of chapters in Musnad collections are : Musnad of Abu Bakr, Musnad of Ali, Musnad of Abu Hurairah,
Musnad of Aisha etc
The most famous collection of this type is of Ahmed bin Hanbal’s “Musnad”. He was the founder of Hanbali
school of law. He compiled his book by examining 750,000 Hadiths . He selected only 27647 Hadiths out of
which 10,000 Hadiths are repeated as more than one companions reported them.
A musnad is valuable to scholars who want to check the authenticity of hadith. It is of little value for ordinary
Muslims, who want to know answers to specific questions on a single topic. Similarly, for the practice of Ijma
and Qiyas, the musnad collections are of no use.
2.(b) Why do the Prophet’s Hadiths link belief and action so closely? [4]
The Prophet’s Hadiths link belief and action because mere faith without righteous deeds is meaningless.
Belief is sincere only when put into action. e.g if someone believes in pillars of Islam i.e prayer, fasting, zakat
etc but does not practice any of them, then his beliefs has no value near Allah. Similarly, if a person believes
in Prophet Muhammad pbuh as the last messenger but does not follow his sunnah, then he is not a true
believer. The link between beliefs and action is equally important in communal life as the prophet pbuh said,
“ Let him who believes in Allah and the Last day, either speak good or keep silent, and let him who believes
in Allah and the last day, be generous to his neighbor, and let him who believes in Allah and the last day,
be generous to his guest.”
Home work
Q2 (a)
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