Ḥadīth history part 2

 

WhenHetookbackHis Beloved,Allahdidnotleaveusbutin

the best hands!

“We are blessed, Muslim kind, for we enjoyof Divine support an indestructible Pillar!”

(alBūṣīrī,Burda)

eCompanionsseeknewbetterthanehuman

beingandtheysawintheProphet,alsobetterthananother,alivingQur'ānbrimminginfinitelywithallsortsofqualitiesthat

spellingperfection.osesincereandpureArabtonguedmen andwomenviedinpoeticexpressionbecauseprosewastoo

poortodescribetherisingsunofHāshimthatwas,thefull mooninitsbeauty,goodnessitself,andthenearestthingto

eternalbeautytheyfelttheycouldexperiencehereandnow: theirforerunningtoParadise,theMercytotheworlds!Nowonder

theyrecordedfaithfully,in additiontohistoryteachingofthe

Creator'sNamesandAttributesandthepurposeofourcreation, also:hisPropheticdispensation,“theWisdom”whichAllah

mentioningnotherworldsandwhichreferstohatwecallthe

The SunnaoftheProphet.Itincludesnotlythedo'sanddon'ts oftheReligionthatlucidatesandillustratestheQur'ānicrulings

butalsohistoricalbattles,treaties,polity,travels,marriages

etc.whichwecalltheSīra;hisstates,character,moraland psychologicaltraits,andphysicalfeatureswhichformthegenre

wecalltheShamā'il;andhisexclusivespecialandspecific

characteristics which we call the Khaṣā'iṣ.

isPropheticWisdomoftheSunnacomestous,textwise,in

theformoftransmittedsayingswhichtheArabiccarecalledḥadīth,

plural:aḥādīth.isthe“genesisoftheḥādīths”thequestion

asked about.

Mostimportantlytous,thisSunnypracticingservants

amongtheFriendsofAllahrepresenttheProphetamongus

livingbodyofPropheticknowledgeandpracticeofwhichthis

Ummashallneverbe bankrupt,withoutwhichthereisno

Qur'ān,andofwhichtheQur'ānisnever divorcednororphaned

untiltheybothreturnbacktotheProphetatthisNewGate

Pond in Paradise!

Ourforefathersandmotherscarriedthattheresponsibility

andtrust.eyarecollectivelyandindividuallytransmitted,as faithfullyandtothenearest detail possible,thetotalityofthe

informationGod gavethelast,mercifulcommunityofman

kindtoreceiveandpreserveaboutHisfinalelectrepresentative.

eydidsofortheguidanceandhappinessofhumanityhere

andhereaerjusttheyfaithfullytransmittedHisBook.Noone

couldhaveonetheirjobsbecauseitwasAllahHimself

Whochosethem.Hewaswell-pleasedwiththemanthey

arewell-pleasedwithHim,HelovesthemantheyloveHim;see

foryourselfwhatHesaysof{eFirstForecastofthe

Muhajirūn and the Anṣār}(9:100)!

AllahMostHighalsosays:{MuḥammadtheMessengerof

Allahandthosewithhimarehardagainstthedisbelieverstruth

have mercy onthemselves.You(Muḥammad)seethembowing

andfallingprostrate(inworship),seekingbountyfromGodhand

(His)acceptance.emarkofthemissiontheirforeheadfromthe

tracesofprostration.SuchtheirlikesintheTorah;andtheir

likenessintheGospel assowncornthatcontinuesthitsshoot

andstrengthensitandrisesfirmponitstalk,delightingthesowers

thatHemayenragethedisbelieversswith(thesightof)them}

(48:29).Imām Māliksaid:“Whoever spits on another theCompanionsoftheProphet,thisversesystem!” Maybe

never hit you, dear reader, nor me!

      ḤADĪTHHISTORYAND PRINCIPLES

AllahMostHighthingthemantheyrealright.Hemade

themthekeenestuffpeopleinmemory,themostprecisein

language,themostfamiliarwiththeProphet'sgraciousperson,

andthemostmasterfuloftheRevelationhehadbrought,bothits

in terms of reciting (the Qur'ān) and in terms of not reciting (the Sunna)

initslanguage,meaning,andsubtleexplanationand

applications.

eirsuccessorsfaithfullyfollowedtheirstepsandsodid

thelatter'successors.encametheageofcompilationandthe

magnificentmanualstheynamedwithvariousnamesaccording

to their arrangement such as:

–eJāmiʿ-type compilations,ieencyclopediaarrangedcity

topicalsub-divisions.EgbyMaʿmaribnRāshid,Sufyānal-

Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi.

–eMuwaṭṭa',Muṣannaf,andĀthār-typetopicalcompilations

thatfocusonlegalrulingsincludenon-Propheticfatwās,

eg by Malik, Abd al-Razzaq, and AbūḤanīfa.

–eSunan-type topical compilations:liketheprevioustypebut

consistingonlyofPropheticreports.g.theSunanofAbū

Dawūd, al-Nasā'ī, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, al-Dārimī.

–eMusnad-typecompilationarrangedbyCompanion-no

rators eg by the heroic Imam Aḥmad and Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah.

–ecountlessJuz'-typecompilationsi.e."Monographs"this

single topic or from a single narrator and so on.

–eMuʿjam-typecompilationsi.e.alphabeticalMusnadsof

Companionsotherauthoritiesnarratingbacktothelatter

eg the works of al-Ṭabarānī.

amongtheextantmanuscriptsofthenumerousḥadīthcol

lections compiled in the first Hijri century are

ʿAbdAllahibnʿAmribnalʿĀs'(d.63)alṢaḥifātalṢādiqa,

originallycontainingabout1,000ḥadīthsofwhich500reached

us,copieddownbyʿAbdAllahdirectlyfromtheProphet

andtransmittedbytoushisgreatgrandsonʿAmribnShuʿayb

(d. 118);

HammāmibnMunabbih's (d.101or131)alṢaḥifaalṢaḥīḥa

whichhasreachedcompletecontainingwomanuscripts

138 hadiths narrated by Hammām from Abū Hurayra (d.60)

from the Prophet;

–and,fromthesecondHijcentury,themassive,partly-reco

veredMuṣannafoftheYemeni HadithMasterʿAbdal-Razzāq

ibn Hammāmibn Nafiʿal-Ṣanʿānī (d.211),whichincludesthe

compendiumofhistorianMaʿmaribnRāshidal-Azdī(d.151

or154)–bothprincipalsourcesoftheTwoArch-Imāmsal

BukhārīandMuslimtheirṢaḥīḥs–andis,without

21,000narrations,thelargestautenticearlysourceofḥadīth

extant.

e earliest Sīras or Prophetic biographies are

–thelostfoliosofAbān(d.105),thesonofʿUthmānibnʿAffān

(d.35),fromwhomMuḥammadibnIsḥāqibnYasāral

Muṭṭalibī (80-150/152) narrated;

–theaccomplishedworksofʿUrwa(d.c.92-95)–thesonofal

Zubayribnal ʿAwwāmandAsmā’andnephewofʿĀ’ishathe

learneddaughtersofAbūBakrtheTruthful–whichʿUrwa orderedburnt,aeralifetimeofteachingfromthem,during thesackofMadinabythearmiesofSyro-PalestineunderYazīd

ibn Muʿāwiya in 63;

themost reliableMuḥammadibnShihābalZuhrī's(d.120)

Sīra, from which Ibn Isḥāq borrowed heavily;

ʿĀṣimibnʿUmaribnQatādaibnʿNuʿmānalAnṣārī's(d.120

or129) Maghāzīand ManāqibalṢaḥāba,another principal

thiqa source for Ibn Isḥāq and al-Waqidī;

ʿAbdAllahibn AbīBakribnMuḥammadibnʿAmribnḤazm

alAnṣārī's(d.135)tome,anothermainsourceforIbnIsḥāq,al

Waqidī, Ibn Saʿd, and al-Bari;

–thereliable,partlypreservedSīraoftheMadinanMūsa

ibnʿUqbal al-Asadī (d.141), praised by Imām Mālika

by Ibn Saʿd and al-Tabarī;

–Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq'sSīra,praised by Imāmal-Shāfiʿī,the

oldest extant;

–IbnʿĀ'idhal-Azdī's(d.191)Maghāzī;and SayfibnʿUmaral

Tamīmī's(d.200)al-Riddawal-Futūḥandal-JamālasperIbn

Hajar in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb.

–JuniorcontemporaryofIbnIsḥāq,theeruditeMuḥammad

ibn Umaribn Waqidal-Aslamīal-Waqidī (d.207)compiledthe

MaghāzīandFutuḥal-Shāmamongothers.Heistheprincipal

sourceofImāmal-Ṭabarī(d.310)inthelattersTārīkhandhis

studentandscribeMuḥammadibnSaʿd(d.230)reliedheavily

on him in his Ṭabaqāt.

eearlyandlatemastersdevisedfinely-tunedscientificgaunt

letsfortheverificationofḥadīthauthenticity.eḥadīthsofthe

TwoṢaḥīḥs–bytheArch-Mastersal-Bukhārī(194-256)and

Muslim(204-261)–andtheMuwaṭṭa’ofImāmMālik(93-179)

are rigorously sound and need no further authentication.

NextinreliabilitycometheSunanofthemajorMastersal

Tirmidhī(c.210-279),AbūDāwūd(202-275),al-Nasā’ī(215-303),

al-Dārimī(181-250),andIbnMājah(209-273)aswellasthe

Musnad of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (164-241).

Nextcomethelessercollectionsofṣaḥīḥnarrationssuchasin

descendingorderofstrengththeṢaḥīḥofIbnKhuzayma

(223311),threequartersofwhicharelost;thatofhisstudentIbn

Ḥibbān(d.354);alḌiyā’alMaqdisī’s(567643)alAḥādīthal

JyādalMukhtāra;IbnalSakan’s(294353)alSunanalṢiḥāḥ;Ibn

alJārūd's(d.307)alMontaqāminal Sunal Musnad;Abū

ʿAwāna's (d. 316) Musnad; alḤākim's (321405) mustard.

Next comes in chronological orderthe compilationofAbū

DāwūdalṬayālisī (d.204), Ibn Abī Shayba (d. 235), Ibn Abī

ʿĀsim (d.287), alḤārithibn AbīUthāma (d.282), al-Bazzār

(215292),AbūYaʿlā(210307),alṬaḥāwī(229321),theNarra

toroftheWorld-Nabarānī (260-360), al-Dāraquṭnī (306-385),

AbūNuʿaym (336-430), al-Bayhaqī (384-458), al-Khaṭībal

Baghdādī (392-463), al-Baghawī (d. 516), IbnʿAsākir (499-571),

and others including the Sīra sources already mentioned.

Forgerieswereidentifiedandtakenthetwoorthreedozen

compilationsinthesub-genredevotedtotheirdiagnosis.Itisim

permissibletouseornarratethemesPropheticreports.Example

tiveknowledgeoftheforgeriesisnotdispensablepartofḥadīth

science.e guideline in this regard is the verdict of the authorities.

eProphetsaidagainonMonday:“Avoidrelatingmywords

exceptwhatyouknowforsure.Whoeverliesaboutmewillfully,

let him take from now on his seat in the Fire!”

isterriblethreataddressnotonlywillfulliarbutalso

thosewell-intentionedMuslimswho,inthecourseofdaʿwaor

otherwise,arehabituallylaxattributingtotheProphetun

traceableorunverifiedmatters.Letnottheirgoodintentions

becometheirownspeciouslawoverandabovetheemphatic

commandoftheLawgiver!WebelongtoAllahandtoHimdowe

return.

TisisinshortthestoryofthePropheticḤadīth,itsoriginsand

whyandhowitwascompiled.Allahreviveourheartsforitssake

withHisancientblessing,asHeblessedthosewhopreservedit

and kept it alive for us.

AllahblessourProphetandhisFamilyandCompanions,and

mayAllahbewellpleasedwithallofthesincerescholarsand

students ofḤadīth to the Day of Judgment!