GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF HADITH Form Two Work Maroka

INTRODUCTION Growth and development of Hadith refers to the progressive increase in the number of Hadith collection in terms of volumes and the progressive expansion of various sciences of Hadith such as, study of the chain of narrators, classifying of hadith into sound, good or weak, etc.

The history of the compilation of Hadith may be broadly divided into five stages: The period of the Prophet (saw) The period of Sahaba from 11 A.H. to 100 A.H. The period of the Tabiun (followers of companions) from about 101 to 200 A.H. The period of Tabi Tabiun (followers of the followers of the companions) from about 200 A.H. to 300 A.H. The period of latest scholars from 300 A.H. to 600 A.H.

The First Stage (Prophet’s (saw) Era to 11A.H) During the life of the Prophet (saw) there was no official compilation of the hadith, for they were not generally recorded in writing but it was done as follows; Some companions wrote hadith for their own personal use especially those who had weaker memories. Some used to write them down for administrative duties, e.g., Amr ibn Hazm when he was appointed the governor of Yemen.

Cont… Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Aas wrote down all that he heard from the Prophet (saw) with his permission. This compilation was called Sahifah Sadiqa (The Scroll of the Truth). Anas (ra) was the Prophet’s (saw) personal assistance. He had written down a number of Hadith on scrolls. The Prophet (saw) used to dictated Hadith to some sahaba e.g. Ali ibn Abi Talib who wrote on a large piece of parchment.

The Second Stage (Sahaba’s Era, 11-100 A.H) This was the age of the rightly guided Caliphs. After the death of the Prophet (saw), interest in Hadith literature increased greatly on two accounts. The companions who knew the Hadith at first hand were gradually passing away. Therefore, they became more keen to preserve the Hadith literature. The number of converts was growing and they were eagerness to learn as much about the traditions as possible. There was no more revelation of the Qur’an to confuse them with Hadith.

Cont… In this Era, the companions had settled in almost all the countries conquered by the Muslims. People flocked to them to hear traditions from them. Thus, a number of learning centres came into existence. The zeal in them was so great that they moved from one companion to the other to collect traditions. In this period, there were not many regular compilations. This was rather the period of collecting traditions.

The Third Stage (Tabiun Era, 100-200 A.H.) This is the age of the followers of the companions of the Prophet (saw). They devoted their entire lives to collecting hadith from different centers of learning for preservation. One of the most distinguished compilers of this period was Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri. Umar bin Abul Aziz, the Umayyad caliph wrote to Abu Bakr Al Hazm saying: “Whatever sayings of the Prophet can be found, write them down, for I fear the loss of knowledge and disappearance of learned men, and do not accept anything but the Hadith of the Holy Prophet, and people should make knowledge public.”

Cont… This period was mostly categorised by individual collections of Hadith but were not exhaustive enough. Among the individual compilations of this period is the Al Muwatta of Imam Malik, the first regular work which contained a well-arranged collection of Hadith that came to be accepted as a standard work. Another feature of this period was that, the Hadith of the Prophet (saw) and the sayings of his companions, and the opinions of the Tabiun were collected together in the same volume. However, it was indicated for clarifications.

The Fourth Period (Atbaa Tabiun, 200-300 A.H.) This is the age of the followers of the companions’ successors. The main attention of the scholars of this period was to critically scrutiny Hadith because a number of people had started fabricating Hadith and attributing it to the Prophet (saw).

This exercise was carried out in the following manner; The Prophet’s (saw) traditions were separated from the reports of the companions and their successors. The authentic traditions were sifted from the weak ones and were recorded in separate books. Strict rules and principles were devised to distinguish the true from the false traditions.

Cont… Sahih (sound) Hasan (good) Dhaif (weak) By the use of these criteria the Hadith scholars were able to classify the traditions according to their degrees of reliability. All traditions therefore fell into three general classifications: Sahih (sound) Hasan (good) Dhaif (weak)

Cont… Due to extensive research, this period was referred to as the golden age in Hadith literature. The six authentic collections of hadith were compiled during this Era. (Sahih Bukhari, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan an Nasai). These works are considered standard works on Hadith, and are known as the six authentic books (sihahu sittah).

The Fifth Period (past 300 A.H.) The work of the collection of Hadith was brought to completion in this period. Likewise, extensive analysis and collections of written works were also. This period was characterised by the following features: Tracing of the Hadith to the Prophet (saw) himself, based on the narrators, known as study of Isnaad. The noted work of this class is the Musnad of Imam Ahmad Hanbal which contains about thirty thousand reports. Recording of Hadith by quoting the person in whose final authority the Hadith rested instead of all narrators.

Cont… Narrators travelled widely to meet scholars in person from previous generation to collect Hadith. Information about narrators was shared to establish their reliability and trustworthiness. Hadith was analysed and compared with those of others to determine the accuracy of one’s transmission of the hadith.

The Fifth Period (past 300 A.H.) Due to extensive research, this period was referred to as the golden age in Hadith literature. The six authentic collections of hadith were compiled during this Era. (Sahih Bukhari, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan an Nasai). These works are considered standard works on Hadith, and are known as the six authentic books (sihahu sittah).

Conclusion During this period, books classified reports under various heads, making Hadith easy for reference by judges, lawyers, ordinary people and research student, and thus gave a new level to the knowledge of Hadith.