1. Brief History of The Endeavors of The Ummah For The Preservation of The Sunnah
LECTURE TWO
This lecture is based on chapters 3 and 6 of the textbook

2. Objectives of this Lesson
To understand the extent of efforts made by the Ummah to preserve the Sunnah of the Prophet (s})
When did the documentation of Sunnah of the Prophet (s}) start?
How was the Isna’d system born?
Origins of development of H{adi>th Sciences

3. The Ummah’s Endeavors to
Preserve the Sunnah

4. During the lifetime of the Prophet (s})
The Companions referred to him in controversies
The Prophet (s}) predicted the occurrence of forgery
Opponents of the Prophet (s}) forged some H{adi>th during his lifetime

5. After The Prophet (s})
Abū Bakr sought traditions to issue legal rulings but did not accredit such reports without due authentication
Umar compelled other Companions to provide witnesses and not narrate many traditions
Uthman was greatly scrupulous
‘Ali asked narrators to take an oath to confirm their reception of ah{adi>th
Ibn Mas‘ud was sent to Kufa to disseminate h{adi>th

6. General Features of Transmission at that Time
Non-proliferation of transmitting reports either out of their persistent fear of committing inadvertent mistakes or for keeping Muslims fully dedicated to the study of the Qur’an
Verifying and investigating reports carrying traditions from the Prophet (s}). It was applied through requesting dual testimony as was the common practice of Abu Bakr and Umar or by taking an oath as in the case of Alī.

7. General Features of Transmission at that Time
Scrutinizing reports by subjecting them to comparative analysis, being compared to the Qur’anic text, other authentic traditions or well known practices of the Prophet (s}) and sometimes by referring them to the actual incidents where traditions occurred.

8. Genesis of Isna>d and proliferation of Forgery
After ensuing troubles from the murder of ‘Uthman in 35/656

9. Ibn ‘Abbas and Bushayr al-Adawi
بشير العدوي يأتي إلي ابن عباس فجعل يحدث ويقول: قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم ، قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم ، فجعل ابن عباس لا يأذن لحديثه ولا ينظر إليه ، فقال: يا ابن عباس ! ما لي لا أراك تسمع لحديثي ؟ أحدثك عن رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم ولا تسمع ، فقال ابن عباس: إنا كنا مرة إذا سمعنا رجلا يقول: قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم ابتدرته  أبصارنا ، وأصغينا إليه بآذاننا ، فلما ركب الناس الصعبة والذلول ن لم نأخذ من الناس إلا ما نعرف

10. Ibn ‘Abbas and Bushayr al-Adawi
Bushayr alAdawī, once came to Ibn Abbās and started relating traditions to him. He refused to pay him any attention, thereupon, Bushayr said, “I related to you traditions from the Prophet while you do not even listen to me.” Then, said Ibn Abbās, “We Used to, when hearing somebody relating a tradition of the Prophet, Immediately turn to him with our eyes and with our ears we used to attentively listen to him. But when people followed all courses of actions possible; commendable as well as reprehensible, we no longer accepted from people except that we already recognized”

11. Ibn Sirin’s Comments
“They (the people of H{adīth) were not used to inquire for isnād, but when the fitna (civil war) occurred, they said: Name us your informants, thus, if there were ahl al-Sunna, their traditions were accepted, but if they were ahl al-Bid‘a, their traditions were rejected”

12. The Word Fitna
Western Orientalists claimed that fitna refers to later civil wars to prove that isna>d was initiated later in the second or even the third Islamic Centuries

13. Conclusion
According to the traditional Muslim scholarship, the system of isnād began in the lifetime of the Prophet (s}) and reached maturity at the end of the first century at which time it became a full-fledged science

14. When was the Sunnah of the Prophet (s}) Documented?
The Sunnah was documented
at the time of the
Prophet (s})
The Sunnah was
documented later
Contradictory reports from the Prophet (s})
on the permissibility of writing H{adi>th
Cf. Taqyid al-‘Ilm (Writing Down of H{adi>th) by Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi.

15. Opponents of Writing Down the Sunnah during lifetime of the Prophet’s (s})
لا تكتبوا عني ومن كتب عني غير القرآن فليمحه. وحدثوا عني ولا حرج، ومن كذب علي متعمدا فليتبوأ مقعده من النار.
“Do not write what I say. Anyone who has written from me anything other than the Qur’an, let him blot it out. You may speak about me there is no objection to that, but one who attributes a lie to me deliberately should prepare himself for a place in Hell”

16. No existing compilations of the early period
Opponents of Writing Down the Sunnah during lifetime of the Prophet’s (s})
No existing compilations of the early period
‘Umar, b. Mas‘ud, Zayd b. Thabit, Abu Musa al-Sha‘ari and Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri were all against writing down H{adi>th

17. Preserve knowledge though writing
Proponents of writing down the Sunnah in the lifetime of the Prophet (s})
إباحة النبي الكتابة
Preserve knowledge though writing
The Prophet (s}) encouraged removing illiteracy
The Prophet (s}) had various schools in Medina

18. Proponents of writing down Sunnah in the lifetime of the Prophet (s})
The Prohibition of writing was initially originated to prevent confusion between the holy text and the words of Prophet (s})
The Prohibition was meant to prevent writing of the Qur’an and the Sunnah indistinguishably on the same page or collection

19. Proponents of writing down Sunnah in the lifetime of the Prophet (s})
The prohibition was later abrogated
Existence of numerous Sahifas written down during the Prophet’s (s}) time or immediately after his death
This impression of negligence of documentation was given by commentators.
The effort exerted compared to later compilation participated in underestimating the volume of endeavors exerted

20. S{ahifahs written in the first Hijri Century
Sa‘d b. ‘Umadah’s S{ahifah. This is attested by Timridhi and Bukhari
Samurah b. Judub (d. 60) wrote ah}adi>th which were later inherited by his son Sulayman
The S{ahifah of Hammad b. Munabih

21. S{ahifahs written in the first Hijri Century
Jabir b. Abdullah (d. 78) documented the rituals of Hajj
As-sahifah as-Sadiqh of ‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr
The consititution of Medina
‘Abdullah b. ‘Abbas

22. Conclusion
Subhi As-Salih concluded that H{adi>th was written during the Prophet’s (s}) time
The same conclusion was shared by Nabi Abbott and Fuat Sezgin
Abu al-Hasan An-Nadawi and Ahsan al-Kaylani maintained that if these early collections were put together they would comprise the greater collections during the third century of Hijrah

23. Conclusion
My view is that a limited number of ah}adi>th were written during the lifetime of the Prophet (s}) or immediately after his death
Official documentation started at the time of ‘Umar b. Abdul-Aziz and Az-Zuhri (d. 124) who is regarded as the first compiler of a systematic collection of H{adi>th

24. Emergence of Asma al-Rijal
Upon the birth of Isna>d in H{adi>th, the necessity arose to study the men involved in this isna>d and their integrity and scrupulousness
Earliest remarks go back to Ibn Abbās. Ibn Mulaika once asked him to write a collection of traditions, but ibn ‘Abbās withdrew certain material. When ibn Mulaika discovered this, ibn ‘Abbās admired his accuracy in noticing the missing reports

25. Prominent Critics in the Second Century
Sufyan al-Thawrī (d.161/) in Kufa
Mālik b. Anas (d.179/795) in Medina
Al-Auza‘ī (d. 159/775) in Syria
Hamamd b. Salama (d.166/782) and Hamamd b. Zaid (d. 179/795) in Basra
Al-Layth b. Sa‘d (d /781-90)

26. Prominent Critics in the Second Century
Ibn ‘Uyaina (d. 198/813) of Mecca
‘Adullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181/797) of Marw
Yahya b. Saīd al-Qattan (d. 198/813) of Basra
Waqī‘ b. al-Jarrah of Kufa (d. 196/811)
Al-Shafi‘ī (d. 202/817) of Egypt.

27. Early Critical Treatises
Ash-Shafi‘i is held as the primus inter pares in H{adi>th Sciences
Ar-Ramahurmuzi is the first to compile a book on h}adi>th terminology and methodology
Al-Hakim An-Nisaburi followed him

28. Early Critical Treatises
Al-Khatib produced to prominent works: one on the regulations governing the process of Hadīth transmission, called al-Kifaya fī ‘Ilm al-Riwaya and the other on the etiquettes and pedagogies of Hadīth studies, known as al-Jami‘ li Adab al-Rawī wa al-Sami‘