History and Importance of Hadith Revised PDF

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By:Ms Noshaba AndleebThe HistoryandImportanceofHadithHadith: The word Hadith came from the word “Hadas” which literal meanings are “a story or a Report”.  The word sunnah means “ a practice, a way or a mode of life”’  In Islamic Shariya , Hadith means the words of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and sunnah me...

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The History and Importance of Hadith By: Ms Noshaba Andleeb

Hadith:  The word Hadith came from the word “Hadas” which literal meanings are “a story or a Report”.  The word sunnah means “ a practice, a way or a mode of life”’  In Islamic Shariya , Hadith means the words of the Holy Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and sunnah means the action of the Holy Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. Hadith is generally translated into English as tradition.  Both are interchangeable terms and are read under Hadith. Hadith consist of:  Verbal teachings by the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬about important things which he used to repeat three times to the companions. Then he listens to them to make sure they had learnt them correctly.  Teaching through practical demonstration like the method of prayer, method of ablution.  Teachings by the Holy Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬through letters that he sent to the various kings and rulers. These contains the instruction of Zakat, taxes, form of worships  Silent approval by the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬of the action or practice of someone else.  Description of his Personality i.e: character, conduct and physique Hadith consist of two main parts:  Chain of narrators (Sanad) and the text (Matn). Example:  Muhammad-bin-Al-Muthanna and reported from Abdul Wahab from Ayub from Abu Qiblaah from Malik that Prophetpbuh said:  “Pray as you have seen me praying” First part of the Hadith is known as the chain of transmitters or the Sanad. The second part of the Hadith is known as text or tradition or Matn these are the actual words or message delivered by the Prophetpbuh.  Muslim scholars or the writers of the six authentic books has developed the most vigorous and testing techniques for dealing with the level/authenticity of recording hadith.  They apply very strict criteria in selecting the tradition for their books. They did not accept any tradition that reached them unless they were fully

satisfied that it had actually come from Prophetpbuh they check the chains of narrators as well as text.  The most important science is “Jarahwa Tadeel”, under this science, principles were made to scrutinize the Ahadith and to find out a certain Hadith is to be accepted or rejected. These principles are called the principles of Riwayat or Darayat.

Criteria for the evaluation/authentication of Sanad or Chain of transmitter or Riwayat:  The science of the authenticity of the narrators is called Asma-al-Rijal means the verification of biography of the narrators. In this science, thousands of the biographical accounts of the narrators of Ahadith have been recorded. 1. The name, nick name, title, parentage and occupation of the narrator should be known. 2. The first transmitter must be the companions of the Holy Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. 3. If the narrator referred his hadith to a narrator the two should have lived in the same period and must met each other. 4. The narrator must be honest, trustworthy, pious, and staunch. 5. The narrator must have strong mind, good memory and must not have the memory of forgetting. 6. There must not be a gap and weakness in chain of the narrator. 7. The narrator must not be a child, slave, government employ and insane. 8. The narrator never committed the major sins and must avoid minor ones. 9. He/she was never against the other reliable people. 10.He/she had never spoken against the family of the Holy Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. 11.The higher the qualification of the narrator the higher the authority of the tradition reported by him.

Criteria of the evaluation/authentication of Matn or Text or Dirayat: 1. The text should have a pure Arabic style without grammatical mistake.

2. It should not be conflict with the Quran or Hadith that were more reliable. 3. It should not be against historical facts. 4. It should be contrary with the common sense. A hadith that was against reason or common sense was rejected. e.g.: “Promise of higher reward for a small virtue or severe punishment for the slightest fault.” ‫ﷺ‬

5. A hadith must not level accusation the family of Prophet or his companions, it was rejected. 6. A hadith should not contain expressions.  A hadith reported by a large number of people in different times on a lie become inconvincible was accepted.

Classification of Hadith: Hadith- e -Qudsi and Hadith - e - Nabwi Hadith- e -Qudsi:  Words of Allah spoken by the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬.  Fewer in number less the 1,000.  Topics are regarding mankind- Allah relationship as, Touheed, Fast, Worship  They are only sayings  Example: Allah says, “Fasting is for Me and I shall certainly compensate it.” Hadith – e – Nabwi:    

They are over 1000,000 They have wide range of topics. They can be saying or action. Example: yahya narrated from malik who narrated from Nafae who narrated from Abdullah bin Umar that holy Prophet said, “ He who missed his Asar prayer is as he has lost his family and property.”

Types of Hadith as per authenticity: Sahih Hadith / Authentic

As per the rules of authenticity, i.e. with respect to the chain or text . Sahih Ahadith are absolutely correct, having no weakness in its chain of transmission ( sanad ) and the text (Matan) . Example of Sahih Hadith  Yahya Narrated from Malik, who narrated from Abu Zinad from Al-Araj from Abu Hurraira that the Messenger of Allah said, “the food of two is enough for three and the food of three is enough for four” Sanad is perfect and so is Matn Hassan Hadith/ The Good/ Approved: These are like Sahih Ahadith, quite reliable. However, they are lower in status to them, because of a slight weakness in its chain as compared with a Sahih Hadith as, some of its narrators may have the weak memory. Example of Hassan Hadith  Muhammad bin Ismail narrated from Malik bin Ismail who narrated from Israel bin Yunus from Yusuf bin AbuBurda from his father who narrated from Ayesha that she said, “whenever the Holy Prophet used to leavethe toilet, he would say, „Ghafranak‟”.  Imam Tirmizi says that this is a hassan hadith because although the sanad is joined, some of the narrators do not have a perfect memory Daef Hadith/The Weak Hadith: These Ahadith have some problem in either the chain of transmission( i.e. A narrator had a weak memory or could have been a liar or had not met the person he was narrating from) or in its contents ( that may differ from the basic Islamic teachings). Example of Daef Hadith but acceptable  Narrated Musadad from AbdulWahid bin Ziad from Hujjaj from Zuhri from Amarta bint AbdurRehman from Ayesha who said that the Prophet said , “when you have stoned the Jamaratul Aqaba, all conditions of Ihram are removed except relations with women.”  This is a daef hadith because Hujjaj has never met Zuhri. However, the matan is supported by other Sahih Hadith thus it is acceptable.

Example of Daef Hadith but Unacceptable  Narrated Abdullah from his father who narrated from Yazid bin Haroon from Hujjaj from Amr bin Shoaib from his father and he from his father that when the Prophet made Abul Aas ‟As pay a new Mahr and performed a new nikah for him with his daughter Zainab  This is Daef because 1. Hujjaj is not a student of Amr bin Shoaib 2. Another Sahih hadith is that the Prophet validated the previous Nikah So Sanad and Matn, both are unacceptable

Maudu/ the Fabricated Hadith: A false Hadith insert, which is made up. It has no place in the authentic collection of Hadith. These classes of ahadith have been carefully uncovered by our learned Islamic scholars in the past. The hadith scientists have carefully compiled books of these so that at no stage they may be confused with the real things. Example of Maudu-Fabricated Hadith  AbdulWahad narrated from Mubarik from Ibne Bakran from Qazi from Yatiqi from Ibne Dakheel from Muhammad bin Abdous from Abu Khutheema from Yazid bin Haroon from Qazat bin Soaid from Asim from Alshath from Shadad bin Aous that the Prophet said, “Whoever related poetry after Isha prayers, his Salah will not be accepted for that night”. 1. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal says that Qazat bin Soaid ‟s narrations are full of mistakes 2. Reciting poetry is not Haram

 With regard to their acceptance, the ahadith have again been divided into two important classes.  Matawatir/ Successive : It is a hadith reported by a large number of people in the different times whose agreement on a lie became inconceivable, making it authentic.

Example: "Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬said: Whoever intentionally attributes a lie against me, should prepare his seat in the Fire."  Ahad/ single/ isolated: These were the ahadith whose chain of narrators were broken or had tradition that were less widely accepted. They were therefore less authentic. If there narrators were truthful and honest, they were accepted. Otherwise, they were rejected. Ahad has been further categorised into three sub-types: Mash’hur: meaning “Famous/well known”. Hadith which is related by more than two individuals from each generation. Aziz: meaning “Rare yet Strong”. Hadith having only two reporters in its Isnad (Sequence of Reporters). Gharib: meaning “Strange/Rare / unfamiliar”. Saying of Holy Prophet ‫ﷺ‬ with only one narrator in its Isnad (Sequence of Reporters).

Compilation and preservation of Hadith The history of the compilation of Hadith may be broadly divided into four stages: 1. The first stage relates to the period of the Prophet till 10 A.H. 2. The second stage is approximately from 11 A.H. to 100 A.H. This is the period of Sahaba, the companions of the Prophet. 3. The third stage is from about 101 to nearly 200 A.H. This is the period of the Tabieen, the disciples of the companions of the Prophet. 4. The fourth stage is roughly from 200 A.H. to 300 A.H. This is the period of Taba Tabieen, the disciples of the disciples.

Compilation and preservation of Hadith during the life of Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬till 10AH 

 The Quran elaborates upon major issues but often deal with subjects briefly, leaving the details to be explained by the Holy Prophetpbuh. The Quran says:



   

 “And we have sent down unto thee message, that thou mayest explain clearly to men, what is sent for them.”(Chp 16,verse 44) As Quran frequently commands to keep up prayers and to pay Zakat, the Prophetpbuh gave the rules and regulations for offering prayers and to pay Zakat. Since Islam covers the whole of human activity and many actions or issues has been explained by the Holy Prophetpbuh either by action or the word. Thus the need for ahadis and its transmission from one person to another become necessary even during the lifetime of the Holy Prophetpbuh. This is the common misunderstanding among people that hadith was collected and written down after 150 to 200 years of Prophet’s death. However, there is ample evidence that show that hadith was compiled and written down since time of the Holy Prophetpbuh.

  During the lifetime of Prophetpbuh the Muslims did not feel the need to right down the ahadis as the Prophet was alive in their midst.  Whenever any difficulty arose companions have the opportunity of correcting themselves by simply asking Prophetpbuh.  The time of the companions was mostly occupied in the Holy wars and struggles with the enemies or the propagation of new faith.  The Quran was in the process of revelation and the Prophetpbuh in the beginning prevented them from writing down the hadith. As the companions might not mix up the words of the hadith and Quran.  Later he allowed them when he became certain that they would be able to distinguish between the hadith and the Quran.  He even encouraged them to write these down he said:  “May Allah give freshness to a servant who hears my sayings, keep it in memory and preserve it and communicate it” (Sanan-Abi-Daud)  He also said:  “Preach what hear me say and let those who see and hear me, take upon themselves to communicate my words to others and preach to their children, relatives and friends.”

  The hadith literature was preserved mostly in the memory and hearts of the companions however some of the traditions were written down and recorded.  Abdullah-bin-Umar use to write the traditions during the lifetime of Prophetpbuh he came to the Prophetpbuh and said:  “O Messenger of Allah I wish to narrate some of your traditions So I intend to write these with my hand along with my heart”  Then the Prophetpbuh said:  “if they are my hadith have them written along with my heart.”  During his last pilgrimage the Prophetpbuh said after the sermon:  “He who is present shall carry this message to the one who is absent.”  Thus the companions started preserving the hadith those who memorize the ahadith were mainly Abu Huraira, Abdullah-bin-Umar, Ayesha and Anasbin- Malik.  A party of students called Ashab-e-Sufa lived in the mosque and learns the teachings from the Holy Prophetpbuh and records them.   It is related from Abu Huraira that: once of the companion told the Holy Prophetpbuh of his inability to remember; what he heard from him. His reply was that:  “He should seek help of his right hand (i.e. right it down).”

Methods of preservation of Hadith Methods adopted by the companions to learn and preserve the knowledge, they received from the Holy Prophetpbuh is follows: 1. Memorization 2. Writing 3. Practice

Memorization:  In the early Muslim society the prime objective of every Muslim was to learn Islam directly from the Holy Prophetpbuh.  Arabs had excellent memories and they were known to learn by heart countless versus of their poets and their tribal histories.  Similarly, the companion always tried to observe the action of the Holy Prophetpbuh remember his sayings and follow them in their everyday lives.  The Holy Prophetpbuh had a unique method of teaching to make memorizing and understanding easy. He would repeat importance thrice.  He would then listen to as his followers repeated what he had told them to be share that they had understood.

Writing:  Many companions use to write down ahadith during the Life of the Holy Prophetpbuh.  On several occasions he himself dictated to them instructions that carried public importance.  All the letters of the Holy Prophetpbuh to the kings, rulers and chieftains. Orders and instructions to the Muslim official and governors are recorded such as matter of Zakat, taxation, form of worship e.t.c.  Some major transmitters of the ahadith are Abu Huraira, Abdullah-binUmar, Hazrat Ayesha, Anas-bin-Malik, and Abdullah-bin-Abbas.

Practice:  Learn my practice is the most effective way to acquire any kind of knowledge.  If we go through the Hadith literature we find that a many ahadis pertain to our practical life.  The companions learnt by observing the way of the Holy Prophetpbuh and then applying, what they saw what they saw, to their own practices.  After the death of the Holy Prophetpbuh, the companions took up his mission and spread the knowledge of Islam all over the land.  Thus the Ummah of Muhammad(S) has responded to his advice that he said:  “Learn from me even if it be one sentence.”

Compilation and preservation of Hadith after the life of Prophetpbuh The second stage is approximately from 11 A.H. to 100 A.H. This is the period of Sahaba, the companions of the Prophet. After the death of the Prophet, interest in Hadith literature increased greatly on two accounts. Firstly, the Companions who knew the Hadith at first hand were gradually passing away. Their number continued to diminish day by day. Therefore, people became more keen to preserve the precious Hadith literature that had been stored in their memories. Secondly, the number of converts was growing and they showed great eagerness to learn as much about the traditions as possible. This was the age of the rightly guided Caliphs. In this age 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 centres for the learning of traditions came into existence with these Companions as the focus. When a disciple had learned all the traditions he could from one Companion, he would go to the next Companion and so on, collecting as many traditions as possible. The zeal of these disciples was so great that they undertook long journeys to collect traditions from different Companions. In this period, there were not many regular compilations. This was rather the period of collecting traditions. The work of compilation took place on a large scale during the age of Tabiun, the disciples of the disciples. The Age of Tabieen from 101 to nearly 200 A.H. This is the age of the followers of the companions of the Prophet. They devoted their entire lives to collecting traditions from different centres of learning, with the result that a large number of traditions were preserved. Now it became possible to collect several memoirs in larger volumes. Mohd. ibn Shihab Al Zuhri, the first regular compiler, was one of the most distinguished traditionists. Ibn Shihab Zuhri and Abu Bakr Al-Hazm were asked by

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, the Umayyad caliph, to prepare a collection of all available traditions. Umar bin Abul Aziz wrote to Abu Bakr Al Hazm: “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.” The compilations made in this period do not exist today independently, having been incorporated into the larger collections of the later period. These collections were not exhaustive works on Hadith. Their nature was that of individual collections. After the individual compilations of this period, comes the Al Muwatta of Imam Malik (716-795), the first regular work which contained a well-arranged collection of traditions. The number of the traditions collected by him is put at 1700. This came to be accepted as a standard work. In this period the traditions respectively of the Prophet and his companions, and the decisions / edicts of the Tabieen were collected together in the same volume. However, it was mentioned with each narration whether it was that of the Prophet, his companions or of the followers. The Third Age of Taba Tabieen (Followers of the Successors) This age of the followers of the companions’ successors from 200 to 300 A.H., is the golden age in Hadith literature. 1. In this age the Prophet’s traditions were separated from the reports of the companions and their successors. 2. The authentic traditions were very carefully and painstakingly sifted from the “weak” traditions and then these were compiled in book-form. 3. Elaborate rules were framed; canons were devised to distinguish the true from the false traditions in accordance with clear principles. The main attention of scholars who engaged themselves in the critical scrutiny of Hadith was given to the recorded chains of witnesses (isnad); whether the dates of birth and death and places of residence of witnesses in different generations were such as to have made it possible for them to meet, and whether they were

trustworthy. This activity, to be properly carried out, involved some feeling for the authenticity of the text itself; an experienced traditionist would develop a sense of discrimination. All traditions therefore fall into three general categories: (sahih) sound, having a reliable and uninterrupted isnad and a (matn) text that does not contradict orthodox belief; (hasan) good those with an incomplete isnad or with transmitters of questionable authority. (daif) weak those whose matn or transmitters are subject to serious criticism. By the use of these criteria the Hadith scholars were able to classify the traditions according to their degrees of reliability. This is the period in which six authentic collections of traditions were compiled. These works are considered standard works on Hadith, and are known as the six correct books (sihah-e-sittah). The authors’ names and book titles are as follows: 1. Muhammad b. Ismail al Bukhari, (194 A.H.-256 A.H.): Sahih. This work is next to the Quran in authenticity. 2. Muslim bin Qushairi (204 A.H.-261 A.H.): Sahih. This is the next most important work on Hadith...