Write an account of the collection of Hadiths during:

• the Prophet’s lifetime, and
• the time of the Companions immediately after the Prophet’s death.

• During the Prophet’s time there was no official recording or transcripts of Hadiths of what he said.

• The Prophet taught by (1) verbally (2) writing it down (3) demonstration

  Anas ibn Malik reported: "We sat with the Prophet, maybe sixty persons in number and the Prophet taught them hadith. Later on when he went out for any necessity, we used to memorize it amongst us, when we departed it was as if cultivated in our hearts."

• Instead the generation of Muslims who lived with the Prophet (pbuh) sought to preserve his words and deeds either in their memory or through some means of writing.

• Amongst the documents that became part of Hadith collections were the official records of the Prophet’s discourses and statements etc.

  • e.g.
    • The Peace deal for Suraqa bin Naufal;
    • As-Sahifa ‘Ali etc.

• After the Prophet’s death the Companions assumed both religious and political leadership in the community.

  • For example, Ibn 'Abbas in Makkah, Ubayy ibn Ka'b in Medina, Ibn Mas'ud in Kufa, and Salman Farsi in Isfahan had the responsibility of teaching the new generations of Muslims and new converts about the religion and Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh).

• Thus, the study of Hadiths began as a practical attempt to gather, organise and sift through the authoritative statements and behaviour attributed to the Prophet (pbuh).

• It was often the junior Companions who became the most prolific collectors and transmitters of Hadiths.

  • Abu Hurayra narrated 5300 Hadiths,
    • Abu Hurairah used to divide the night in three portions; one third for sleeping, one third for prayer and one third for the recollection of the hadith of the Prophet.
  • ibn 'Umar was 23 years old when the Prophet (pbuh) died but is the second largest source of Hadiths, narrating 2600 Hadiths,
  • Anas ibn Malik narrated 2300 Hadiths
  • Ibn Abbas narrated 1700 Hadiths.
  • Though narrators like Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra knew the Prophet (pbuh) for a short period of time they gathered their vast volumes of Hadith by seeking them out from the senior Companions.

• The Prophet’s wives were also a great source of Hadiths.

  • Aisha was gifted with a great memory and not only narrated 2,200 Hadiths but was a critic of badly remembered ones.

• Companions like Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Ali did not record large number of Hadiths but rather preserved the teachings in their actions and methods of reasoning rather than by citing them directly.

  • 'Umar, the second Caliph, entrusted his governors with the duty of teaching the Qur'an and the sunna of the Prophet

Why did it become important to compile the prophetic Hadiths after the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs?

• During the early Islamic period the companions had spread far and wide and had settled in countries that had been conquered by the Muslims.
• There was no single collection of the Prophet’s Hadiths that could be referred to.
• Different centres arose around each companion where they lived, however students were not satisfied with one centre as that companion may not have known all the Hadiths and as the Muslims in that period were anxious to guide themselves and the future generations by following the teachings of the Prophet as closely as they could they felt the need to compile the Prophet’s Hadiths.
• The Islamic governments that followed the Khulafa e Rashidun were more political and divisive.
• The four Rightly Guided Caliphs were close Companions of the Prophet (pbuh).
  • They followed his Sunna closely and after the end of their caliphate it became important to compile the Prophetic Hadiths so that future generations could use the Prophet’s example to clarify and resolve questions and disputes.
• Some people fabricated Hadiths.
  • Overzealous teachers, perhaps with the best of intentions, made up Hadiths to advance the teachings of Islam.
  • Yet some heretics attributed Hadiths to the Prophet (pbuh) that were false.