Compilation of Ahadith (Note)
Compilation of Ahadith (Note)
Compilation of Ahadith (Note)
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 Tabiin, 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 Tabiun, the disciples of the disciples.
Holy Prophet also said : Those who are present should convey the message those who are not here. At Madina the Holy Prophet himself appointed some persons to acquireknowledge of Islam.These were called as Ashabb-us-Suffah ( the people of Bench).Suffah means shaded area or an area covered by some roof.There was such a small area in the Prophets mosque designed for residence and educational activities of the poor and neddy.Most of the Hadith of that time were compiled and narrated by Ashaab-us-Suffah and their guide and teacher was the Prophet himself. Some official narration/compilations of that time are: The Book of Sadaqa which contained specifications of Zakat rate Sahifa Amr-bin-Hazm which was dictated directly by the Prophet himself to Ubay-binKab who handed it over to Amir ibn Hazam , governor of Yemen. Hadiths were also compiled on the occasion of Farewell Pilgramage of the Prophet.
Close companions such as Jabir and Ali also compiled the Hadiths.Jabir is said to have compiled 1560 Hadith. Abu Saeed al-Khudree also narrated 1170 Hadith. The wives of the Prophet were also looked upon as vital custodians of Ahadith.The names of Ayesha, Hafsa , Umm-e-Habibah,, Mamunah are famous transmitters.Ayesha which is one of the most important figures is said to have transmitted 2210 Hadith. Famous works in this Stage : Hazrat Abdullah ibn Amr Saheefah-e-Sadiqah Hazrat Ali Saheefah-e-Ali Hazrat Humam bin Munabbih Saheefah-e-Abu Hurairah Hazrat Saad bin Ubadah Book of Saad Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah Book of Jabir
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. Other famous Tabein were Saeed Ibn al-Mussayab , Urwah ibn ZUbair , Saalim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar and Naafi The famous Sahifa of Shihab al Zuhri was compiled in this period.The sahifa of Abu Hurairas student Hammam ibn Munbah known as Sahifa Hamam bin Munabah was also transmitted and compiled in this time of Tabiin
Stage 4 Compilation by Companions of the Companions of Companions of Holy Prophet (Taba Tabiin)
In the period following that of the Tabi`in (era of Tabi`ut- Tabi`in), the hadiths were systematically collected and written in texts. One of the earliest works was AlMuwatta' composed by Malik ibn Anas. Other books of Hadith were also written by scholars of Maliks time; by the likes of Al-Awza`i who lived in Syria; `Abdullah ibn AlMubarak of Khurasan; Hammad ibn Salamah of Basrah; and Sufyan Ath-Thawri of Kufah. However, the only work which survived from that time is that of Imam Malik. It could be said that in this period the majority of hadiths were collected in the various centers of Islam. There arose in the third century scholars who undertook the task of critical research of hadiths that were narrated and compiled in the first two centuries. They also grouped the hadiths which they considered to be accurate according to the branches of Islamic Law. For example, from this period is the book Sahih Al-Bukhari containing 7,275 hadiths which Al-Bukhari (died- 870 C.E.) chose from 600,000; and Sahih Muslim which contains 9,200 hadiths that Imam Muslim selected from 300,000. Besides these two works of Hadith, there are four other works which became famous during this period. They are the Sunan of Abu Dawud (died 889 C.E.); Sunan of At-Tirmidhi (died 893 C.E.); Sunan of An-Nasa'i (died 916 C.E.); and Sunan of Ibn Majah(died 908 C.E.).