THE SCIENCE OF HADITH BY BABA ALI MUSTAPHA

THE ORIGIN OF HADITH

            The activities of Muhammad, the Prophet, interested his followers who considered that their success depended on his success. All his actions served them as precedent, a Sunnah, every word of his was law to them; all his actions were virtuous in their eyes; all these they wanted to follow as faithfully as they could. The reports of these passed from one to the other among his followers. Some of them wrote down these reports which later generations read and studied. Most of the companions of the Prophet naturally sought after the knowledge of what the Prophet did or said. For example, Abu Hurayrah kept his constant company for three years, at the expense of his other worldly affairs, in order to see and hear, first hand, of what the Prophet said and did. He also regularly devoted a considerable time to getting by heart what he had heard from him. Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph in Islam, who was living at a distance from Medina, and was unable to attend the Prophet everyday, made an agreement with one of the Ansar (the Medinese Muslims) to attend to him every alternate day and report to each other whatever they saw or heard from the Prophet. Such other of his followers who were unable to attend to him everyday some from those who had seen or heard from him. It is said to have been a common practice among the companions that whatever any two of them met, they inquired from each other whether there was something new.

            During the Prophet’s lifetime, his followers had free access to him for advice, judgement and decision. The quest for knowledge of the Prophet’s stand on many issues increased with his death, and the reports of eye witness and ear-witnesses among the companions were elicited and collected. These reports gradually acquired great weight and authority. With the passing of time, the collection of eye witness and ear witness accounts became systematic. The death of the companions made it necessary to rely on the second hand reports by their sons and servants, and later those of their grandsons. Eventually, chains of transmitters developed in such a way that it bridged the gap between living generation and the Prophet’s age in which each scholar would refer to an earlier authority from which he had heard the report. The word hadith which originally meant “an event” , “a report”, “an incident”, come to be technically applied to these special reports as well as for the resulting theological system. Thus hadith came to be translated apostolic traditions. If these traditions were to be accepted as reliable, then the transmitting authorities had to have an acknowledged reputation for trustworthiness, honesty and scholarship. In  the eyes of the early scholars the reliability of the transmitting authorities vouched for the truth of the report. In this manner, the hadith became an embodiment for the “way” of the Prophet-that is , the method be followed in his ablutions, his prayer, pilgrimage or in his buying and selling things; in his judgement and command about a marriage or the manumission of slaves and so on. Also, his discourses and utterances, his actions and even his silent approval of the practice of the people of Medina of his time and also his passive conduct, all these acquired a binding force and formed the basis of every Muslim’s life.

TRANSMISSION OF THE HADITH

            Scholars used to take along journeys to attend the lectures of such person as were as famous as reliable authorities of traditions. These traditions were delivered orally by the teachers. It was also usual for one student to read out a copy while the other student listened and the teacher improved where necessary, what was read and gave explanatory notes. In this way, it was the custom of say that X told me or informed me in the presence of Y etc.  One who heard traditions in this way under the direction of a teacher could in his pass them to others. Later copying and collation of written texts become in use and oral transmission fell into disuse. The traditions were then simply copied and permission was obtained to transmit them with the usual formula, haddathani meaning “X told me”, just as if the contents had been acquired by oral intercourse from the teacher.

COLLECTION OF THE HADITH

            The collection of hadith was carried on from the beginning and also for a long time as a private concern. That is, only those who were interested in this science undertook to study and collect it. A time came when many of those who knew and memorized the traditions were dying because of old age. Then a new anxiety began to develop, a fear that the knowledge of traditions of the Prophet might perish with the death of those who possessed them, we read that the Umayyad Caliph Umar b Abdul Aziz (717-720AD) gave an order to the great traditionist Abu Bakar b Muhammad b. Hazm (d, 719 AD) who lived in Medina, and instructed him to write down all the tradition of the Prophet which he could collect, particularly those he could learn from “Amrah the daughter of Abdulrahman. Amrah was at that time the best custodian of such traditions as were related by Aisha, the widow of the Prophet. This Abubakr was one of the Ansar and he was the judge in Medina and Amrah was his aunt.

            This same Caliph was also reported to have asked some scholars like Sa’ad b. Ibrahim and Ibn Shinab al-Zuhri, to collect hadith in the form of book in order to have them circulated throughout his empire. He was also reported to have written a circular letter asking the traditionalists (Scholars of traditions) living in the various part of the empire to collect in the form of books as many traditions as were available.

            Many scholars responded to the request and advice the Caliph and many collectors of traditions followed in the various provinces. Later scholars travelled from one place to another in search of traditions. Then there emerged many collections in form of books. When more formal books were compiled a system of criticism also emerged and was applied to each of the collections. The first book compiled was the Muwatta of Malik (Circa-93-179AH) the great Medina doctor of Law. He gives Isnads and arranges his material according to subject matter. Although, the Muwatta is really a handbook on law, it has been helped by some to be one of the basic hadith works.  Malik sometimes traces traditions back to Prophet, sometime to content to trace them back to a companion of the Prophet and sometimes gives his own opinion about matters.

            In the course of time, six books came to be recognized as the most authoritative of all. These were Salih of Bukhari (194-256AH), the Salih of Muslim (202-261AH), and the four sunan work of Abu Dawud 9202-275AH), Tirmidhi (d.279AH), Nasa’I (215-303 AH), and Ibn Majah (209-273 AH). They were not all recognized immediately but the two Salih fairly quickly commended themselves.

            The subject matter of Hadith is very comprehensive, covering every topic on which guidance might be sought. This being illustrated from a consideration of the subject covered by Bukhari and Muslim in their Salih. Bukhari, in his Salih which is divided into 97 books, stars with three books on the beginning of the revelation, faith and knowledge. Next came 30 books connected with ablution, prayer, zakat, pilgrimage and fasting. This is followed by 22 books dealing with matters of business, trusteeship, and in general with conditions of employment and various legal matters.

            Then came three books on fighting for the faith and dealing with subject people, followed by one on the beginning of creation. The next four deal with Prophets and with some account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad up to Hijra. The next book deal with the Prophet’s career in Medina. The following two books give a commentary on passages from the Qu’ran. The next three deal with marriage, divorce and maintenance due to one’s family.

            From  here to book 95, various subjects are treated, among them are such matters as food, drink, clothing, seeming behavior, medicine, invitations, vows, the expiration of broken vows, blood-revenge, persecution, the interpretation of visions, civil strife and the trials before the end of the world. Book 96 stresses the importance of adhering to the Qu’ran and the Sunna, and the last book, which is fairly lengthy, deals with God’s unity.

            Muslim’s Salih covers very much the same ground. The four sunnan work confine themselves to matters of religious observance, law, personal relationships and eschatology. But Tirmidhi includes some commentary on the Qu’ran, and devoted to the fine qualities of various people, a book in which he includes material about the Prophet, his family and his companions. Tirmidhi’s work is sometime called a Salih.

THE SIX COMPILER OF THE HADITH

            The six book recognized as the most authoritative works of the compilations of the Hadith are:

(a)    Salihul Bukhari

(b)   Salih Muslim

(c)    The sunan work of Dawud

(d)   The sunan work of al-Tirmidhi

(e)    The sunan work of al-Nasal

(f)    The sunan work of Ibn Majah.

The compilers of these works are:

Al-Imam al Bukhari (194-256 AH): His full name is Muhammad Ibn Ismail Abu Abdullahi, he was born in Bukhara on the 13^th Shawwal 194 AH (21^st July 810 AD). He lost his father when he was young, and was left under the care of his mother. Since his childhood, he had been known to his people by his wonderfully retentive memory. It was stated that his class-fellows used to correct their manuscript from  his recitation.

            Being interested in the hadith and its relations. Al-Bukhari, when reached the age of eleven, he corrected his recitation by a well known traditionalist. When he was sixteen he became a master of hadith.

            When he was eighteen, he compiled a book relating to the judgement of the Prophet’s companions. He was encouraged by one of his teachers, and became more interested and ambitious when he saw the Prophet Muhammad one night in his dream. His dream was interpreted as indication that he should undertake the work of sighting the true hadiths from the falseones.

            Al-Bukhari from that time devoted himself to the compilation of the hadith and travelled throughout the Muslim world for nearly forty years to quest his knowledge.

            He claims to have heard traditions from over 1,000 sheiks. He was noted for his responsibility in detecting defects in traditions and never accepted any hadith unless all its transmitters were reliable person and until there was proof of one meeting the other in the chain of narrators.

            Al-Bukhari collected 600,000 traditions out of which he knew by heart 220,000, but of this mass, he took only 7,257 tradition as the most authentic. This does not mean the rest were fabrications. But many were repetitions with different chains of narrators.

Al Imam Muslim: (204-261 AH): His full name was Abul-Husain Muslim Ibn el-Hajjaji. He was born in Khurasan in 204 AH). He studied the hadith under many teachers throughout the Muslim world. He travelled far and wide with the object of learning hadith. He learnt the hadith from Yahya of Khurasan, Ahmed Ibn Hambal in Iraq, Said Ibn Mansur in Hijaz and Umar Ibn Dawad in Egypt.

            The book of Al-Imam Muslim is called Salih of Muslim, the same with al-Bukhari. The Salih of Muslim is a selection of 9, 200 hadith, selected out of 300,000. Muslim has more or less followed the Pattern of Al-Imam Al Bukhari, whom he met in his last days at Nisabur.

            This compilation is considered just next to Bukhari’s in accuracy and authenticity. He wrote many books of which the most renowed is the Salih.

Abu Dawud (203-275 AH). His full name was Abu Dawud Sulaiman Ibn Asha’ath Ibn Ishaq. He was born in 203 AH (889AD). He was a great traditionalist, and had written many books of which the most noted is the sunan. The well versed authentic one, next to the Salihs of Imans Bukhari and Muslim. It took him twenty years to compile the work which contain 4,600 traditions, selected out of 500,000 traditions and taken to be a standard work on hadith. There is another book of him on hadith called the Musnad.

Al-Tirmidhy (209-279AH) His name was Abu-Isa Muhammad. He was born in 209 AH and died in 279 AH (892AD). His work on hadith which he called Jami, is one of the six authentic works on hadith. Trying to fix the degree of reliability of the narrators he was able to fix the identity of names, surnames and titles of those persons.  Al Trimidhy includes some commentary of the Qur’an and in a book which deals also about the Prophet, his family and about his companions.

Al Nasai’i (214-303 AH). His name was Abu Abdulrahman, Ahmed Ibn Shu’ab Ibn al-Nasai. He was also a leading traditionalist. His books contains some traditions among which those not favour of Mu’awiyah, the first Umayyad Caliph of Islam, and had a leaning towards the family of the Prophet. Because of his sympathies with Ali the fourth well guided Caliph of Islam, he was persecuted by the Umayyads and beaten to death in a mosque after writing a book in favour of Ali.

Ibn Majah (209-273AH). His full name is Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Yazid Ibn Majah. He was a well known traditionalist who had travelled to various Islamic cities to collect materials and then compiled his sunan books, the last of the six authentic books. Apart from this book he had written the history of the companions with those who followed them till his age, and also the commentary of the holy Qur’an named AL TAFSIR.

THE DIVISIONS OF HADITH

            Traditions may commonly be divided into four main groups; (1) Sahih (sound), (2) Hassan (good), (3) Hassan Sahih, (4) Daif (Weak).

            All the tradition given by Bukhari and Muslim are reckoned Salih, as are those not given by them which fulfill the conditions laid down by either or both of these men, and also others which are thoroughly reliable in the opinion of other authorities.

            Hassan traditions are (a) those whose source is known and whose man are well known for their reliability and accuracy, (b) those whose Isnad contain no one suspected of falsehood, which does not disagree with what is generally reported. Hassan tradition have been recognized as valid base for legal decision.

            Hassan Salih is used for a tradition whose Isnad is the type known as Hassan, but which is supported by another which has an Isnad which is Salih.

            Daif (weak) traditions are those chain of authorities (Isnad) has links missing, defect in the transmission, or traditions which disagree with what is commonly reported.

            Although Daif traditions have not been recognized as valid bases for legal decisions, all traditions called Daif are not rejected out of hand. Those which exhort people to do good, or which tell incident may be quoted. Abu Dawud quite often uses Daif tradition when he can find nothing better to illustrate the point with which he is dealing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HADITH

            The hadith of the Holy Prophet is the second source from which the teachings of Islam are drawn. As we know, the Qur’an generally deals with the broad principles or essentials of religion, going into details in rare cases.

            The details were generally supplied by the Holy Prophet himself, either by showing in his practice how an injunction can be carried out, by giving an explanation in words.

            The sunna or the hadith of the Holy Prophet was a thing whose need had been felt in his lifetime and much more so after his death. The two most important institutions of Islam, for instance, are prayer and zakat (almsgiving). Yet when injunctions relating to prayer and zakat were delivered and they were repeatedly met  with both in Mecca and Medina revelation, no detail were supplied. Keep up prayer is the Qur’anic injunction, and it was the Prophet himself who by his own action gave the details of the service.

“pay alms” is again an injunction frequency repeated in the Holy Qur’an, yet it was the Holy Prophet who gave the rules and regulations for the payment and collection.

            These are but two examples, but since Islam covered the whole sphere of human activities, hundreds of points has to be explained by the Holy Prophet by his example in action and word, while on the other side, this was the pattern which every Muslim was required to follow.

            “verily in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow (Sura 33:21).

            The man, therefore, who embraced Islam stood in need of both the Holy Qur’an and the Sunna. The role of Sunna is not limited to clarifying the duties implied in general commandments revealed in the Qur’an. Often the Sunna establishes new obligations and prohibition for which no clear reference can be found in the Qur’an.

            This is not, however, an addition to the legislation of the Qur’an, for a careful study may show that each of the traditions expresses the spirit of a more general teaching in the book, even though the ties connected each tradition with each appropriate foundation in the Qur’an are not easily discovered.

            For example, the Qur’an instituted the fast during the month of Ramadan as training in piety and patience, and an opportunity to express the thankfulness of divine blessings, the Prophet added the requirement that alms be given at the end of the fast of Ramadan as an act which is in an addition mean of accomplishing these purposes.

            The Qur’an forbids usury; the Sunna forbids those usurious sales in which the increase of price has the same effect. Since such sales, halfway between the legitimate sale and forbidden usury, fell within a doubtful and suspected area of business activity, tradition rightly forbade them under the legislation of the Qur’an which recommends that  we abstain from any action when in doubt.

            The Sunna, based on the verified traditions concerning the teachings, actions and tacit approval of the Prophet, is justifiable binding on all Muslims. Since the Qur’an gave the Prophet full power to enlighten men concerning the meaning of the revelations, he was the best qualified to legislate in matter requiring clarification.

            And also, Muhammad’s role was limited to receiving the revelations, learning it, writing it down, transmitting, explaining and applying it. Muhammad could not go beyond or change or modify the Qur’an in way, nor can any other believer.

            The Prophet led us out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of truth. Lost and vicious we were, he brought us back to the straight path of Islam.

            In conclusion, for the knowledge on the text in Arabic, transliteration, translation and commentary of the FORTY-TWO HADITH OF AL NAWAWI, I refer you to these books, HADITH by M. Bashir Sambo and Muhammad Hiqah, THE SELECTED TRADITIONS OF AL NAWAWI by Musa O.A. Abdul and Introduction to the Hadith by A. Rahman. Doi.

            Baba Ali Mustapha is with the department of Planning/Research, Ministry of Environment, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.

Reference:

 The selected traditions of Al Nawawi by Dr. Musa O.A. Abdul, published by Islamic Publication Bureau, 136A Isolo road, Mushin, Lagos, Nigeria.

2.      Introduction to the hadith by A. Rahman .I. Doi, published by Hudahuda publication company, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

3.      Hadith (book 3)by M. Bashir Sambo and Muhammed Hiqab, published by Islamic Publication Bureau, 136A Isolo road, Mushin, Lagos, Nigeria.

4.      Usool Al- Hadith (The Methodology of Hadith) by Dr. Abu Ameenah, Bilal Philips, published by International Islamic Publication House.