Collection
& Compilation in First 10 Centuries A.H.
1st Century A.H. : The Sahaba's Period
There were several factors which inspired the Sahaba to preserve
and propagate the Ahadith. Some important ones were :
>> There are some verses and phrases in the Quran which
are a bit
difficult to understand. So Sahaba used to take the help of
Ahadith to understand these verses and phrases. Besides this
Sahaba used to take
the help of Ahadith to understand the legal and related matters.
Moreover, a group of Sahaba solely devoted themselves to the
understanding and explanation of the Quran. Their work led
to the search
and collection of a vast body of related Ahadith.
>> The Sahaba loved the Holy Messenger more
than their own lives.
They constantly used to watch the Holy Messenger and followed
him
carefully in all matters that he said, did, liked and approved.
Consequently, each and every work, utterance and action of
the Holy Messenger was preserved and recorded in the hearts
and minds of countless Sahaba.
>> Sahaba wanted to know more and more Ahadith because
they used to seek guidance from Ahadith in every field of
their lives. Hence, they took extra care to ascertain its
authenticity. We find several instances in Islamic history
when a Sahabi took long and arduous journeys to listen to
even a single Hadith from its original narrator. Because of
this care and devotion, Sahaba were universally regarded as
the living embodiment of Ahadith.
Their acts of devotion, daily prayers and personal and social
dealings thus, proved to be the most effective means for the
initial preservation and propagation of Ahadith and Sunnah.
There was a group of companions, called Ashab al Suffah, who
used to
live in the Messenger’s mosque in Medina and they had
devoted themselves in
the learning of the Quran and the Hadith from the Holy Prophet.
Consequently, they became the most reliable source of Ahadith.
Abu
Hurairah, the famous narrator of Ahadith, was one among the
Ashab as Suffah.
The Holy Prophet in his farewell address had declared : 'Convey
to others even if it is a single verse from one. Sahaba, thus,
regarded the
knowledge of Ahadith as a sacred trust, which they must convey
to
others. At the same time, they were extremely cautious in
narrating a
Hadith because the Holy Prophet had also declared that anyone
intentionally attributing a wrong statement to him would find
his abode
in help.
While there were countless Sahaba who had each narrated hundreds
of Ahadith during their lifetimes, a few of them solely devoted
themselves
to the very task of this collection and propagation. The following
are
reported to have preserved and narrated more than 1,000 Ahadith.
| Muhaddith |
Died-AH |
Ahadith
narrated |
| Abu
Hurairah |
59 |
5,374 |
| Ayesha
Siddiqah |
58 |
2,286 |
| Abdullah
Ibn Abbas |
68 |
1,660 |
| Abdullah
Ibn Umar |
73 |
1,630 |
| Jaber
Ibn Abdullah |
78 |
1,560 |
| Anas
Ibn Malik |
93 |
1,286 |
| Abu
Saeed Khudri |
74 |
1,170 |
At
the same time, a group of Sahaba devoted themselves to the
writing of Ahadith. The following are regarded as the famous
written collections of Ahadith during the first century
Hijrah.
| Name
of the collection |
Author |
| Sahifah
|
Ali Ibn
Abi Talib |
| Sahifah
|
Sa’d
Ibn Abada Ansari |
| Sahifah
|
Abdullah
Ibn Abi Auf |
| Nuskah
|
Samrah Ibn
Jundeb |
| Kitab
|
Abi Ratae
Mula Al Rasool |
| Kitab
|
Abu Hurairah |
| Sahifa
|
Jaber Ibn
Abdullah Ansari |
| Sadiqah
|
Abdullah
Ibn Umar Ibn Aas. |
|
