Uloom al Hadith Preservation of the Sunnah

Uloom al-Hadith: Preservation of the Sunnah

Lecture by Navaid Aziz

Opening

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, wa sallallahu wa sallam wa baraka ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.

Correction and Introduction

Just to make a quick retraction, I guess you could say, or correction is a better word. I mentioned four books by Muhammad Mustafa al-'Alamin.

I mentioned studies in early hadith methodology, studies in early hadith literature, studies in the sciences of the Qur'an. And the fourth book I mentioned was his critical analysis of the Sahifa of Ibn Munabbih. Just to fix that, that the fourth book is actually by Muhammad Hamidullah.

And Mustafa al-'Alamin's fourth book, which again is highly recommended, is his refutation on Shaqt. Shaqt was actually a German orientalist who tried to prove that the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ couldn't be preserved till our time today. So just to fix that, that the critical analysis of the Sahifa of Ibn Munabbih was by Muhammad Hamidullah.

And Muhammad Mustafa al-'Alamin's fourth book was his refutation on Shaqt. So we mentioned previously that we will be discussing five points on how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserved the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We mentioned that the first way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did this was encouraging or the Prophet ﷺ encouraging his companions to learn the hadith.

And we also saw how the companions of the Prophet ﷺ wrote down the Hadith during the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

Hadiths About Writing Down Hadith

Now, those people who reject the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, even though they don't accept the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. They commonly quote a hadith proclaiming where the Prophet ﷺ prevents his companions from writing down the hadith.

And we mentioned three hadith which we will be discussing in the name of Allah Ta'ala.

First Hadith: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri

The first hadith is by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and it's narrated by Imam al-Bukhari. Where the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Do not write from me and whoever has written from me other than the Qur'an, then let him erase it."

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Second Hadith: Abu Hurairah

The second hadith is the hadith of Abu Hurairah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that the Prophet ﷺ was informed that people were writing a hadith, so the Prophet ﷺ collected it and burned it. This is hadith number two.

Note: Imam al-Dhahabi said that this hadith is da'if, but rather it is a hadith which is munkar.

Third Hadith: Zaid ibn Thabit

Hadith number three is from Zaid ibn Thabit that the Prophet ﷺ said, Do not write anything from me.

Note: As for the third hadith, that's the hadith of Zaid ibn Thabit, then likewise if you were to look into the isnad of the hadith, you would find that there is a missing link. And what they call inqita'a, the word meaning that it is cut off.

Reconciling the Hadiths

Now as for the first hadith, the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, there have been three opinions as to why the Prophet ﷺ said this, and how it is to be interpreted.

And all of these opinions, bi'ithnilahi ta'ala, are valid from one way or another.

First Opinion: Abrogation

So the first opinion pertaining to this hadith is that this hadith shows that this hadith was abrogated. Meaning that the hadith when the Prophet ﷺ said, Do not write from me, or do not record or write anything from me, is abrogated.

By what? By the Prophet ﷺ allowing the companions to record from him. So the first hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, it is abrogated. Okay, that's one opinion.

Second Opinion: General Prohibition with Specific Permission

A second opinion states that this prohibition of recording or writing from the Prophet ﷺ is something which is general. That the vast majority of the people are not allowed to write from the Prophet ﷺ. And the specification of this hadith is found in those companions that the Prophet ﷺ did allow to write. So this is another valid view.

Third Opinion: Specific Prohibition

And a third valid view is that this prohibition is specific. Meaning the Prophet ﷺ gave this prohibition to a select

few companions. Now which select few companions would this be? They would be the companions who used to write down the Qur'an from the Prophet ﷺ. So that the Qur'an would not be mixed up with the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

So there are three ways to reconcile between all of the previous statements and narrations we took about the companions writing from the Prophet ﷺ and this hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.

And we mentioned that those three ways are:

1. The hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri is abrogated

2. The prohibition is something general for the Muslims and only special permission was given to some of the companions

3. This prohibition is general and it was something specific for the companions who were writing the Qur'an

So these are three ways to reconcile. So now we mentioned that the other two hadith, there is a weakness in those hadith. So even if we want to use them as proof, we can't use it as proof.

As for the hadith mentioned in Bukhari, then this is how we reconcile the two positions. That of the companions writing down from the Prophet ﷺ and that of the Prophet ﷺ prohibiting it.

Five Means of Preserving the Sunnah

Now from the five points that we mentioned, this was number one.

We mentioned when we started the sciences of hadith and preservation of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserved the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ through five main means.

First Means: Enthusiasm of the Companions

And the first means was the enthusiasm of the companions in learning the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and passing it on.

Second Means: The Chain of Narration (Isnad)

Now what was number two? The chain of narration. The chain of narration.

Third Means: The Science of Jarh wa Ta'dil

And what was number three? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala established the science of jarh wa ta'dil through the men.

So we'll take both of these together. Muhammad ibn Sirin and Abdullah ibn Mubarak.

Write these two names down inshallah. Muhammad ibn Sirin and Abdullah ibn Mubarak. Both have narrations in the introduction of Sahih Muslim.

That indeed the Isnad is from the Deen. They both have narrations saying that the Isnad is from the Deen. And then Muhammad ibn Sirin has a more specific statement where he said that we were not used to ask about the Isnad until the fitna began.

So those who were from the people of the Sunnah we used to accept and those who were from the people of Bida'a we used to reject. This is found in the introduction to Sahih Muslim. So we see over here that the importance of the Isnad is shown at an early stage of Islam.

Now scholars have differed as to what was meant by Muhammad ibn Sirin when he said when the fitna began. And if you look at this what seems to be the correct opinion of Allah ta'ala alam is when Uthman radiallahu ta'ala anhu was killed. This was the first major fitna that the Ummah was facing.

That Uthman radiallahu ta'ala anhu was assassinated by the Khawarij. Now as time went on we know that the Khawarij came into existence during the time of the companions. And the Qadariya came into existence and likewise the Shia came into existence.

So all of these people they deviated from the way of Ahlul Sunnah. And likewise as is known and is understood that when you want to prove your way or your understanding you will go to any means necessary. Whereas Ahlul Sunnah we use the Quran and Sunnah and we suffice with that.

But since we restrict ourselves to this the other groups they couldn't do this. Because if they used actual text of the Quran and Sunnah either they would have to misinterpret it or they would have to come up with something that didn't really exist. And thus the fabrication of Ahadith started during this time.

During the time of the Shia and the Khawarij the fabrication of Ahadith started. And this is what Muhammad ibn Sirin meant that if the person was in Ahlul Sunnah then we used to accept it. And if he was from Ahlul Bidah then we rejected it.

Because the Ahadith of Ahlul Bidah were usually to support their deviations.

When Was the Isnad First Asked For?

Now in the books of Ulumul Hadith or Mustalahul Hadith there are actually three opinions as to when the Isnad was first asked for. That as we know during the time of the Prophet ﷺ very seldom was the Isnad asked for.

But when did the active questioning or requesting of the Isnad take place?

First Opinion: During the Fitna of Uthman

The first opinion is that of when the Fitna of Uthman happened. As some of the scholars said from the Hadith or the narration from Muhammad ibn Sirin.

Second Opinion: During the Time of Imam al-Zuhri

The second opinion is that it occurred during the time of Imam al-Zuhri. As Imam Malik said that Imam al-

Zuhri was the first person to use the chain of narration or the Isnad.

Third Opinion: During the Time of 'Amr al-Sha'bi

And the third opinion is stated by Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan who said 'Amr al-Sha'bi was the first one to scrutinize the Isnad. And 'Amr al-Sha'bi died in year 103.

So now let us understand what is being asked over here. As we know during the time of the Prophet ﷺ there wasn't a need for Isnad because the Prophet ﷺ was alive at that time. And people would go directly to the Prophet ﷺ. Now when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, did the companions ask for chains of narration? At certain occasions, yes they did.

And the example of this is the Hadith of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab . When he saw Abu Musa al-Ashari and he narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said that you knock thrice to seek permission and if you aren't answered the third time then you should leave. So 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Abu Musa al-Ashari do you have a supporting witness to this? Meaning can you strengthen your Isnad or strengthen your narration from the Prophet ﷺ.

So this was actually established from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. But again this type of scenario took place very seldom and it was very very rare during the time of the companions.

And it actually started and became more frequent as the innovations increased and as the sects increased and they increased in number as well. So that is what we need to understand that these are the three opinions. As for which opinion is more correct that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows best.

But it seems that the opinion closest to the truth is that when the fitna of Uthman started and when he was killed, that is when the Tabi'een and some of the Sahaba would ask more extensively for the Isnad had they been reporting a Hadith from other Sahaba. Or from some of the Tabi'een. So that seems to be the correct opinion.

Development of the Science of Hadith

Now point number three we mentioned was the establishment of the science of Jarh wa Ta'dil. As the sciences of Hadith progressed and we will get into that later Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That the first person to compile a book on the sciences of Hadith was Imam al-Ramahurmuzi.

Very difficult name to pronounce and even write. His name was al-Ramahurmuzi. And this was in the early part of the fourth century.

This is the first official book in Mustalah Al-Hadith. And prior to that the sciences of Hadith were developed along with Hadith themselves. You look at the likes of Imam al-Tirmidhi.

He introduced the concept of a Hadith which is Hasan. And Imam al-Tirmidhi died in the year 279. So even though he didn't write a book particular to the science of Mustalah Al-Hadith.

He was including some of the terminologies which would later on be included in the science of Mustalah Al-Hadith. So as time went on we mentioned from the Hadith of Muhammad Ibn Sirin. That people of innovation

started fabricating a Hadith.

And as time went on people were not like the companions. Meaning that they didn't have pure and fresh memories. So people who were weak in their memories and people who had innovations in them.

And likewise as people got further away from the generation of the Prophet ﷺ. And the generation of the companions. Likewise they also increased in their disobedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So these three main reasons:

1. Innovations in the Deen
2. A loss in memory
3. People increasing in their Fisq

All helped induce the sciences of Hadith. And from the sciences of Hadith is Al-Jarh wa Al-Ta'dil.

Where you disparage and you credit narrators. So as for the companions. Then there is unanimous agreement that we accept a Hadith from all the companions.

And none of them are ever to be criticized. This is from the Aqidah of Ahlus Sunnah. Now after the time of the companions.

Where you have the Tabi'un. Then from them are those who you can accept from. And those who you reject.

Criteria for Accepting or Rejecting Narrators

Now as for the reason of rejecting them. There are one of two reasons:

1. Adalah (trustworthiness)
2. Dabt (precision)

Dabt (Precision)

Dabt refers to precision. Meaning that a person will start to forget either in old age. Or naturally he doesn't have a good memory. So this is what Dabt refers to. And there are also levels of Dabt.

There is Dabt al-Tam which is complete precision. Meaning the vast majority of his Hadith are precise the way he heard them. Then there is Dabt which is general. Which means mediocre average memory. And then there is Dabt which is weak. Where you do not narrate from such a person.

Adalah (Trustworthiness)

Then as for Adalah. This goes into one or two things. Either in terms of Bida'ah. Or in terms of Fisq.

The Four Main Bida'ahs

Now in terms of Bida'ah. There were four main Bida'ahs that became predominant during the time of the ending of the Sahaba. And during the time of the Tabi'un.

1. Tashayyu' (Shi'ism)

They were the Bida'ah of Tashayyu'ah. Meaning that believing. It started off firstly as giving precedence to Ali or Uthman. But then it led to Ali being Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala himself. This is what they accused him of. So this is what it led to. And these were from the extreme Shia.

2. The Khawarij

Then you have the Fitna of the Khawarij. The Fitna of the Khawarij meaning that they made Takfir. Or excommunicated Muslims due to the major sins that they committed.

3. The Murji'ah

And then you have the Fitna of the Murjiya. Which was a rival to the Fitna of the Khawarij. The Khawarij said that you commit major sins. You're outside the fold of Islam. So the Murjiya came and they said. No matter how many sins you commit. Once you say the Shahada. Your Iman will not go up or down. Meaning actions are not a part of Iman. So this is what they came up with.

4. The Qadariyya

So this is number three. And then the fourth Bida'a that came. Was that of Qadariyya. Meaning that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not control our destiny. And He doesn't know what will happen until it happens. And if you look at the involvement of Qadar.

You have the Qadariyya Al-Mutaqadimeen and the Qadariyya Al-Mutaakhireen.

As for the Qadariyya Al-Mutaqadimeen. Then they denied the knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is blatant Kufr and disbelief. Saying that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not know. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not have knowledge of the future. Then it is a blatant disbelief.

As for the Qadariyya Al-Mutaqadimeen. Then they didn't deny the knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows. But He does not control. Then this is an act of Bida'a. Which in most cases will not take one outside the fold of Islam.

So those are the four Bida'as that became predominant. During the ending of the time of the companions. And during the time of the Tabi'een or the successors. So this was what caused people to doubt the Adalah. Or the trustworthiness of the narrators.

So they would ask people about their beliefs on certain issues. And likewise another aspect of Adalah. As you mentioned was Fisq.

Fisq and Its Impact

That as new people came into Islam. They had a lot of Jahiliyya with them. They weren't like the companions.

And they weren't like the senior successors. Who studied with the companions. But rather sometimes they were new into Islam. And they had a lot of baggage with them. Or sometimes they might have been born into Islam. But they just did not practice to the ability that they were supposed to.

So a person who committed a lot of Fisq. Or a person who openly committed Fisq. Then likewise his Adalah or trustworthiness was put into question.

So relating this to the science of Jarh wa Ta'dil. If a person had a problem with his Adalah. Or his Dabt. He was to be criticized. And then if a person didn't have Adalah. Didn't have a problem with his Adalah. And was not criticized. There is still a question mark on him. Because you can't accept from someone whose Hadith is unknown.

And one wants to know the person. You have to know where does he stand. Was he someone who was righteous and trustworthy and had a good memory. Or was he someone who was a weak narrator. Or did he have any problems with his Adalah. So even to be unknown. An unknown narrator is a form of criticism itself.

So this shows the perfection of the science of Jarh wa Ta'dil. That you only accept not only from those people who are known. But they have to be known for good and righteous characteristics. Good memory and good Deen. Good Deen specifically being sticking to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. And not committing open sin or frequent sins.

So this is how the two points are brought together. That the science of Hadith were brought with the Isnad. And then the sciences of Jarh wa Ta'dil were brought.

Fourth Means: Preservation Through Writing

And point number four was: Allah preserved the Sunnah through writing. Right.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala preserved the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ through writing. And now we mentioned already how the Companions radiAllahu Ta'ala Anhum used to write from the Prophet ﷺ. And how most of these, actually all these Sahifas were lost in their totality. Meaning that we don't have any complete versions of them.

And the first complete Sahifa we have was that of Ibn Munabbih. Hammam Ibn Munabbih is the first complete Sahifa that we have.

So as time went on, we're jumping forward to the year 99. We mentioned that Hammam Ibn Munabbih died in 101. Now between the time of the Companions and the time of Hammam Ibn Munabbih, we had approximately 50 years.

Even though the last Companion died approximately 110, the vast majority of the Companions started dying during the time of the 50th year of Hijra. Most of the Companions were dead by then or were starting to die by then. So between that time and the time of Hammam Ibn Munabbih is approximately 50 years.

And in those 50 years, how was Hadith preserved? The way Hadith was preserved was the vast majority, again, was through oral transmission. Was through oral transmission. But as time went on, we mentioned that a lot of innovators or innovations were being introduced into the Deen.

And people were moving further away from the Deen. Meaning they weren't as practicing and they started committing sin. And people's memories weren't like they used to be.

The Compilation Efforts of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz

So at the time of Imam Al-Zuhri and the Khalifa at that time was 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz. Who died in the year 99, which was two years before the death of Hammam Ibn Munabbih. He ordered all of his workers and all of the people around him to start gathering all of the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ.

So during the time of 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, this is the first time that all of the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ are attempted to be compiled. That he is attempting to compile all of the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. And the first person to actually take up on this task was Imam Al-Zuhri.

So that is what is happening between that time and the time of 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz. Now at this time, who is being born? Imam Malik is being born. He was born either in the year 93 or 95 Hijri.

So when 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz died, Imam Malik was around the age of five or six. And then when the time of Hammam Ibn Munabbih died, Imam Malik was almost ten or so or eight. So Imam Malik is just being born now.

And his teachers are, you know, they are learning Hadith throughout transmission. And some of the Khalifas are hiring the scholars or some of the scholars are taking it upon themselves to compile all of the Hadith from the Prophet ﷺ.

Early Hadith Compilations

So they continued to compile Hadith. And from these people who compiled Hadith during that time, but their books were lost or they didn't become as famous, was:

• Ibn Jurayj in Mecca who died in 150
• Ibn Ishaq who died in 151
• Sufyan al-Thawri

And then we reach Imam Malik who died in 179. And he mentions how it took approximately 20 years to complete his book.

Methodology of Compiling Hadith Before the Six Books

And we will discuss the famous books of Hadith one by one. But let us talk about the methodology of compiling a Hadith during that time. Meaning the time of Imam Malik before the six major books. Meaning before the time of Imam Al-Bukhari. As he was the earliest of them.

So during the time of Imam Malik, the general manhaj or the general methodology of the scholars of Hadith, was that they would compile the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Only those that would have a connected chain of transmission or a connected chain of narration to the Prophet ﷺ. And very rarely would they mention the statements or opinions of the Sahaba or the Tabi'een.

Another key characteristic of this time is they were really concerned about the Isnad. That this is during the first time periods where the science of Jarh wa Ta'dil is fully being implemented.

That you have scholars, the likes of Shu'ayb Ibn Hajjaj and Ali Ibn al-Madini and Yahya Ibn Ma'in, who are a level just higher than Imam Al-Bukhari and a level lower than Imam Malik. That they are scrutinizing Hadith to its fullest. And these people became to be known as the fathers of Jarh wa Ta'dil.

Meaning that they established its rules, even though not in book form, but in application it became known.

Another point is that they separated a Hadith between authentic and unauthentic. Meaning Sahih and Da'if. As you mentioned, the category of Hasan Hadith only became known during the time of Imam al-Tirmidhi. That is, he was the one who introduced the category of Hasan Hadith. So these are some of the key characteristics of this generation.

Another important characteristic of this generation is that the books of Hadith, there are no commentary on them. They would just compile a Hadith and just leave it as it is without putting any commentary, without mentioning chapter headings, or without mentioning anything like that. That very few of them actually had that and they would just put all the Hadith themselves.

Evolution of Hadith Organization

So now as time goes on, people are developing more ways to preserve the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. They're thinking we have so many Hadith, 50,000 Hadith, 100,000 Hadith, we need to make them more organized.

First Method: Musnad

So one of the first ways that they implemented was by the way of Musnad. And we all hear the name, the Musnad of Imam Ahmad. What does this term Musnad actually mean?

And what this means is that they would categorize the Hadith in a Musnad form, meaning in an alphabetical order by the name of the companion. So you would take Abu Huraira and you would mention all the Hadith that Abu Huraira has narrated. And this is the chapter of Abu Huraira.

Then you have Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and you mention all the Hadith that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud has mentioned and narrated. So this was one of the first ways that the books of Hadith were starting to be evolved.

Second Method: By Topic/Chapter

A second way was by way of chapters, meaning that they would give, let's just say, a chapter of Qadr. We have the book of, again, of another Ibn Munabbih, sorry, of Ibn Wahab. And what he did was he compiled all the Hadith pertaining to Qadr.

And then you have other scholars like that who talked about the Sifat al-Nuzul or the Sifah of the descent of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Like al-Daraqutni, he wrote a book on the Nuzul of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he compiled all of the Hadith pertaining to the descent of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the last third of the night. So this was a second way that the books of Hadith evolved.

Third Method: Al-Kutub al-Jami'ah

And a third way of Hadith that they evolved, and this is the actual final stage, is the Kutub al-Jami'ah. Meaning that they'll have different chapter headings, they'll have Fiqh in them, they'll have Aqidah in them, and they'll have science in the Qur'an and everything in them. And this includes the six famous books of Hadith that we're going to be discussing, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.

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Mustadrak and Mustakhraj

Now, before we get to them, there are two important things to notice. That after the Kutub al-Jami'ah were done, the likes of Bukhari, Muslim al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah al-Nasa'i, there were scholars who came after them and felt that there was some sort of deficiencies in these books. Well, not even deficiencies, but they wanted to make it more complete.

Mustadrak

So they came up with two new categories, what they call Mustadrak and Mustakhraj. Now, from the most famous of Mustadraks is the Mustadrak al-Hakim on the Sahihain. You might have heard of this book, if you haven't, let's just look at what it actually means.

Mustadrak means that you include more Hadith to those books of Hadith. So, basically you'll take the book of Imam Bukhari and you'll take the book of Imam Muslim. This is what al-Hakim did.

And he looked at those Hadith and looked at the conditions they had for accepting a Hadith. So you look at the conditions, and now once you've seen the conditions and you realize the conditions, you apply those conditions

to other Hadith. And see what are those Hadith that fulfill those conditions, yet Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim don't, they're not mentioned.

And this happened with the Sahih books. Or the books of the Sunnah, the likes of Abu Dawood and the Sahih and Tirmidhi. All of them had Mustadraks to them. But the most famous of them was the Mustadrak al-Hakim upon the Sahihain or the books of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim.

Mustakhraj

Now, we mentioned that they wanted to make the books more complete, or sometimes they might have even thought that there was a deficiency. So scholars then came out with al-Mustakhraj, not to be confused with al-Mustadrak.

As for the Mustakhraj, they left the books as they were. They did not add any more Hadith to them. But rather what they did was, they found different chains of narration for those Hadith.

So they wanted to do what they call Takhrij of the Hadith. So they would find the companion, and then they would see how many people narrated this Hadith from this companion. And maybe they could find another companion who narrated the exact same Hadith, but the original compiler of the book did not mention that narration from that specific companion.

So this is what al-Mustakhraj is.

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The Famous Books of Hadith

Now, moving on to the books.

1. Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik

We start firstly with the book of Imam Malik, Rahimahullah Ta'ala. And his book was called al-Muwatta.

Author: Malik Ibn Anas al-Asbahi Born: 93 or 95 Hijri Died: 179 Hijri

As for the book of the Muwatta of Imam Malik, then he mentions that, I presented this book to 70 scholars of Medina before I completed it. Or when I completed it, I presented it to 70 scholars of Medina. And all of them accepted it. And thus I called it al-Muwatta.

And al-Muwatta means that which is generally accepted. So his methodology in this was that he would mention the hadith of the Prophet. And he would put them in an order pertaining to chapter headings. That is how he preserved them.

And if you look at an interesting statement from Imam Al-Shafi'i, Rahimahullah Ta'ala, who was a student of Imam Malik, he said there is no book on the planet that is more authentic than the Muwatta of Imam Malik after the Qur'an. Meaning after the Qur'an, there is nothing more authentic on the planet other than the Muwatta of Imam Malik. So after the Qur'an, the most authentic book is al-Muwatta.

Now we often hear that al-Bukhari and al-Muslim, their books were the most authentic. Now when people hear this, they get astonished and shocked. How could Imam Al-Shafi'i say this?

The Explanation:

The simple and logical answer to this, Imam Al-Shafi'i lived from 150 to what age? 204. He died in 204. When was Imam Al-Bukhari born? 194 and died in 256. So Imam Al-Bukhari was 10 years old when Imam Al-Shafi'i might have made this statement.

So when Imam Al-Shafi'i died, Imam Al-Bukhari was only 10. And the book of Imam Al-Bukhari came out many years later. So Imam Al-Shafi'i didn't witness the compilation of Imam Al-Bukhari and thus his statement was applicable to his time.

Meaning at that time when Imam Al-Shafi'i was alive, there was no book more authentic than the book of the Muwatta of Imam Malik.

So as for some of the praises of Imam Malik, it was said of him, that people used to refuse to give fatwa when Imam Malik was in Medina. So when Imam Malik was there, he was the Sheikh of Medina. He was known as Imam Dar al-Hijrah. So people would resort to Imam Malik for fatwa.

2. Musnad of Imam Ahmad

The second book which became popular after that and famous was the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

And as we mentioned, the Musnad of Imam Ahmad is designed in such a way that it is in alphabetical order by the names of the companions. So the person will narrate the hadith from the Prophet. It will be according to his name that the hadith is placed. And all of them are placed under their chapter headings.

Number of Hadith: Close to 40,000 hadith

Author: Abu Abdillah Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani Born: 164 Hijri Died: 241 Hijri

And he also became to be known as the Imam of Ahlul Sunnah. And this was due to the strict stance that he took when the fitna of the creation of the Qur'an took place.

3. Al-Jami' al-Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari

Now the third book after that is Al-Jami' al-Sahih or the Sahih Compilation of Imam Al-Bukhari.

Number of Hadith:

• With repetition: 7,397 hadith
• Without repetition: 2,761 hadith

And as for how the book is laid out, it is laid out in terms of chapters. Meaning that Imam Al-Bukhari would mention the chapter heading and then the hadith would be presented. So he mentioned, as he mentioned the first chapter in Sahih Al-Bukhari is Bab Bad' Al-Wahy, that how revelation began. And then he mentions the hadith pertaining to the beginning of revelation.

Author: Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim al-Bukhari Born: 194 Hijri Died: 256 Hijri

4. Al-Jami' al-Sahih of Imam Muslim

Now the book after that is Al-Jami' al-Sahih for Imam Muslim.

As for Imam Muslim, he compiled his book without putting any chapter headings. He had chapter headings in his mind, but he didn't actually write them in his book. So Imam al-Nawawi came after, when he did his explanation of Sahih Muslim, he put the appropriate chapter headings for Sahih Muslim. He was the first one to mention the chapter headings.

Author: Muslim Ibn Hajjaj al-Naysaburi Born: 206 Hijri (most accurate opinion based on the fact that he died at age 55) Died: 261 Hijri

And in another opinion, 204 to 261. And in all honesty and openness, the opinion that he lived from 206 to 261 is more accurate. And this is based upon the fact that Imam Muslim mentions that he died in 261 at the age of 55. So he said this himself, oh sorry, this was narrated from one of his students who said that Imam Muslim, when he died, he died at the age of 55 in year 261.

It was narrated from one of his students that he died in 261 at the age of 55. So take away 50 years, 55 years, and you get to 206.

5. Al-Mujtaba (Sunan al-Nasa'i)

And moving on to the next book is Al-Mujtaba.

The book of Al-Nasa'i has two famous names for it. There is Al-Sunan al-Sughra, and then it's also called Al-Mujtaba. So both of these names are applied to the book of Imam Al-Nasa'i.

Number of Hadith: 5,700 ahadith with repetition

And the point that he tried to get across in his book was that he looked at the famous fiqh opinions during his time, and he tried to provide evidence for each opinion of fiqh. So if such and such Imam had his opinion, he would look through the ahadith and try to provide an evidence for him, even if the ahadith might have been weak.

As for explanations of this, then there are footnotes to it rather than explanations, by Imam al-Suyuti and by Imam al-Sindhi.

Author: Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Ahmad Ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i Born: 215 Hijri Died: 303 Hijri

And this should be noted that some people, when they read the name in English, they read it as Al-Nisa'i. This is incorrect. It means like the feminine one, or my woman. That's what it means. But it's actually Al-Nasa'i, which is an attribution to the land that he came from.

6. Sunan of Imam Abu Dawud

Now we move on to the Sunan of Imam Abu Dawud.

And an interesting point over here is, that if you were to look in terms of level of authenticity, the book of Abu Dawud seems to be the third most authentic book, after the books of Imam Al-Bukhari, and the books of Imam Muslim.

And the book of Abu Dawud is related again to the chapters of Fiqh, and that is what he generally tried to focus on, even though you will find certain chapters of Aqidah, and other than that in there.

Number of Hadith: He selected his book from 500,000 hadith and limited himself to 5,200 hadith

And he said this when he wrote his letter to the people of Makkah, and they asked him, you know, tell us about your book, what is so great about it? So in it he wrote to them, that I had 500,000 hadith, from which I chose 5,200 hadith to be sufficed with.

Author: Abu Dawud, Sulayman Ibn Ash'ath al-Sijistani Born: 202 Hijri Died: 275 Hijri

7. Al-Jami'ah of Imam al-Tirmidhi

Moving on to the next book, is Al-Jami'ah Al-Tirmidhi.

So Imam Al-Tirmidhi had a Jami'ah, and again, he likewise focused on Fiqh. But something particular and unique to his book is, along with the chapter how he used the Fiqh, and the evidence from the Sunnah of the Prophet, he frequently mentioned the opinions of the scholars of his time, as well as the opinions of the Tabi'in and some of the Sahaba.

Number of Hadith: Approximately 4,000 hadith

Author: Abu 'Isa, Muhammad Ibn 'Isa Ibn Sawrah Ibn Musa al-Tirmidhi Born: 200 Hijri Died: 279 Hijri

And likewise, he was from the students of Imam Al-Bukhari, and he mentioned a famous quote from Imam Al-Bukhari, where he said, that I benefited from Imam Al-Tirmidhi just as much as he benefited from me.

And we mentioned how Imam Al-Bukhari did narrate from Al-Tirmidhi, but Al-Tirmidhi narrated from Al-Bukhari. So when he was asked, how did you benefit from Al-Tirmidhi, and you didn't even narrate any hadith from him, or very few hadith, to which Imam Al-Bukhari said, that I benefited from him in Al-Wara' and Al-Zuhd. Meaning that I benefited from him in the fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and in asceticism.

8. Sunan Ibn Majah

And moving on to our last famous book of discussion, which is Sunan Ibn Majah.

Sunan Ibn Majah is a very very interesting and profound book. In the very beginning of his book, he calls it Al-Muqaddimah, or the introduction. And in this introduction, he talks about nothing except Aqidah and methodology.

So if you want to find the Aqidah of the pious predecessors, and you want to find the methodology of the pious predecessors, one of the best books to go to is the Muqaddimah of Ibn Majah, where he talks about the importance of following the sunnah.

And then he talks about the belief of the companions in the attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and their belief in Qadr, and their belief in giving precedence to Abu Bakr and 'Umar over the rest of the companions. You will find all of this in the Muqaddimah of Ibn Majah.

As for Ibn Majah, he didn't focus his book just on Fiqh, or didn't give a heavy emphasis on it, but rather he may try to make it encompassing. Where he again, like al-Bukhari and Muslim, included things pertaining to the compilation of the Qur'an, and included chapters of Fiqh, and included chapters of Aqidah, and other than that.

Author: Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Yazid al-Qazwini Born: 209 Hijri Died: 273 Hijri

And in terms of authenticity, then this is the least authentic book of the six books that we mentioned.

Order of Authenticity

So the order generally would be:

1. Bukhari
2. Muslim
3. Abu Dawood
4. Al-Tirmidhi (generally speaking)
5. Al-Nasa'i
6. Ibn Majah

Technical Terms in Hadith Studies

That would be the order. And when you study books pertaining to Mustalah al-Hadith and books of Rijal, you will often or commonly find this hadith is mentioned in the seven books, or this hadith is mentioned in the four books. To briefly break down what that means:

Muttafaqun 'alayhi (Agreed Upon)

If a hadith is said, muttafaqun alayhi, agreed upon, it means it is mentioned by Bukhari and Muslim.

Al-Arba'ah (The Four)

If a hadith is said to be mentioned by al-arba'a, or mentioned by the four, it refers to the compilers of the four sunnah: Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah.

Al-Thalathah (The Three)

And if it is mentioned in al-thalatha, which is very rare, it will mean Bukhari, Muslim, and the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

Al-Khamsah (The Five)

And if it is mentioned in al-khamsa, meaning the four sunnah, with the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

Al-Sab'ah (The Seven)

Now prior to the time of Ibn Hajar, if they mentioned al-sab'a, it would be the six books of hadith, the famous ones:

1. Bukhari
2. Muslim
3. Al-Tirmidhi
4. Abu Dawood
5. Al-Nasa'i
6. Ibn Majah
7. Al-Muwatta

That would be the seventh book.

But after the time of Ibn Hajar, rahimahullah ta'ala, if he mentioned al-sab'a, or people after him mentioned al-sab'a, instead of the Muwatta of Imam Malik, it would be the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

Conclusion

So, these are just some interesting notes to keep in mind. And with that, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, we'll take a short five-minute break, insha'Allah ta'ala, and come back, 8:17, and we will take the last discussion before we break, and that will be on hadith terminology, or common terminologies that are found in the sciences of hadith.

BarakAllahu feekum, wassalamu alaikum, wa rahmatullah.

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