Sunnah & Hadith written during time of the Prophet (S.A.W) and the era of the Sahabah

[Um Abdullah M.]

The following are just some examples.

May Allah reward the brothers who helped translate this
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A- What has been written by the command of the Prophet peace be upon him

1- The books of the Prophet peace be upon that were written to the kings and rulers of his era.

The Prophet peace be upon him sent numerous books to the kings of the Arabs and non Arabs of his era, inviting them to Islam and showing them the foundations of the creed of this new religion, and the texts of these books have been discovered in several hadith records and historical books. And the most famous of these books are…

His book to Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantine
His book to Chosroes, King of Persia
His book to Muqawqas, the king of Egypt
His book to Negus, the king of Abyssinia
His book to the King of Oman
His book to ‘Eyaahala, King of Humayr
His book to Hilal, Governor of Bahrain
His book to Al Haarith ibn Abi Shamar, King of the Ghassanids


2. The Treaties, Covenants, and Agreements

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered a number of these treaties to be written according to need, and among those are:

– The agreement with the tribe of Dhamrah upon their security and the safety of their individuals and property in return for their assistance in repelling the enemies from Madeenah, and that is in the 1st year Hijri (abbreviated as. H.)
– The treaty with the tribe of Ghatfaan during the course of the battle of Khandaq (the trench) in year 8 H.
– The treaty of Hudaibiyah between the Muslims and the Kuffaar of Quraish, the year 6 H.
– The treaty between the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the ruler of Doomat Al-Jandal, the year 9 H.
– A peace treaty with the people of Aylah during the course of The Battle of Tabook.
– The peace treaty with the tribe of Baariq when they visited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
– The peace treaty with the tribe of Aslam regarding cooperation against the external enemies of both sides.
– A treaty of alliance with the tribe of Juhainah.
– A peace agreement with Bani Habeebah.
– The treaty with Thaqeef.
– The treaty with Bani Ghaffaar.
– The treaty sent to the people of Jarbaa’ and Athrah and some of them came and visited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the year 9 H.
– The treaty with the Christians of Najraan regarding protecting them and their obligation of paying the Jizyah (taxes).
– The paper of treaty between the Jews in Madeenah in the beginning of the Hijrah.


3. The Agreements, the Decisions of Pardoning, and Giving Lands

A number of documents have been written by the order of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, among them are:

– The pardoning of Suraqah Bin Maalik
– His agreement with Al-Azraq bin `Umar regarding his residence in Makkah and his right of marriage to Quraish.
– The contract of giving Zaid Al-Khair some lands.
– The contract of giving Tameem Ad-Daari some lands.
– The contract of giving some land to `Abbaas As-Sulami (or Silmee?)
– The contract of giving some lands that have water springs and trees and palm trees to `Aqeel bin Ka`b.
– The contract of giving a farm to Riqaad bin Rabee`ah in Yemen.
– The contract of giving the tribe of Bani Qushair some lands.
– The contract that has the righst and obligations of Wafd bin Qais.
– The contract of giving Bilaal bin Al-Haarith Al-Mazani some farms of the tribe.


The writing of speeches and varying Ahadeeth, such as:

– The writing of Khutbah (speech of) Al-Wadaa` by Abee Shaah, and it is narrated in the Saheehain (Bukhari and Muslim).
– The writing of a Hadeeth by `Utbaan bin Maalik,as in Musnad Ahmad (a collection of hadiths) and others.


B. the writers of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (1).

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a group of writers that reached sixty writers, and they had different specialization::

1. The writers of the Holy Qur'an when it was revealed unto the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
2. The writers of what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, orders.
3. The writers of the letters to the kings and leaders.
4. The writers of treaties, pacts, trusts and other than that.
5. The writers of correspondence with the Arabs.
6. The writers of the religious matters.
7. The writers of the records of battles and war-spoils.
8. The writers who write what is between the people from agreements and actions.
9. The writers who replace the regular writers of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, once they are absent.


C. What the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet) wrote during the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:

A number of Sahaabah have recorded hadeeths from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the purpose of memorization or taking benefit from it, and among those:

1. The genuine journal of `Abdullaah bin `Amr bin Al-`Aass, and it contained one-thousand Hadeeths.
2. The books of Sa`d bin `Ubaadah.
3. The book of Mu`aath bin Jabal.
4. The book of Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
5. The journal of `Ali bin Abee Taalib.
6. The journal of Jaabir bin `Abdullaah Al-Ansaari.

__________________________________________________ ______________
Footnote:
(1) Kuttaab Al-Wahi by Dr. Ahmad `Abdur-Rahmaan `Eesa, and Kuttaab An-Nabi, Salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, by Al-A`dhami

[Um Abdullah M.]

Writings during the time of the Sahabah


Examples of the writings of the Sahaabah


1. The book of Abu Bakr, may Allaah be pleased with him, to Anas bin Maalik, his worker in Bahrain, which begins with, “In the name of Allaah, the most merciful, the giver of mercy: This is the obligation of charity that the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered with, and what Allaah ordered His slave with”, and it is a long Hadeeth that was collected by al-Bukhari and others.

2. The book of `Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, to `Utbah bin Farqad, his worker on Bahrain, Imaam Ahmad narrated from Abi `Uthmaan an-Nuhdi, who said, “We were with `Utbah bin Farqad, so `Umar wrote to him things narrating from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him..
And it was found in the base of `Umar’s sword a journal about the charity of as-Sawaa'im (1).

3. and al-Baraa’ bin `Aazib used to narrate Hadiths to the Taabi`een and they used to write his Hadeeth from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; for on the authority of `Abdullaah bin Khanees he said, “I saw them with al-Baraa’ writing on their hands with cane.” (2)

4. And Anas bin Maalik used to dictate the Hadeeths to his students, until if the people overwhelmed him, he brought some journals of books and he layed them, and then he said, “These are hadeeths that I have heard and written from the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, and I showed them to him.” (3)

5. And `Abdullaah bin Mas`ood had a book that has hadeeths, and it was with his son after that, for on the authority of Ma`n he said, “`Abdur-Rahmaan bin `Abdullaah bin Mas`ood brought out a book and he swore that it was the handwriting of his father.” (4)

6. And Mu`aawiyah bin Abee Sufyaan wrote to al-Mugheerah bin Shu`bah and said, “Write to me with something that you heard from the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, so al-Mugheerah wrote to him [and mentioned], ‘That he (the Prophet, salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam) used to forbid Qeel and Qaal (gossip), asking many questions, and wasting money.” (5)

7. And al-Hasan bin `Ali used to tell his children and his brother’s children, “Learn, Learn, for indeed you are the youngsters of today’s people, and tomorrow you will be their elders, so whoever from among you does not memorize then let him write and keep it (meaning the writing) in his house.” (7)

8. And Ibn `Abbaas had some boards that he used to write on Hadeeths from the Sahaabah, and he ended up with a collection of many books and journals, and Salmaa, the wife of Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said : “I have seen `Abdullaah Ibn `Abbaas come to my husband, Abee Raafi`, carrying wooden boards to write [on them] the hadeeths of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” (8)

9. And Ibn `Umar had some books; he would not come out of his house before looking at them. (9)

10. And Samrah bin Jundub had a copy that had many hadeeths, that arrived with his son, Sulaimaan, and [as well as] al-Hasan al-Basree, and both of them narrated from it. (10)

11. Sa`d bin `Ubaadah was one of those who obtained the nickname of “Kaamil” (complete man) in Madeenah before Islaam because of his knowledge in writing, and he had recorded many hadeeths in a book, and his son narrated from it. (11)

12. Mu`aath bin Jabal had a book that contained some hadeeths, it ended up in the possession of Ibn `Aa’ith, and he had another book that went to Musa bin Talhah” (12)

13. And Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a book that had hadeeths, he gave it to Abi Bakr bin `Abdur-Rahmaan bin Hishaam. (13)

14. And Ka`b bin `Amr had a collection of Hadeeth journals. (14)

15. The books of Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him:
Abu Hurairah passed through two phases with regards to writing Sunnah, for he was abstaining in the beginning, and later he began writing, and in his house were many books; a number of his students narrated from him, such as Hammaam bin Munabbih and Muhammad bin Sireen and Sa`eed al-Maqbaree, and others. (15)

16. And Jaabir bin `Abdullaah had a journal that `Abdur-Razzaaq benefited from in his Musannaf . (16)

17. And Raafi` bin Khadeej had a collection of written Ahadeeth. (18)

18. And Sham`oon al-Azdee had journals that had his Hadeeths in them, and it is said that he is the first one who wrote on the surface of paper. (19)

These are examples from eighteen Sahaabis who wrote Ahadeeth, and it is enough proof of the many writings of the Sahaabah, and whoever wanted to examine he would find many [examples] other than these.


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1. Look to al-Kifaayah, 353
2. Jaami` Bayaan al-`Ilm, 1/81
3. Taareekh Baghdaad, 8/258
4. Jaami` Bayaan al-`Ilm, 1/42
5. Al-Bukhari Ma` al-Fat-h, 4/104, Hadeeth number (abbr. Ha.), 1477
7. Al-Kifaayah, 229, Taqyeed al-`Ilm, 1/91
8. Tabaqaat Ibn Sa`d, 2/123, and look to Saheeh Muslim, 1/7, and al-Kifaayah, 384
9. Al-Aadaab Ash-Shar`iyyah, 2/125
10. Tabaqaat Ibn Sa`d, 7/115, and, Tathkirah al-Huffaadh, 2/268, 4/236
11. Al-Umm, 7/112, and, Mashaaheer `Ulamaa’ al-Amsaar, 130
12. Musnad Ahmad, 5/228, and, Seerah Ibn Hishaam, 886, 956
13. Al-Kifaayah, 39
14. Look to: Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq al-Mubkir, 425
15. Look to: Saheefat Hammaam, 27, and, Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq, 436
16. Look to: Saheefat Hammaam, 27, and, Sunan At-Tirmithee, 6/52
18. Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq, 452
19. Al-Isaabah, 2/156



Translated from "Hujjiyat as Sunnah" by Dr Houcine Chouat, with slight editing.

[Um Abdullah M.]

http://www.islamic-awareness.org/isa.jpg (http://www.islamic-awareness.org/)

Are There Any Early Hadiths? M S M Saifullah & Imtiaz Damiel

© Islamic Awareness, All Rights Reserved.

First Composed: 8th August 2000

Last Updated: 18th November 2000[/CENTER]


Assalamu-`alaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
1. Introduction
It is frequently claimed by the Christian missionaries that there are no hadith collections from the first century of hijra. According to them the first hadith collections were written around 250 years after hijra.
We will show the evidence of existence of hadith collections from first century of hijra.
2. Examples Of First Century Hadith Collections

The Sahifa Of Hammam bin Munabbih: This is perhaps one of the earliest known hadith collections. Hammam bin Munabbih was a student of Abu Hurrairah and well-known among the scholars of the hadith to be trustworthy. According to the book Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Periodt:An example is the Sahifah of Hammam bin Munabbih, (d. 110/719), a Yemenite follower and a disciple of companion Abu Hurrayrah, (d. 58/677), from whom Hammam wrote this Sahifah, which comprises 138 hadith and is believed to have been written around the mid-first AH/seventh century.[1]

The author went on to say:It is significant that Hammam introduces his text with the words: "Abu Hurrayrah told us in the course of what he related from the Prophet", thus giving the source of his information in the manner which became known as "sanad" or "isnad", i.e., the teacher of chain of teachers through whom an author reaches the Prophet, a practice invariably and systematically followed in Hadith compilations.[2]
We can see that of the 138 narrations in the Sahifa, 98 of them are faithfully witnessed in the later collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, both through narrations of Abu Hurrairah and witnessing narrations from other Companions.
We also see that all but two of the narrations are found in one section of the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, again witnessing the preservation of hadith and that earlier works were faithfully rendered in later documents.[3]

Using the first century Sahifa of Hammam bin Munabbih as a "control group" Marston Speight compared it (i.e., the Sahifa) with about the 1500 variant readings of the same ahadith found in the collections of Ibn Hanbal (Musnad), al-Bukhari (Sahih) and Muslim (Sahih); the last three collections date from 3rd/9th century. Speight says:... the texts in Hammam and those recorded in Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari and Muslim with the same isnad show almost complete identity, except for a few omissions and interpolations which do not affect the sense of the reports. On the other hand, the same ahadith as told by other transmitters in the three collections studied show a rich variety of wording, again without changing the meaning of the reports.[4]

Further he comments about the reports of Hammam found in the later compilations of Ibn Hanbal, al-Bukhari and Muslim by saying that:... I have found practically no sign of careless or deceptive practices in the variant texts common to the Sahifa of Hammam bin Munabbih.[5]
In other words, it shows the meticuluous nature of hadith transmission as well as high moral and upright characters of the transmitters as well as collectors of the hadith; a fact that Islamic traditions had always asserted and now the western scholarship endorses it.

The Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani:[6] An article by Harald Motzki appeared in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies that mentioned about the the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani as a source of authentic ahadith of the first century AH. Since the article is quite huge (21 pages), we will deal with only the conclusions of the author.While studying the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq, I came to the conclusion that the theory championed by Goldziher, Schacht, and in their footsteps, many others - myself included - which in general, reject hadith literature as a historically reliable sources for the first century AH, deprives the historical study of early Islam of an important and a useful type of source.[7]
Some important hadith collections from second century of hijra are the following:[8]
The Muwatta' of Malik bin Anas: Malik bin Anas (d. 179/795) was the founder of Maliki school of jurisprudence. The Muwatta' of Malik was compiled in mid-second century AH. It is not a corpus of hadith in a true sense but a collection of practices of people of Madinah.
Musannaf of Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH)
Musannaf of Ma`mar bin Rashid (d. 153 AH)
A detailed report on hadith can be seen at `Abdur Rahim Green's Debate Material (http://www.muslim-answers.org/expo-03.htm#2).
And Allah knows best!




References
[1] A. F. L. Beeston, T. M. Johnstone, R. B. Serjeant and G. R. Smith (Ed.), Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 272.
[2] ibid.
[3] More information can be obtained from the book Sahifa Hammam bin Munabbih: The Earliest Extant Work On The Hadith, 1979, M. Hamidullah, Centre Cultural Islamique.
[4] R. M. Speight, "A Look At Variant Readings In The Hadith", Der Islam, 2000, Band 77, Heft 1, p. 170.
[5] ibid., p. 175.
[6] `Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam al-San`ani (ed. Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami), Al-Musannaf, 1970-72, 11 Volumes, Beirut.
[7] H. Motzki, "The Musannaf Of `Abd al-Razzaq Al-San`ani As A Source of Authentic Ahadith of The First Century A.H.", Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, 1991, Volume 50, p. 21.
[8] Beeston et al., Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Period, op.cit, pp. 272-273

[Um Abdullah M.]

this is an excerpt I got from an article by Khalid Baig:

((Of course most of these books do not exist today. They were simply absorbed into the encyclopedic collections that emerged in the third century. One manuscript from the first century was discovered in this century and published by Dr. Hamidullah. It is Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbah, who was a disciple of Abu Hurairah, Radi-Allahu unhu. It contains 138 ahadith. Muhaddithin knew that the ahadith of this Sahifa had been absorbed into Musnad Ahmed and Muslim collections, which have been published continuously since their third century debut. After the discovery of the original manuscript it was naturally compared with the ahadith in Muslim and Musnad Ahmed that were thought to have come from that Sahifa. And what did they find? There was not an iota of difference between the two. Similarly Mussanaf of Abd al-Razzaq is extant and has been published. As has been Mu'ammar ibn Rashid's al-Jami. These recently discovered original manuscripts bear out the Sihah Sitta. The recent appearance of these original manuscripts should bring the most skeptical into the fold of believers.))

he means by "Sihah Sitta" (which is an incorrect label for the books) are the six famous hadith books which include:

- Sahih Bukhari
- Sahih Muslim
- Sunan Tirmidhi
- Sunan Abi Dawud
- Sunan Nisa'i
- Sunan Ibn Majah