Implication of Hadeeth
The meaning of Hadeeth is "discourse". Its plural is Ahadeeth. Technically statements, practices, and Taqreer of Prophet (ﷺ) are called Hadeeth. (Prophet (ﷺ) saw some practice of Sahābah R and did not disapprove it or he found some customs prevalent and he did not stop it. This is called Taqreer).
One who discovered Hadeeth, preserved it and transferred it to future generation is called Muhaddith (Scholar of tradition). Its plural is Muhadditheen.
STATUS OF HADEETH
Since Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is our guide and mentor, his life is best ideal for us to follow. Therefore we were advised:
"Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. And whatever he forbids you from, leave it."
[Al-Hashr:7]
This makes it incumbent that we acquaint ourselves with Ahadeeth and we must refer to them.
The basic teachings, fundamental commands and principles have been mentioned in the Qur'ān. Prophet (ﷺ) has elaborated them in detail. If we do not have knowledge about the details then due practice as per commands of the Qur'ān is not possible.
For instance: Order for payment of Zakah is given but Nisab is not mentioned in the Qur'ān. Prophet (ﷺ) has made this clear to us. Now if these clarifications are not known to us, then we cannot duly act upon the command for payment of Zakah.
Therefore, it is essential that we have the knowledge of Hadeeth. Thus Hadeeth has acquired the status of a source of religion (Deen).
Editing Hadeeth
To fulfil the duty of obedience to prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) pious shahaba R would carefully listen to everything said by him, would keep an eye on every act of his and would preserve all the things so that they could act accordingly and could even convey others.
Prophet (ﷺ) encouraged this behaviour of the pious Sahābah R: "May Allah keep the person prosperous who listened to my discourse, memorized it and passed it on exactly what he had heard." [TIRMIZI, ABU DAWOOD]
On various occasions Prophet (ﷺ) also persuaded pious Sahābah R "One who is present must convey to those who are not present, possibly he may convey it to such a person who has grasping capability more than that of his own" [Bukhāri, Muslim]. Hence, pious Sahābah R made extraordinary arrangement for propagation of Ahādeeth.
Abuzar Gifari R once stated, "If you place a sword on my neck to execute me and I have hope that before dying I will be able to convey even a word received from Prophet (ﷺ) then I surely will." [Bukhāri]
Some Sahābah R would make arrangements for the writing of Ahādeeth. Collection of their writing is called Saheefa. Three Suhuf of this kind are very popular. Saheefa Ali, Saheefa Abu Huraira and Saheefa Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al Aas. The last one is known as Saheefa Sādiqa.
Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al Aas R states: Whatever I would listen from Prophet (ﷺ) I would write it for remembering. People prevented me by saying that Prophet (ﷺ) is a human being, sometimes he would talk in the state of pleasure and sometimes in rage. On this I quit writing. Then I mentioned this to Prophet (ﷺ) who, indicating with his finger towards his mouth said: Write! I swear upon the one in whose hands my life is, nothing other than truth comes out of this mouth." [Abu Dāwood, Ahmad]
Prophet (ﷺ) himself had got many things written. For instance: written instructions to various tribes, replies to letters, documents of census of Madinah, invitations to Islām in the name of emperors of the time and well-known sovereigns, agreements, peace covenants etc. In the last period, Prophet (ﷺ) had got a voluminous book written and sent it to the people of Yemen through Amr Ibn Hazm R. In this, details of recitation of the Qur'ān, Salah, Sawm, Zakah, Talāq, Itāq (freeing slaves), Diya (blood money), Qisas, and other Farā'iz and Sunan and also details of major sins were written. [Mu'atta, Nisa'ee, Ahmad)]. All these written treasures are precious and are preserved till today.
Memory of Sahābah R was so strong that they would listen once and learn by heart. Writing used to be a difficult task for them. Therefore, they verbally transmitted many things.
But when Sahābah R started passing away, then in 99 Hijri, Caliph Umar Ibn Abdul Azeez R felt the apprehension that due to the passing away of Sahābah R, Ahādeeth may vanish. Hence, instantly he enforced an order in the name of scholars of all countries that Ahādeeth must be discovered and collected. In the accomplishment of this command, writings of Imām Sha'bil R of Koofa, Imām Zuhri R from Madinah and Imām Mak'hool R from Shām came into being.
In the second century Hijri, this effort advanced to such an extent that apart from Ahādeeth of Prophet (ﷺ) even the relics of Sahābah R and those of members of the family of Prophet (ﷺ) and sayings and verdicts of Tābi'een were edited. Among these writings, most acclaimed ones are Aasār of Imām Abu Haneefa R, Mu'atta of Imām Malik R and Jame of Imām Sufiyān Sawri R.
In the third century Hijri, Muhadditheen searched every nook and corner and gathered all Ahādeeth. They travelled for months to collect each Hadeeth then scrutinized all Hadeeth. They devoted their lives in finding out the integrity of those who narrated these Ahādeeth. How were their lives? How was their memory? How was their intellect? This way, a full-fledged art of Asma'ur Rijāl was invented and details of around six lakh peoples' lives were drawn up.
This way after complete investigation, precious collections of true and genuine Ahādeeth were arranged which are called Sahhāh. Six of them are very famous and are called Sahhāh Sitta. Their names with the names of their compilers are mentioned below:
Six famous books of hadith
- Saheeh Bukhari (Al Jami'us Saheeh Lil Bukhāri) by Imām Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismail Bukhari R. (194H-256H)
- Saheeh Muslim (Al Jami'us Saheeh Li Muslim) by Imām Muslim Ibn Hajjāj Ibn Muslim Qushairi R. (206H-261H)
- Jame' Tirmizi (Al Jami'us Saheeh Lit Tirmizi) by Imām Abu Isa Muhammad Ibn Isa Tirmizi R. (209H-279H)
- Sunan Abu Dāwood by Imām Abu Dawood Sulaimān Ibn Ash'as R. (202H-275H)
- Sunan Nasa'ee (As Sunanul Mujtaba) by Imām Abu Abdul Rahman Ahmad Ibn Sho'aib Nasa'ee R. (215H-303H)
- Sunan Ibn Māja by Imām Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Yazeed Ibn Māja Qazwaini R. (209H-273H)
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