The Writing Down of adth

There is a widespread notion that the hadth where recorded in writing

approximately two hundred years after the death of the Prophet Muammad
(sall allahu alayhi wa sallam) by Ibn Shihb al-Zuhr (d. 124/742).1 Some people
indeed have gone so far as claiming that the hadth were recorded by none other
than al-Bukhr (d. 256/870) in the third/ninth century. All this is of course is
nothing but a misconception and as pointed out by al-Aam and al-Zahrn, this
is due to misunderstanding the statements of the hadth scholars (muhaddithn).
This has led many ignorant Muslims to reject the authority and the authenticity of
the Sunnah and also has led many non-Muslims to attack the religion of Islm on
various aspects. An example on how non-Muslims utilized this misconception is to
deny the historical existence of the Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam),
although this idea does not exist within academic circles. Due to this it is of
outmost importance to destroy this false notion.
In this article we will show only three Companions (aba) and Successors
(tbin) that are reported to have had written records and show that the hadth
scholars (muhaddithn) had written aid-memoirs in their lessons. This will
demonstrate the continuous written tradition up to the known systematic
collections of traditions like that of al-Bukhr (d. 256/870) and his likes. All this
will also show that the notion of an oral tradition against an written tradition is
simply false but rather the oral and written coexisted with each other, thus
cooperating. The study is divided into four main sections: (1) The Companions
(aba), (2) The Successors (tbin), (3) Transmission: Oral or Written?, (4)
Issues of Methodology and Sources.
As it has been shown by several scholars, the hadth were written down
sporadically at a very early age hence the Muslims from the earliest period were
documenting the statements of Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam) and his
Companions.2 Indeed Gregor Schoeler begins the first chapter of his book, The
Transmission of the Sciences in Early Islam. Oral or Written?, by announcing that
the wide spread claims that the Arabo-Islamic sciences where largely transmitted
1 Al-Zahrn, Tadwn al-Sunnah al-nabawiyya, s. 25.
2 Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, 12 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1967),
1:5384; Muhammad al-Aam, Studies in Early Hadth Literature (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic
Book Trust, 2000); Al-Aam, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (USA:
American Trust Publications, 1977); M.Z. Siddq, adth Literature: Its Origin,
Development & Special Features (Cambridge, 1993); Musaf al-Sib, Al-sunna wamaknatuh f l-tashr al-islm (Cairo, 1961); Muhammad Ajjj, Al-sunna qabla l-tadwn
(Cairo, 1963); al-Zahrn, Tadwn al-Sunnah al-nabawiyya; Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic
Literary Papyri II: Quranic Commentary and Tradition (Chicago, 1967); Gregor Schoeler,
The Genesis of Literature in Islam: From the Aural to the Read (Egypt: Cairo Press, 2009);
Harald Motzki, The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh before the Classical
Schools, trans. Marion H. Katz (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 158; Fred M. Donner, Narratives of
Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing (Princeton: Darwin Press,
1998), 279. It is important to point out that all these scholars are not non-skeptical and
believe in the authenticity of the adth literature. All the scholars up to and including
Nabia Abbott are non-skeptical, whilst Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler are sanguine
and Fred Donner is a revisionist (critical-descriptive approach).

orally have been laid to rest due to the works of Sezgin and Abbott. 3 In the
category of works that demonstrated the early and continuous writing down of
traditions until the time of the major compilations is the work of al-Aam, which
also showed that fifty Companions (aba), forty nine first century Successors
(tbin), eighty seven scholars (muhaddithn) from the late first and early
second centuries and two hundred one early second century scholars
(muhaddithn) had written records.4

1: The Companions (aba)

1.1: Ab Hurayra
It is attested in our sources that Ab Hurayra had books of hadth in his
possession5 and that in the end of his life he had full boxes that contained afas
(notebooks) of traditions.6 Two individuals by the name of Umayyah al-Damr and
Ibn Wahb had witnessed with their own eyes the material that had been written
down by him.7 Ab Hurayra had a student by the name of Hammm b. Munabbih
(d. circa 130/747) and through him we have Sahfat Hammm b. Munabbih
which is an early extant collection of hadth containing around 138 traditions
from the Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam).8 The Sahfat Hammm b.
Munabbih is supposedly the oldest hadth collection and it has been published
by Hamdullh.9 It is important to point out that G.H.A. Juynboll disputed the
authenticity of this Sahfa by making several arguments against it and reaching
the conclusion that it is nothing but a third/ninth century creation by Abd alRazzq al-Sann.10 Harald Motzki on the other hand rebutted Juynboll and
showed that one of his arguments was based on a printing mistake in the
Tabaqt of Ibn Sad and that his arguments were not convincing. 11 Amongst

3 Gregor Schoeler, The Oral and Written in Early Islam, trans. Uwe Vagelpohl, ed.
James E. Montgomery (London: Routledge, 2006), 28.
4 Al-Aam, Studies in Early Hadth Literature (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust,
2000), 34-182.
5 Al-Aam, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (USA: American Trust
Publications, 1977), 26.
6 Jonathan A.C. Brown, Hadith: Muhammads Legacy in the Medieval and Modern
World (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009), 19.
7 M.Z. Siddq, adth Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features
(Cambridge, 1993), 25.
8 Jonathan A.C. Brown, The Canonization of al-Bukhr and Muslim: The
Formation and Function of Sunn adth Canon (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 50.
9 Harald Motzki, The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh before the
Classical Schools, trans. Marion H. Katz (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 37.

Western scholars, R. Marston Speight considers this collection to be authentic. 12

Abd al-Azz b. Marwn was an individual who had documented in written form all
the adth of Ab Hurayra.13 It is also reported that nine of the students of Ab
Hurayra wrote traditions from him at the very least. 14
1.2: Abd Allh b. Amr b. al-
What we know is that this Companion used to write down traditions from the
Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam) during his lifetime and even authored a
book which he named Al-Sahfa al-Sdiqah. It is also reported that he once said:
This is the Sdiqah, this is what I have heard from the Prophet. 15 This book was
handed down to his son Amr b. Shuayb and was also witnessed by none other
than famous exegete Mujhid who was a student of Ibn Abbs.16 The diqah
has come down to us in the Musnad of Amad b. anbal, at least most if not all of
the traditions.17 The fact that he used to write down adth is also attested by
Ab Hurayra as he is recorded to have said: No one was more knowledgeable
regarding the Messenger of Allhs Sunnah than me, except for Abd Allh b.
Amr, for he would write while I would not. 18 In total he is said to have had 1,000

10 G.H.A. Juynboll, Encyclopedia of Canonical adth (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 29-31. For an
good overview of the arguments against the ahfa of Hammm, visit: http://researchislam.blogspot.se/2014/09/sahifat-hammam-earliest-hadith.html

11 Harald Motzki, Review of G.H.A. Juynboll. Encyclopedia of canonical hadth,

546-549. I do not make the claim that Motzki believes in the authenticity of the
ahfa or that it goes back to Hammm b. Munabbih.
12 R. Marston Speight, A Look at Variant Readings in the adth, Der Islam 77
(2000): 169-179; G.H.A. Juynboll, Encyclopedia of Canonical adth (Leiden: Brill,
2007), 29, n. 2.
13 Al-Aam, Studies in Early Hadth Literature (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust,
2000), 37.
14 Al-Aam, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (USA: American Trust
Publications, 1977), 26.
15 Gregor Schoeler, The Oral and Written in Early Islam, trans. Uwe Vagelpohl,
ed. James E. Montgomery (London: Routledge, 2006), 135.
16 M.Z. Siddq, adth Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features
(Cambridge, 1993), 24.
17 Fuat Sezgin, Trkh al-turth al-arab, trans. Dr. Mamud Fahm (Riyadh,
1983), v. 1, 153.
18 Musaf al-Sib, The Sunnah and Its Role in Islamic Legislation, trans. Faysal
b. Muammad Shafq (International Islamic Publishing House, ?), 93.

traditions.19 Seven of his students wrote down hadth from him in written form. 20
Also, Ibn Abbs used to transmit adth from him.21
1.3: Ibn Abbs
This Companion has in total transmitted 1660 traditions from the Prophet (sall
allahu alayhi wa sallam). It is know that he had mastered the art of reading and
writing.22 Being labeled as the father of exegesis works, Ibn Abbs gathered
adth and akhbr from several groups of people like the Anr, Jews and
Christians.23 We also know that he had a huge number of books in his
possession.
1.4: The fact that the Companions (aba) had written records of what the
Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam) said and did is also acknowledged and
even argued for by none other than the sceptic and father of hadth studies in the
west, namely Ignaz Goldziher. Goldziher argued that the Companions most likely
carried a sahfa (notebook) which contained the text of a adth. 24 Now it is
important to point out one of the main thesis of Goldziher was that the adth
were transmitted orally for about one hundred years until they were eventually
put into writing and the collections at our disposal do not refer to earlier works. 25
This was used to cast doubt on the authenticity of the hadth corpus in general.
1.5: James E. Montgomery said: what the sources confront us with is a
theoretical aversion to the commission of the ad to writing: this aversion is
not less real for being theoretical. This is a very important note when it came
to the movement which was against written records, hence just because the
aversion was theoretical, the aversion may not be any less real. The same
principle may be utilized when it came to the reports about individuals having
written records hence it is indeed theoretical, because we do not have any
manuscripts from the first/seventh century, though this does not make the

19 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri II: Quranic Commentary and
Tradition (Chicago, 1967), 66.
20 Al-Aam, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (USA: American Trust
Publications, 1977), 27.
21 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri II: Quranic Commentary and
Tradition (Chicago, 1967), 9.
22 Al-Aam, Studies in Early Hadth Literature (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust,
2000), 40.
23 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri II: Quranic Commentary and
Tradition (Chicago, 1967), 9.
24 Ignaz Goldziher, Muslim Studies, trans. Samuel Stern (London, 1967),
25 M.Z. Siddq, adth Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features
(Cambridge, 1993), 124.

written tradition any less real. Therefore we should believe in these reports until
the contrary is proven.
2: The Successors (tbin)
2.1: Urwa b. al-Zubayr
The son of the ab al-Zubayr b. al-Awwm and the younger brother of Abd
Allh b. al-Zubayr who was killed by al-Hajjj b. Ysuf. Urwa became rather
famous for being one of the early authors. Being one the early authors how
authored a book of maghz (campaigns) he has the basic outlines of the life of
the Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam), which can be divided into eight main
events: (1) The beginning of revelation, (2) The Muslims persecution at the hands
of the Meccans the emigration to Abyssinia the al-Aqaba meeting the
emigration to Medna, (3) The battle of Badr, (4) The battle of Uud, (5) The
battle of the Trench (khandaq), (6) The treaty of al-Hudaybiya, (7) The slander of
ishah (adth al-ifk), (8) The conquest of Mecca. 26 His traditions have come
down to us, although not in their original form, in the works of Mlik, Abd alRazzq, Ibn Ab Shayba, al-Bukhr, Muslim and al-abar. 27 The famous historian
al-abar is also known to have saved passages of lengthy size of his work within
his own Tarkh.28 Although Urwa burned his books at one point in his life which
was a mistake he severely regretted ever since. 29 His main authority from whom
he extensively received his knowledge from was none other than the beloved
wife of the Prophet (sall allahu alayhi wa sallam), namely ishah.
3: Transmission: Oral or Written?
3.1: Goldziher claimed in his work that scholars like Wak b. al-Jarr, Sad b. Ab
Arbah, Sufyn al-Thawr and their likes within other sciences shunned writing
based on vague statements in the biographical literature such as he did not
have a book, but used to memorise it/keep it in his memory and I [one] never
saw a book in his hand. If not mistaken, this is one of the reason for the
supposed orally transmitted tradition in early Islm which authors have used as
an argument for the unreliable transmission of the hadth corpus. These obscure
statements should not, as pointed out by Gregor Schoeler, be taken out their
context. An important note is that when Goldziher utilized the rijl works in order
to make a conclusion of a wide oral tradition with the absence of writing the rijl
work are perfectly reliable, but when non-skeptical scholars use the same genre
26 Andreas Grke and Gregor Schoeler, Reconstructing the Earliest sra Texts:
the Hira in the Corpus of Urwa b. al-Zubayr, 213.
27 Gregor Schoeler, Foundations for a New Biography of Muammad: The
Evaluation of the Corpus of Traditions from Urwa b. al-Zubayr, in H. Berg (ed.),
Method and Theory In the Study of Islamic Origins (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 22.
28 Al-Aam, Studies in Early Hadth Literature (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust,
2000), 73.
29 Fuat Sezgin, Trkh al-turth al-arab, trans. Dr. Mamud Fahm (Riyadh,
1983), v.

of works in order to establish an early and continuous written tradition suddenly

they become unreliable.
3.2: There was, at least, in the early period a certain practice by the name of
iml which was simply if a shaykh wanted to dictate something he would give
his permission to his students to write down from him. Such a practice, iml,
was endorsed and held by scholars such as Wak b. al-Jarr, Shubah b. alHajjj, Sufyn al-Thawr, al-Shab, Muammad b. al-Sib al-Kalb, al-Madin, Ibn
al-Arb and al-Thalab.
3.3: It is has been long argued by scholars that the isnd is simply a matter of
oral transmission and not a written, though this notion is simply false, one should
rather say that the question of orals versus written transmission is uncertain. M.
Fleischhammer, a scholar who studied extensively the sources of Kitb al-aghn,
said: Nowadays,there is widespread agreement that, in most cases, these
isnds conceal written sources. He also said: Often enough, we cannot beyond
doubt the existence of a genuinely oral tradition. This can also be seen if one
carefully analyze the statements of scholars (muhaddithn) such as al-Bukhr
and his likes.
3.4: Fuat Sezgin, conducted a study under the name Buchari'nin kayuaklari,
which studied the sources of the Jmi of al-Bukhr and came to the conclusion
that al-Bukhr utilized two hundred books from the previous generation for his
hadth collection.30 The sources of authors such as al-Bukhr, Muslim, al-abar,
Ab al-Faraj are written for the purpose oral lectures. 31
4: The Issue of Sources and Methodology
4.1: Sources used by the authors who are cited in this article are known as the
biographical dictionaries (rijl works) which are sources of rather enormous size
containing informations about scholars within various scientific disciplines such
as adth, jurisprudence (fiqh), poetry (shir) and much more.32 Also, the known
adth collections of al-Bukhr, Muslim, Ab Dwd, Ibn anbal and so on were
used.
4.2: All these sources originated not with events they report on, but, rather in the
second/eight and third/ninth century. These sources came into existence circa
200 years after the events.33 In other word, they are not contemporaneous.

30 Talal Maloush, Early adth Literature and the Theory of Ignaz Goldziher
(Edinburgh, 2000), 7.
31 Gregor Schoeler, The Oral and Written in Early Islam, trans. Uwe Vagelpohl,
ed. James E. Montgomery (London: Routledge, 2006), 43.
32 Scott C. Lucas, Constructive Critics, adth Literature, and their Articulation of
Sunn Islam: The Legacy of the Generation of Ibn Sad, Ibn Man, and Ibn anbal
(Leiden: Brill, 2004), 7.
33 Harald Motzki, The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh before the
Classical Schools, trans. Marion H. Katz (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 37.

4.3: On the other hand, scholars such Sezgin, al-Azam and Abbott argue based
on the isnds that are attached to the matns that these sources accurately report
information from the first century of Islm.
4.4: Several scholars from the skeptical camp of thought aimed several criticism
towards the methodologies of Sezgin, al-Aam and Abbott mainly due to the
sources the utilized in their respective studies. Patricia Crone criticizes these
scholars by saying: Abbott and F. and U. Sezgin are of course anything but deaf,
but their method consists in believing what the Muslims said about the formation
of their own tradition while abstaining from too close an analysis of the character
of this tradition which so flagrantly contradicts it. 34 Juynboll, a disciple of
Schacht, aimed a similar critique by saying that Sezgin, al-Aam and Abbott
uncritically accepts what is reported in the Islamic books. 35 Herbert Berg, selfdescribed as a neo-sceptic, made a baseless claim that the isnds arose
symbiotically with these sources thus making them not independent of each
other.36 In a review of Bergs work, Harald Motzki responds to him by showing that
his claim has not been proven even till this day but Motzki offers no rebuttal. 37
Conclusion
Based on this rather brief picture that we painted, the adth were put into
writing at the very earliest age by the Companions (aba) and then even
transmitted in written form by their Successors (tbin) of the next generation of
hadth scholars (muhaddithn). Thanks to the study conducted by Nabia Abbott
we also can remove the notion. Scholars of various disciplines had at their
disposal written aid-memoirs and their students used to write down from them
based on their permission. The claims made by Goldziher and his follower
Schacht of a wide oral tradition for century or more simply does not hold up to
scrutiny, thus showing that one of the most famous claims against the
authenticity and reliability of the adth corpus can be laid to rest.

34 Patricia Crone, Slaves on Horses: The evolution of the Islamic polity

(Cambridge, 1980), 14, n. 88.
35 G.H.A. Juynboll, Muslim tradition: Studies in chronology, provenance, and
authorship of early adth (Cambridge, 1983), 4-6.
36 Herbert Berg, The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam: The Authenticity of
Muslim Literature from the Formative Period (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000),
26.
37 Harald Motzki, The Question of the Authenticity of Muslim Traditions Reconsidered: A
Review Article, in H. Berg (ed.), Method and Theory In the Study of Islamic Origins
(Leiden: Brill, 2003), 214.

Shady Hekmat Nasser, The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Qurn: The
Problem of Tawtur and the Emergence of Shawdhdh (Leiden: Brill, 2012).

Scott C. Lucas said: Juynbolls chronology of the development of hadth

demonstrates the peril of ignoring early sources like Ibn Sads al-Tabaqt alkabr, and relying instead upon late works, like Ibn Hajars Tahdhb al-tahdhb. He
manages to miss entirely the importance of Medina in the first century, ignores
the most important transmitters from Anas in Basra, and, in general, bases his
conclusions on a mere couple dozen transmitters.
: the conclusions of Schacht (and now also Noth) are denied, but not disproved.
The only serious attempts to refute Schacht are those of N. J. Coulson, A History
of Islamic Law, Edinburgh 1964, pp. 64ff (who accepts the essentials of Schacht's
conclusions), and Azmi, Studies (who disagrees fundamentally with both
Goldziher and Schacht).

Marifat madr al-isnd w bayn maknatuh f