PRESERVATION &

COMPILATION
OF THE SUNNAH

PRACTICE
METHODS OF
PRESERVATION

MEMORISATION
DOCUMENTATION

PRACTICE
During the early period, Muslims emulated the
practices of the Prophet fully aware of Allahs
declaration that the Prophet was the best model and
example to be followed



There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allh an
excellent pattern [i.e. an example to be followed] for anyone
whose hope is in Allh and the Last Day and [who]
remembers Allh often.

MEMORISATION
The Arabs were an illiterate society; they could not
read or write save a few
...


It is He Who sent amongst the unlettered, a messenger from
among themselves

The companions memorised the Sunnah by heart,

and this continued in the early period of Islam until
the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty

LACK OF DOCUMENTATION
1. Illiteracy
2. Lack of writing tools; sophisticated tools of
writing unavailable in the Arabian peninsular
3. Deeply engaged with the documentation of
the Qur'n & its preservation
4. Prohibition of writing other than the Qur'n

PROHIBITION OF WRITING ADTH

adth of Ab Sa'd al-Khudr from the Messenger :

Do not write from me anything except the Qur'n, and
whoever has written anything from me other than the Qur'n
should erase it
According to al-Bukhr & others, it is the statement Ab Sa'd alKhudr erroneously attributed to the Prophet
Actually meant that nothing should be written with the Qur'n on
the same sheet
This command was given when the Qur'n was being revealed
and the text itself was incomplete
To avoid the companions from being engaged in something else
other than the Qur'n.

PERMISSION TO RECORD ADTH

A companion from amongst the Anr heard a adth and
complained to the Prophet about his bad memory. The
Prophet responded:

Assist (i.e. strengthen) your memory with your hand (i.e. by
writing)

During the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet stood and

delivered a khutbah. A man from Yemen (Ab Shh)
stood and requested that it be written down for him. The
Prophet then ordered that it be written form him.
Quite a number of companions recorded adth

RECONCILIATION
adth of Ab Sa'd al-Khudr early period of
Islam, fear of confusion between the Qur'n and
adth
adth of Ab Shh during the end of the Prophets
lifetime (i.e. the conquest of Makkah)
Prohibition for those whose memory was good, while
permission for those whose memory was bad
Prohibition of writing Qur'n and adth together in
one sheet, otherwise permissible

AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE PROPHET

The companions did not seriously consider
compiling adth
The were concerned with the compilation of the
Qur'n
Many non-Arabs embraced Islam and it was feared
that they could not differentiate between the Qur'n
and adth

COMPANIONS (1st century Hijrah)

''ishah narrated that her father Ab Bakr recorded
500 adth and he spent one whole night checking it
again and again in the morning he requested the
adth that were in her possession to be burnt and said,
"I'm afraid that when I die, while the adth are in your
hands, and people believed in it while it wasn't accurately
transmitted
'Umar said, "I had the intention to record the Sunnah,
and I mentioned to you a nation who wrote various books
and they paid attention to it to the extent that they
neglected the Book of Allh. Verily by Allh, I will not
mix the Book of Allh with something else"

COMPANIONS
There were personal recordings of adth during the
early period of Islam
Around 50 companions recorded adth
Al-ahfah al-diqah by 'Abdullh ibn 'Amr ibn al', al- Al-ahfah Jbir ibn 'Abdullh al-Anr
The companions differed in the number of adth
they transmitted
Some companions travelled to seek and verify
adth

SUCCESSORS (2nd century Hijrah)

'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Azz realised the need to compile
adth as he feared the death of scholars would lead to
the extinction of the Prophet's teachings

Look into the adth of the Messenger and compile it

He instructed his governors to request that scholars

compile adth.
The 1st scholar to formally compile adth under the
instruction of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Azz - Muammad ibn
Muslim ibn Shihb al-Zuhr

 Compilations of adth together with the

sayings and fatw of the companions and
successors organised into chapters
Al-Muannaf (eg. 'Abd al-Razzq) - adth
compiled according to fiqh classification
Al-Muwa' (eg. Imm Mlik) similar to alMuannaf
Musnad (eg. Imm al-Shfi') compilation of
adth according to the companion who
transmitted it

TBI' TBI'N (3rd century Hijrah)

Golden Era of the Sunnah

Extraordinary effort in seeking and compiling adth
All adth were compiled during this period
The Six Major Collections (al-Kutub al-Sittah) were
produced
Separation between adth and the sayings and fatw of
the companions and successors
Grading of adth
Defense of adth against those who question the authority
of the Sunnah

 Three major forms of compilation:

Musnad (eg. Imm Amad compile adth and
arranging it according to the companion who
transmitted it without organising into chapters
Al-Jmi' (eg. Al-Bukhr, Muslim, al-Tirmidh)
compilation of adth covering not only fiqh
chapters but also include history, manners, aqdah
etc.
Al-Sunan (eg. Ab Dwud, Ibn Mjah)
compilation of adth organized according to
fiqh chapters

4th 6th century Hijrah

Most adth collected and compiled
Not much addition to the adth previously collected
More systematic compilation
Mu'jam (eg. al-abrn) organization of adth according to the
companion who transmitted it, or the teacher of the compiler etc. in
alphabetical order
a (eg. Ibn ibbn) compilation of only authentic adth
Al-Mustadrak (eg. Al-kim) addition of adth which conforms to
the conditions set by al-Bukhr and Muslim but not included in their
compilations
Sunan (eg. Al-Bayhaq) - compilation of adth organized according
to fiqh chapters
Shar (eg. Al-aw) explanation of adth
Mustakhraj (eg. Ab Bakr al-Ism'l) compilation of adth with the
compiler's own chain of transmission

7th 8th century Hijrah

Thematic reorganisation
Al-Maw't (eg. Ibn al-Jawz) compilation of
fabricated adth
Al-Akm (eg. Al-Maqdis) compilation of
adth related to legal rulings only
Takhrj evaluation of the chain of transmitters, or
the compiler provides his own sanad

TODAY
No pioneering effort
Read, understand, takhrj and explanation of
adth previously collected and compiled

METHODS OF SUNNAH
DOCUMENTATION AND LEARNING
1. Sim' reading of a teacher to his students for the purpose of
comprehension, understanding and documentation or
memorisation
2. 'Ar - reading by students to their teacher to confirm their
memory
3. Ijzah permit someone to transmit a adth or book on the
authority of the scholar without reading
4. Munwalah handover a written material to someone for
transmitting it to another generation
5. Kitbah write adth for someone
6. I'lm inform someone that the informer has permission to
transmit certain material
7. Waiyyah entrust someone his book
8. Wijdah find some books or adth written by someone