al-Hadith wal-Muhaddithun
- Author died
- 1403 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʻat Miṣr Sharikat Musāhamah Miṣrīyah
al-Hadith wal-Muhaddithun (Hadith and the Hadith Scholars), subtitled ʿInayat al-ummah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-sunnah al-nabawiyyah (The Islamic Nation's Care for the Prophetic Sunnah), is a book on the history of the Prophetic Sunnah and its scholarship by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad Muhammad Abu Zahw (d. 1403 AH / 1983 CE) . The work chronicles the preservation, transmission, and codification of Hadith across historical epochs from the inception of Islam to the modern era .
Background and Purpose
Abu Zahw stated in his preface that he composed the work to counter doubts, misconceptions, and criticisms leveled against the Sunnah by Western Orientalists and modernists who followed their approach . His stated aim was to clarify historical facts, distinguish sound tradition from error, and present an evidence-based account of the scholarly efforts made to preserve the Prophet's legacy .
Structure and Scope
The book is structured into an introduction, seven chronological historical eras (adwar), and a conclusion :
- Introduction: Discusses the definition of Sunnah, its status as a form of divine revelation, its authority in Islamic law, its relationship to the Quran, and responses to those who deny the authoritative status of solitary reports (akhbar al-ahad) .
- First Era: The Sunnah during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, examining how the Companions learned, memorized, and disseminated hadiths, including the roles played by female Companions, the Mothers of the Believers, and tribal delegations .
- Second Era: The Sunnah during the Rightly Guided Caliphate, highlighting the Companions' caution in narrating, their verification methods, and refutations of doubts raised against their methodologies .
- Third Era: The Sunnah from the end of the Rightly Guided Caliphate to the close of the first Hijri century, addressing political upheaval, the emergence of early sects, and debates surrounding the early writing of Hadith—including a detailed critique of views published in Majallat al-Manar .
- Fourth Era: The Sunnah in the second century AH, covering systematic codification (tadwin), Malik ibn Anas's al-Muwatta, the rise of hadith fabrication and the groups behind it (such as political partisans, heretics, and popular storytellers), scholars' efforts to expose fabricators, al-Shafi'i's debates on the authority of Sunnah, responses to misconceptions regarding Abu Hanifah, and biographical sketches of leading hadith scholars .
- Fifth Era: The Sunnah in the third century AH, the golden age of hadith compilation and canonical collections .
- Sixth Era: The period from the beginning of the fourth century AH until the fall of Baghdad in 656 AH .
- Seventh Era: The period from 656 AH to the modern era .
- Conclusion: An overview of specialized hadith sciences (ulum al-hadith), including principles of transmission (riwayah), biographical evaluation (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil), and the resolution of apparent textual discrepancies .
Reception and Significance
The book is recognized among modern scholarly works for its extended chronological coverage of hadith codification and scholarship; later researchers have noted that Abu Zahw expanded the historical scope of his survey beyond the earliest centuries up through modern times more comprehensively than earlier writers on the topic . It is also frequently cited among modern defenses of the Companions, notably for its refutation of criticisms directed against Abu Hurayrah .
Publication History
The first edition of the book was published in Cairo by Matba'at Misr in 1378 AH (1958 CE) in a single volume of 495 pages . It was subsequently reprinted by multiple publishing houses, including Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi in Beirut (1404 AH / 1984 CE) .
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