Kitabat al-Hadith al-Nabawi fi Ahd al-Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم bayn al-Nahy wa al-Idhn

Kitabat al-Hadith al-Nabawi fi Ahd al-Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم bayn al-Nahy wa al-Idhn (The Writing of Prophetic Hadith in the Era of the Prophet ﷺ between Prohibition and Permission) is a contemporary monograph on hadith sciences by Hasna bint Bakri Najjar Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. It investigates the historical and legal status of recording the Prophetic hadith during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, examining the apparent contradiction between narrations that prohibit transcription and those that permit it Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.

Purpose and Background

In the introduction, Najjar addresses modern critiques and orientalist claims concerning the preservation of the Sunnah Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. She specifically refutes the assertion that a sectarian conflict between the jurists of legal reasoning (ahl al-ra'y) and the scholars of hadith (ahl al-hadith) led to the fabrication of conflicting traditions prohibiting and allowing the recording of hadith Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. She maintains that aversion to or engagement in writing existed across both groups and that the Prophetic directives were governed by distinct legal and contextual rationales rather than partisan disputes Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba….

Structure and Contents

The monograph consists of an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…:

• Chapter One: Writing in the Era of the Prophet ﷺ (al-Kitabah fi Ahd al-Nabi ﷺ): Divided into two sections examining writing among the Arabs before Islam and writing among them after Islam Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1. It reviews the spread of Arabic script from al-Anbar and al-Hirah to the Hijaz, educational circles in Mecca and Medina, and the varied uses of writing for poetry, covenants, correspondence, and financial transactions Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.
• Chapter Two: Traditions on Prohibition and Permission (al-Ahadith al-Waridah fi al-Nahy an al-Kitabah wa al-Idhn Fiha): Divided into two sections that catalog the transmitted reports on prohibition and those on permission Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. It details narrations regarding companions who wrote with Prophetic approval or kept written records, including Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayrah, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Anas ibn Malik, and Ali ibn Abi Talib Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.
• Chapter Three: Reconciling the Traditions of Prohibition and Permission (al-Tawfiq bayn Ahadith al-Nahy wa al-Idhn): Divided into two sections:
  • The Method of Rationale (Manhaj al-Ta'lil): Outlining the specific causes behind the initial prohibition, such as the fear that Muslims might neglect the Quran in favor of other writings, the risk of conflating hadith with the Quranic text on the same sheet, the preservation of the oral memorization faculty, and the scarcity of writing materials Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.
  • Resolving Apparent Contradiction (Daf' al-Ta'arud): Analyzing the principles of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) used to address contradictory evidence through abrogation (naskh), contextual harmonization (jam'), and textual preponderance (tarjih) Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.

Method and Core Arguments

Najjar examines the legal status of writing by assessing the authenticity of the prohibition reports Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. She notes that the traditions forbidding transcription do not exceed four primary narrations, the most prominent being the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri in Sahih Muslim, which other authorities such as al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud considered to be halted (mawquf) rather than elevated (marfu') Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…. Narrations of prohibition attributed to Abu Hurayrah and Zayd ibn Thabit are evaluated as having defective or severed (munqati') chains Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1. Conversely, traditions demonstrating permission and documenting actual writing by Companions are extensively attested Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba….

The author concludes that resolving the contradiction is primarily achieved through the methodology of ta'lil (identifying underlying legal rationales) Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1. She argues that writing is not prohibited in itself as an immutable act of worship (amr ta'abbudi), but was restricted due to transient factors, notably safeguarding the Quran from confusion during the active period of revelation Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1. Once the Quran was firmly distinguished and memorized, permission was granted generally, as well as specifically to individuals skilled in writing—such as Abdullah ibn Amr with his compilation al-Sahifah al-Sadiqah—or those who complained of weak memory Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1. The book demonstrates that hadith writing occurred both as private transcriptions for study and as official documents dictated by the Prophet ﷺ for statecraft, treaties, and legal ordinances Kitabat al-Hadith al-Naba…+1.