Kitabat al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya fi Ahd al-Nabi wa al-Sahaba wa Atharuha fi Hifz al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya
- Author died
- 1447 AH
- Editions
- King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Madinah
Kitabat al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya fi Ahd al-Nabi wa al-Sahaba wa Atharuha fi Hifz al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya (The Writing of the Prophetic Sunna in the Era of the Prophet and the Companions and Its Impact on Preserving the Prophetic Sunna) is a research treatise by the Egyptian hadith scholar Ahmad Umar Hashim (d. 1447 AH) examining the early recording of hadith during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, and demonstrating how these early writings preserved the Sunna and paved the way for later formal codification.
Background and Purpose
The treatise was composed as a research contribution for the symposium "The Sunna and Prophetic Biography" (Nadwat al-Sunnah wa-al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah), organized under the theme "The Care of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Sunna and Prophetic Biography" (‘Ināyat al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabiyyah al-Sa‘ūdiyyah bi-al-Sunnah wa-al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah). Hashim intended to refute the claim that the Sunna was neglected or preserved purely through oral transmission without written records until the end of the first Islamic century or later. He argues that individual written collections existed throughout the first century and served as primary sources for the canonical collections compiled in subsequent generations.
Structure and Content
Definitions and the Authority of the Sunna
The author opens by defining the term Sunnah linguistically and through the specialized terminologies of legal theorists (uṣūliyyūn), jurists (fuqahā’), preachers, and hadith scholars (muḥaddithūn). He outlines the status of the Sunna as the second primary source of Islamic law, presenting textual evidence from the Quran and hadith commanding obedience to the Prophet and establishing the binding necessity of his explanations of revelation.
Transmission and Verification
Hashim identifies three primary factors that drove the Companions to preserve the Sunna: the Prophet's exemplary conduct (al-uswah al-ḥasanah), divine and prophetic inducements to seek and transmit religious knowledge, and their retentive memories coupled with an awareness of the Sunna's legislative authority. He examines the methodology of scientific verification (tathabbut) initiated by early caliphs such as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Umar ibn al-Khattab, who exercised caution by demanding witnesses or corroboration to prevent attribution errors, a practice that established critical principles continued by the Successors (Tābi‘ūn) and spurred scholarly travel for hadith verification (riḥlah).
Early Written Records
The book surveys specific manuscripts and written records produced during the era of the Prophet and his Companions, highlighting:
- Al-Ṣaḥīfah al-Ṣādiqah of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, containing approximately one thousand hadiths recorded directly from the Prophet.
- The written sheets (ṣuḥuf) attributed to Companions including Sa'd ibn Ubadah, Samurah ibn Jundab, Jabir ibn Abd Allah, and Anas ibn Malik.
- Al-Ṣaḥīfah al-Ṣaḥīḥah compiled by Hammam ibn Munabbih from Abu Hurayrah.
- The early constitutional document detailing the rights of the Emigrants (Muhājirūn), Helpers (Anṣār), Jews, and other residents of Medina.
Prohibition and Permission to Write Hadith
Hashim addresses the apparent tension between narrations prohibiting the writing of hadith—such as the report of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri where the Prophet said: لا تكتبوا عني ومن كتب عني غير القرآن فليمحه ("Do not write from me; and whoever has written from me other than the Quran, let him erase it")—and narrations granting permission, such as the Prophet ordering: اكتبوا لأبي شاه ("Write for Abu Shah").
To reconcile these reports, Hashim presents scholarly interpretations, preferring the view that the prohibition was temporary at the beginning of the mission to prevent the text of hadith from becoming confused with the Quran, or applied to recording both on the same manuscript sheet. Once the Quran was firmly memorized and transcribed, permission was granted, effectively abrogating the prohibition before the Prophet died.
Evolution into Official Codification
The work charts the transition from private records to state-sponsored collection under Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, who tasked scholars like Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri with compiling hadith fearing the loss of knowledge. This culminated in subsequent stages of thematic compilation (taṣnīf) by mid-second-century scholars such as Ibn Jurayj, Malik ibn Anas, and Sufyan al-Thawri, followed by the compilation of musnads and standalone authenticated collections in the third century AH.
Refutation of Skepticism
In the concluding sections, Hashim responds to arguments raised against the authority of the Sunna and solitary reports (khabar al-wāḥid). He dismisses as fabricated the narration attributed to the Prophet: ما جاءكم عني فاعرضوه على كتاب الله ("Whatever reaches you from me, evaluate it against the Book of Allah..."), citing evaluations by classical authorities including al-Shafi'i and Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi. He further demonstrates the consensus of the Companions and early generations on acting upon sound solitary reports.
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