The Hadith for Beginners

234 Pages·1900·6.539 MB·English

by  Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqui

THE HADITH
FOR BEGINNERS
MUHAMMAD ZUBAYR S1DDIQI
HADITH
FOR
BEGINNERS
An Introduction to Major
Hadith Works and Their Compilers
Dr. Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi
Sir Asutosh Professor of Islamic Culture,
Calcutta University
First Published 1961
Reprinted 2012
© Goodword Books 2012
Goodword Books
1, Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-110 013
Tel. [phone]
Fax: [phone]
email: [email protected]
www.goodwordbooks.com
Islamic Vision Ltd.
434 Coventry Road, Small Heath
Birmingham BIO OUG, U.K.
Tel. [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
www.islamicvision.co. uk
IB Publisher Inc.
81 Bloomingdale Rd, Hicksville
NY 11801, USA
Tel. [phone], Fax: [phone]
Toll Free: 1-888-560-3222
email: [email protected]
www.ibpublisher.com
Printed in India
IN MEMORY OF MY MOTHER
To thee I dedicate this, although it
does not requite even one of thy favours,
the memory of which has not been
obliterated by Tune.
Preface
This little bookjtias been composed in order to present
to the English-reading public, Muslim as well as non-Muslim,
the viewpoint of orthodox Islam with regard to Hadith
Literature, its origin and development, and its criticism by
the Muslim doctors. For in English, only one book on the
subject has been published (The Traditions of Islam by Alfred
Guillaume, Oxford, 1924). But it does not represent the
Muslim point of view. In other European languages (like
German, French and Dutch) several highly learned and
critical works on Hadith have been published. But none of
them represents orthodox Islamic views.
This book was begun in 1930 and was almost completed
in 1936. In composing it, not only many of the important
works of the modern European Orientalists have been
utilized but also a large part of the original Arabic sources,
some of which (so far as I know) have not hither to been
fully utilized. The reader, therefore, may find in this work
some important material which may not be available in any
of the European works on the subject.
Some parts of this book were published in The Proceedings
of the All India Oriental Conference (1937), pp. 187-206, in the
Proceedings of the Idara-i-Ma'arif-i-Islamiya, Lahore (1933),
pp. 61-71; and an Arabic translation of Chapter VI ('The
Special Features of Hadith Literature") was published as a
part of al-Mabahith al- Timiyah, by the Da'irat al-Ma'arif
of Hyderabad (India) in 1939. But the book could not be
published until now on account of circumstances which need
not be mentioned. It was in 1959 that the University Grants
Commission of India and the Calcutta University provided
the necessary funds for its publication. I should be failing
in my duty if I did not express my gratitude to them for
this favour, and also to Dr. G.C. Raychaudhury, the present
Registrar of Calcutta University, for his sympathy and keen
interest in the publication of the book. I must also express
PREFACE
5
my heartfelt thanks to Dr. S.A. Kamali, a young, competent
scholar of Arabic, well-trained in the modern method of
literary research, who, very kindly, checked the references
in the book, gave me ungrudging help in reading its proofs,
and prepared the list of abbreviations and the Index. My
thanks are also due to Dr. M.W. Mirza of Lucknow, who
translated (from Turkish into English) for me a passage from
an article by Prof. Ahmed Ates (see p. 138); to Mawlana
Mukhtar Ahmad Nadwi (a keen and critical student of
Hadith, who traced for me certain references to some Hadith-
works) and Haji Muhammad Yusuf, respectively the Librarian
and the pwner of the Haji 'Abd Allah Library, Calcutta, for
lending me several books on Hadith from their Library.
In conclusion, I must add that if the perusal of this book
creates an active interest in Hadith-Literature and Islamic
Culture among young Indian scholars of Arabic and of Islam,
I shall consider that an ample reward for my long years of
hard work.
November 1, 1961 M.Z.S.
Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 Hadith.29
The Significance of Hadith
Hadith and Sunnah. 30
Hadith—a subject of keen interest...30
The writing of Ahadith.. 33
The Collection of Ahadith.35
The Muwatta.38
The legal and historical traditions.39
Classification of books of Hadith.40
Chapter 2 Hadith and the Companions.48
Significance of the term Sahabi.48
The number of the Companions.48
The Companions who related traditions.49
The number of traditions related by them
The problem of the prohibition and
permissibility of Kitabat (of Hadith).62
Chapter 3 Hadith after the death of the
Companions.72
The Followers and their classification
The traditionists' devotion to Hadith.74
Their number.76
Forgery in Hadith, its causes and various
classes of forgers.77
The honest and critical traditionists of
various periods. 83
The criticism of the reporters.86
Travel in quest of knowledge (traditions) .... 89
CONTENTS 7
Chapter 4 Hadith Literature.96
The Beginnings.96
Many of the Musnads ascribed to early
authors were compiled long after them.97
The Musnad of Abu Da'ud al-Tayalisi
and his life.98
The Musnad of Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal
and his life.101
The Musannaf Works.109
The Sahih of al-Bukhari and his life......110
The Sahih of Muslim and his life.....118
Chapter 5 Hadith Literature—contd.125
The Sunan Works....125
The Sunan of Abu Da'ud al-Sijistani
and his life.126
The janti' of al-Tirmidhi and his life.129
The Sunan of al-Nasa'i and his life.134
The Sunan of al-Darimi and his life.136
The Sunan of Ibn Maja and his life.137
The Sunan of al-Daraqutni and his life.138
The Sunan of al-Bayhaqi and his life.140
The Sunan of Sa'id b.Mansur and his life
The Sunan of Abu Muslim al-Kashshi
and his life.141
The Mu jam Works, the Mujams
of al-Tabarani and his life.142
The importance of the various works
in Hadith Literature. 143
Chapter 6 Some of the Special Features of the Hadith
Literature.148
Forgery in hadith and its beginning.149
The System of Isnad
(Chain of Transmitters).151
8 HADTTH FOR BEGINNERS
The problem of its origin, its use by the
Jews, the remarks of Ibn Hazm, its use by
the Indians, its earliest application to
Hadith, its development by the Muslims, its
application to the Arabic MSS. The part
played by women in the transmission
and cultivation of Hadith and
Hadith literature.162
The important women traditionists of the
various periods
The integrity and independence of the
traditionists.173
The exactitude of the traditionists, [the
preliminaries and methods of learning,
teaching and writing Hadith].175
Chapter 7 The Sciences of Tradition.185
Asma' al-Rijal [Chronology, Biography and
Criticism of the Narrators of Hadith].186
Ibn Sa'd, his Tabaqat and its importance.193
Kitab al-Ta'rikh of al-Bukhari.197
Usd al-Ghaba.
199
The Isaba of Ibn Hajar and his life
Al-Khatib and his Ta'rikh-u-Baghdad .203
Ibn al-'Khatib and his Ta'rikh-u-Baghdad ..203
Ibn al-'Asakir and his History
of Damascus.204
Chapter 8 The Sciences of Tradition—contd.209
Criticism of reporters of an event in the
Qur'an, by the Prophet, the Companions
and their successors. Development of the
science of 'formal' criticism.211
Classifications of Ahadith.213
The legal importance of traditions.214
'Material' criticism of the texts of
traditions and its principles.219
Examples of criticism of the text.221
List of Illustrations
1. Colophon of MS. of the Musnad of Imam Shafi'f (at the
Murad Mulla Library, Istambul, No. 570). Copied in the
year 381 A.H. Corresponding to pp. 218f. in the pointed
edition (printed at Arrah in India, 1889). This is one of
the earliest MSS. of Hadith collections, the earliest one
known to me being the MS. of what is said to be Sahih
Muslim. .page. 224
2. A page from the MS. of al-Majmu'ah fi al-Hadith (described
in OPC, v, part 2, pp. 191 ff.. No. 462) :—
(i) Certificate of reading the MS. Teacher : Shaykh
Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Wani. Students (whose
names are mentioned) : about 20 in number. Place :
the house of al-Wani in Damascus. Date 21.8.732 A.H.
(ii) Certificate of reading the MS. Teacher : 'Ali b.
Muhammad b. Mamdud and 'Umar b. 'Abd Allah b.
'Abd al-Ahad. Place : Samsatiyah Monastery in
Damascus. Date 15.11.732 A.H.
(iii) Certificate of reading the MS. Teacher : Safiyah (the
daughter of Ahmad, and the wife of Baha' al-Din 'Ali
b. 'Umar). Students (men and women) about 10 in
number. Place : Damascus. Date 5.11.739 A.H
.page 225
3- Pages from a MS., al-Mashikhat ma' al-Takhrij, by 'Ali b.
Ahmad Ibn al-Bukhari (described in OPC, v, part 2. pp.
51ff., No. 322)
(i) Certificate of reading the MS. (11 sittings). Teacher :
the author (Ibn al-Bukhari). Students (men and women):
more than 500. Place : Jami' 'Umar, Damascus. Date
687 A.H.
(ii) Certificate of reading the MS. (6 sittings). Teacher : 'Ali
b. Ibrahim al-Sayrafi. Students (men and women :
more than 200. Place : Aleppo. Date 13.5.736 A.H.
.page 226