Introduction of Early Hadith literature

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First Generation Hadith Scholars

It is known that the process of Hadith narration and preservation had started immediately after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Abdullah bin Abbas (‘Abdallah bin ‘Abbās عِبدَاللَه بِن عَبَاس) and Abdullah bin Umar (‘Abdallah bin ‘Umar عِبدَاللَه بِن عُمَر) are two Companions who particularly devoted themselves to this work. Their work has not survived except in traditions recorded by later Hadith narrators. Both the earliest Hadith collectors and narrators were themselves Companions. On the other hand, the earliest Sirah collectors and writers were sons of Companions. Hence, we can assume that Hadith gathering started earlier than the Sirah gathering.

Second Generation Hadith Scholars

Ata ibn Abi Rabah

After the pioneers in the field comes the next generation of Hadith collectors and narrators. Most qualified among them is Ata ibn Abi Rabah (‘Aṭaʾ Ibn Abī Rabaḥ عَطأ اِبنِ ابِى رَبَّاح) (653 – 732 CE), who lived in Mecca.¹ He had been in contact with Abdullah bin Abbas and Abdullah bin Umar. None of his work has survived.

Al-Zuhri

Contemporary to Ata ibn Abi Rabah, and equally qualified, was Muhammad bin Muslim al-Zuhri (Muhammad bin Muslim bin ‘Ubaydallah bin Shihāb al-Zuhri مُحَمَّد بِن مُسلِم بِن عُبَيد اللَّه بِن شِهاب الزُهرِى), commonly known as Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri. Born in 671 CE, Zuhri died in 742 CE.² Zuhri also had been in contact with Abdullah bin Umar and Abdullah bin Abbas. He earned a reputation as a scholar among Muslims. Using his reputation, he attached himself to the court of Caliph Abdul Malik and remained attached to the succeeding caliphs until his death.³ Zuhri was one of the earliest Muslim religious scholars to get gravy from a government.

Third Generation Hadith Scholars

Ibn Rabah and Zuhri were followed by a genre of Hadith narrators, including Ibn Jurayj (اِبْنِ جُرَيج) (c. 699 CE – 768 CE) and Ma’mar bin Rashid (714 – 770).⁴ The latter was a teacher of Abdul Razzaq (‘Abd al-Razzāq عَبدُالرَزَّاق). Abdul Razzaq preserved works of both Ibn Jurayj and Ma’mar in his Musannaf (Muṣannaf ‘Abd al-Razzāq مُصَنَّف عَبدُالرَزّاق).⁵

Sahifah (Ṣaḥīfah صَحِيفَه) of Hammam bin Munabbih (Hammām bin Munabbih هَمَّام بِن مُنَبِّه) (d. 719 CE) is another collection of Hadith from that genre that has been edited by Hamidullah, a scholar from India/Pakistan.⁶ However, critics argue that the manuscripts Hamidullah saw at Berlin and Damascus, which he claims to be original from Hammam, are transmitted through many hands and are the same as those of Abd al-Razzaq.

Abdul Razzaq bin Hammam al Sana’ni (‘Abd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām al- Ṣan’āni عَبدُالرَزَّاق بِن هَمّام اَلصَنَعانى) (c. 763 –826 CE) was from Sana’a. He traveled to Mecca, Medina, Syria, and Iraq. He is credited with arranging Hadith according to the categories of jurisprudence (fiqh). This collection of Hadith was lost but quoted in other books. Indian scholar Maulana Habib al-Rahman al-Azmi collected them again and published them from Beirut. These are called Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq.⁷ Motzki has studied this Hadith collection and thinks that it could be of some historical value.⁸ Just like Guillaume’s Ibn Ishaq being the earliest Sirah available to us almost intact, Azmi’s Abdul Razzaq is the earliest Hadith collection available to us almost intact.

Endnotes

Harald Motzki, The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh Before the Classical Schools, trans. Marion H Katz (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 246-262.; See also: Muhammad Mustafa al-Azmi, Studies in Early Hadith Literature: With a Critical Edition of Some Early Texts (Indianapolis, IN: American Trust Publications, 1978), 80.
Khalifa Ibn Khayyat, Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Umayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 74, Year 51; P 245, Year 124.; Ibn Sa’ad Vol II Ayeasha Bewley translation, 273 – 81. See also: Michael Lecker, “Biographical Notes on Ibn Shihāb al Zuhrī,” Journal of Semitic Studies 41, no. 1 (spring 1996): 21–63.
Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Ya’qūbī, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, eds. and trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson, and Michael Fishbein (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 1021, 1032.; Khalifa ibn Khayyat’s History on the Ummayyad Dynasty (660 – 750), ed. and trans. Carl Wurtzel (Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2015), P 242, Year 123.
For the biography of these scholars, see: Harald Motzki, The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence: Meccan Fiqh Before the Classical Schools, trans. Marion H Katz (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 15-16, 72-74.
Harald Motzki, “The Author and His Work in the Islamic literature of the First Centuries: The Case of ‘Abd al Razzāq’s Muṣannaf,” Jerusalem Studies of Arabic and Islam 28 (2003): 166-197.
Muhammad Hamidullah, The Earliest Extant Work on the Hadith: Sahifah Hammam ibn Muhabbih, trans. Muhammad Rahimuddin (Paris: Publications du Centre Cultural Islamique, 1961).
‘Abd al-Razzāq al- Ṣan’āī, al-Muṣannaf, ed. Habib al-‘Azmi, (Beirut: Majlis al-‘Ilmi, 1970-1972).
Harald Motzki, “The Muṣannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-San’ānī as a source of Authentic Ahādīth of the First Century A.H,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 50, no. 1 (1991): 21.