Books of Hadith — Seal of the Prophets Vol. 1

Introduction

In this discourse from The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 1), Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) details the historical events and scholarly insights surrounding Books of Hadith.

Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 1)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra)
Section: I-Early Sources of Sirat & Islamic History
Pages: Book pp. 34–37 (PDF pp. 58–61)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: [Asmm’-ur-Rijal] | Next: [Distinction Between Sunnat and Hadith] »

Historical Account

The knowledge of narration with respect to its types is divided into three categories: 1. Ḥadīth 2. Exegesis 3. Sīrat and History One aspect of the science mentioned last in the above mentioned list is also referred to as Magāzī. In actuality, a Ḥadīth is a compilation of narrations, the primary objective of which, is the preservation of religious principles, even though exegeses and historical facts may find way of inclusion as well. Generally, Aḥādīth are comprised of those narrations the testimony of which, eventually reaches the Holy Prophetsa. In other words the last narrator in the chain states, “I heard the Holy Prophetsa state the following”, or “I saw him performing the following action”, or that “In my presence before the Holy Prophetsa, the following action was performed but he did not prohibit it”. limited to the words and actions of the companions of the Holy Prophetsa alone and according to the phraseology of Ḥadīth, they are referred to as Āthār. There third and fourth century A.H., but all of them are not of equal calibre. This is because all of the Muḥaddithīn did not employ the same stringent standard, nor

and particulars have been mentioned below in brief:

1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī Imām Muḥammad bin Ismā‘īl Bukhārī (194 A.H. to 256 A.H.)

This has been deemed the most authentic of all the books of Ḥadīth. Imām Bukharī selected 4,000 Aḥādīth from a storehouse of 600,000, for his collection. He was greatly vigilant and without a doubt, his standard is second to none and above all the other Muḥaddithīn.

2 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim Imām Muslim bin Al- Ḥajjāj (204 A.H. to 261 A.H.)

The rank of this book is lower than that of Bukharī but supersedes all other books of Ḥadīth. A narration which is supported by both Bukharī and Muslim is referred to as Muttafaq ‘Alaih, and considered the most authentic of Aḥādīth.

3 Jam‘i Tirmidhī Abū ‘Īsā Muḥammad bin ‘Īsā At-Tirmidhī (209 A.H. – 279 A.H.)

Ṣaḥīḥ Bukharī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim along with the next four books inclusively, formulate the Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah. All of these books are considered trustworthy and reputable. The status of these books is more or less equivalent to the order in which they appear in this list.

collection of Ḥadīth with respect to its rank. Imām Mālik is one of the four authorities in jurisprudence.

8 Musnad Imām Abū Ḥanīfah

Imām Nu‘mān bin Thābit Abū Ḥanīfah (80 A.H. – 150 A.H.)

In the field of jurisprudence, he possesses the highest rank among the A’immah-e-Arbi‘āh. He was not a Muḥaddith, nor did he channel his attention in to this direction. However, in order to lay his foundation in jurisprudence, he collected some Aḥādīth.

[The Four Great Leaders in Islāmic Jurisprudence]

9 Musnad Imām Shāf‘ī Imām Muḥammad bin Idrīs Shāf‘ī (105 A.H. – 204 A.H.)

He is also among the A’immahe-Arbi‘āh, of jurisprudence. His book comprises a small collection of Aḥādīth in support of his philosophies of jurisprudence.

10 Musnad Aḥmad Imām Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ḥanbal (161 A.H. – 241 A.H.)

He is also among the A’immah-eArbi‘āh, of jurisprudence, however, his collection of Aḥādīth is extremely impressive, and is probably the largest among the books of Ḥadīth. However, the standard of the authenticity of its narra-tions are not equal to that of the Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah.

14 Mustadrak Ḥākim Abū ‘Abdullāh Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh (321 A.H. – 405 A.H.)

Written by a renowned scholar of Ḥadīth.

15 Various books on Ḥadīth and Sīrat

Aḥmad bin Ḥusain Baihaqī (384 A.H. – 458 A.H.)

Written by a renowned scholar of Ḥadīth.

In addition to the above mentioned Muḥaddithīn, there are some who despite their distant time period, have traced the chain of narrations to the Holy Prophetsa or his companions and have reproduced these Aḥādīth. However, the names of more noteworthy Muḥaddithīn have been included in the following list. The collections of the Muḥaddithīn mentioned last in the above mentioned list possess a great deal of weak and less authentic Aḥādīth, either due to distance in time or lack of caution. Anyhow, it is these very collections of Ḥadīth through which a historian can derive beneficial information of a superlative degree which is pertinent to the biographical history of the Holy Prophetsa and early Islām. Therefore, as mentioned previously, the collections of Ḥadīth are far more authentic and reputable than the narrations of Sīrat and history. Moreover, the narrations of Sīrat hold very little value in comparison to the great books of Ḥadīth, such as Bukharī and Muslim.

[For example, Ibni Ḥabbān, Sa‘īd bin Manṣūr, Ibni Abī Shaibah, ‘Abdur-Razzāq, Abul-‘Alī, Ibni ‘Adī, ‘Uqailī, Khaṭīb Baghdādī, Bazzār, Ibni ‘Asākir, Ibni Abī Ḥāṭim, Ibni Mardawaih, etc, etc. From among these, some are also historians.]

Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 1)
Section: I-Early Sources of Sirat & Islamic History | Navigation: « Previous: [Asmm’-ur-Rijal] | Next: [Distinction Between Sunnat and Hadith] »