If Hadith had not been Compiled...

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Question:

A large part of Islamic jurisprudence rests not only on the Quran, but also the Hadeeth and Sunnah. However, the Hadeeth and Sunnah were compiled and recorded in an acceptably authentic collection of famous Hadeeth scholars like Imam Malik, Muslim, Bukhari, etc... many years after the prophet's death.

If these men never existed, or their work never done, or if done, later lost, then how could the Muslims living centuries after the prophet have learned the details of important practices like Salah, Fasting, Hajj, Umrah, funerals, etc... or about various laws, which are not mentioned in detail in the Quran?

It seems that an unduly large amount of important and crucial work was left undone in the Prophet's time and completed by people many years later who did it of their own initiative. Why was the Hadeeth and Sunnah not properly recorded during the Prophet's time?

One explanation I have read in this regard is that the Prophet and his companions did not want future Muslims putting too much importance on the Hadeeth and  Sunnah at the cost of ignoring the Quran, and for this reason generally discouraged the formal compilation of the Hadeeth and Sunnah. However, I find this reasoning to be unsound on the grounds that what was a concern then should have remained a concern later during the time when the Hadeeth and Sunnah actually were compiled. However, the compilers, who are considered great scholars of Islam, had no qualms about performing a task that the Prophet's companions refused to undertake.

Where would Islamic norms, practices, laws, and the various rituals stand today if the hadeeth and sunnah were not formally compiled in an acceptably authentic collection so many centuries ago?

Atif Rehman
Pakistan


Answer:

As I have stated in a few of my earlier responses to related questions, none of the essential and basic parts of the corpus of Islam, insofar as its transmission to future generations is concerned, was left dependent upon any academic work that may (or may not) be done by any Muslim scholars, after the death of the Prophet (pbuh).

Each one of the essential practices prescribed by Islam have been transmitted from one generation - as a single unit - to the other. There has neither been any difference in nor any discontinuity of this transmission at any stage starting from the times of the Prophet (pbuh) till the present times. It is this nature of the transmission of each of the prescribed practices of Islam, which I have termed as one based on the consensus of the companions as well as the practical perpetuation of each one of the generations of the Muslims starting from the companions till the present times. These prescribed practices of Islam compose and are entailed in the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). The Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) is transmitted from one generation to the other in exactly the same reliable and authentic manner as the Qur'an and, just like the Qur'an, there is still a consensus of the Muslims on it.

It would be a grave falsehood to believe that the Prophet (pbuh) did not make comprehensive and adequate arrangements for the perpetual transmission of all the essential parts of Islam during his own life.

Thus, in essence, none of the essential elements of the corpus of Islam was dependent on the compilation of Hadith, for its transmission.

Keeping the foregoing clarification in mind, let us now turn to your specific question. You ask:

The compilation of Hadith, per se, was in fact the compilation of the history of the Prophet (pbuh). This compilation was only natural, considering the significance of the Prophet (pbuh). However, the evolution and the development of the science of Hadith took place because of the enormous religious significance of the Prophet (pbuh). Thus, in my opinion, it was as unlikely that Hadith were not compiled after the Prophet (pbuh) as it was for any major incident in history to be not recorded. Nevertheless, as unlikely as it was, assuming that Hadith were actually not compiled after the Prophet (pbuh) we would most certainly have lost a major and the most authentic source of the history of the Prophet (pbuh). Besides this important loss, we would have lost most of the record of the Prophet's as well as his companions' understanding, interpretation, extension and application of the directives of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, whether in his individual capacity or that of the head of the Muslim state. If Hadith were not compiled, we would indeed have lost a considerable and the most authentic and reliable source of information relating to the Prophet (pbuh).

Yet, according to my understanding, we would not have lost any part of the essential directives or practices of Islam, as their transmission was not dependent on the compilation and transmission of Hadith.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Moiz Amjad
January 10, 2003

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