In the literature, we encounter varying figures regarding the number of hadiths. For instance, statements such as "The number of hadiths narrated from Abu Hurayrah is 5,374, while those narrated from Aisha is 2,210" illustrate the number of hadiths originating from each Companion (sahabi). Data indicating that Ahmad ibn Hanbal compiled his Musnad by selecting from among 750,000 hadiths, or that Bukhari compiled his Sahih from among 600,000 hadiths, point to the total volume of hadiths gathered by the compilers of hadith literature. The remarkably high figures in these data are striking. On the other hand, when it is stated that the number of hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari is around 7,000, but when repetitions are removed, the remaining number drops to 2,600, this refers to the count of hadiths within a single primary source. Thus, numbers expressed in the hundreds of thousands begin to decrease to the thousands in the primary compilation works. In order to comprehend what the figures given in each of these domains signify, it is essential to understand the methodology of counting hadiths.
Sources that provide information on how many hadiths were narrated by each Companion rely on the Musnad of Baqi ibn Makhlad, an Andalusian hadith scholar who lived in the III/IX. century. Although this work is no longer extant, it is known that the hadiths therein were classified in a dual system: both according to the Companion narrators and according to their subjects. In this method of categorization, each hadith must have been repeated several times throughout the book depending on the variety of topics it addressed. In other words, if a hadith pertained to more than one topic, it would recur in several different places in the sources, thereby increasing the count of narrated hadiths. For this reason, scholars such as Ibn Ḥazm and Ibn al-Jawzi, who cited the number of hadiths narrated from the Companions based on Baqi ibn Makhlad, were actually providing numbers that included repetitions. For example, based on Baqi ibn Makhlad’s Musnad, it is recorded that 65 hadiths were narrated from Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her). However, when repeated narrations by herare excluded from the hadith sources, it becomes evident that she narrated only 24 distinct hadiths.[1] Similarly, while the number of hadiths transmitted from Abu Hurayrah according to Baqi ibn Makhlad’s Musnad is 5,374, this count is determined to be 1,579 non-repeated hadiths in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal. The number of hadiths transmitted from Abu Hurayrah in Sahih al-Bukhari is 1,137, while in Sahih Muslim it is 2,375. Variations in the hadith counts of the Companions in the sources occur depending on the state of repetition.
There is a fundamental point regarding the methodology of counting hadiths: these numbers often do not refer to distinct hadith texts. When counting hadiths whose texts are identical but reach us through multiple chains of transmission, the counting was executed according to the chains, not the texts. We can clarify this situation with an example: Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi (d. 198 AH) stated that 13 hadiths were narrated from al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah regarding wiping over leather socks. In reality, the subject matter of all these hadiths is identical; however, because the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah on this topic reached Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi through 13 separate chains of transmission, he stated that 13 separate hadiths were transmitted on this topic. Therefore, the figures given regarding the number of hadiths do not relate to topics or texts, but rather to the number of transmission chains.
Another circumstance regarding hadith counts must also be highlighted. A single hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) was often reported by numerous Companions. So much so that the number of hadiths narrated solely by Abu Hurayrah, the Companion who transmitted the most hadiths, is determined by some researchers to be 110, and by others to be only 42.[2] Consequently, when every hadith is narrated by many Companions, the narration of each Companion is counted as a separate hadith. For instance, at-tahiyyat was transmitted by Abdullah ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Aisha, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. The narration of each was counted as a distinct hadith, as there are indeed minor textual variations among their reports. Similarly, the hadith "Whoever attributes to me something I did not say, let him prepare his seat in the Hellfire" was reported by more than sixty Companions, according to the findings of some scholars. Among these Companions are Anas ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Masud, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abu Hurayrah. In the succeeding generation, this hadith was narrated by 25 individuals from Anas ibn Malik, 15 from Ali, 14 from Abdullah ibn Masud, and 12 from Abu Hurayrah. Thus, in the tabi’un generation alone, 66 paths (ṭuruq) of the relevant hadith emerged from just these four Companions. Although the topic of all of them is identical, each of these narrations is counted as an individual hadith. A single text transmitted by Anas ibn Malik would be counted in the next generation as 25 hadiths reported from him. Under these circumstances, as generations progressed, the number of hadiths inevitably multiplied. Ultimately, by the III/IX. century, it would not be surprising for a hadith scholar to state that he had compiled 500,000 or 600,000 hadiths. This is because they possessed a vast number of hadiths on the same topic, coming from different Companions, transmitted by various students of each Companion, and originating through diverse chains of transmissions. Especially after the mid-II/VIII. century, due to hadith narrators traveling to numerous regions and gathering different chains of hadith transmission, the number of hadiths increased significantly. The hadith "Actions are judged by intentions" was narrated by more than 300 narrators from Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari (d. 144 AH), a scholar from the younger generation of the tabi'un. Thus, toward the end of the II/VIII. century, it was quite natural for a single hadith scholar to hold dozens of transmission chains for this single hadith alone.
In the III/IX. century, when the primary sources of hadith were compiled, hadith scholars selected the narrations coming through the most reliable chains from among the thousands of hadiths they had gathered with various chains, and recorded them in their compiled works. However, even in a significant portion of the primary hadith sources, hadiths are recorded through multiple different chains. For example, Muslim transmitted the Hadith of Gabriel at the beginning of his Sahih from both Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Hurayrah, including the different chains originating from these two Companions, thereby causing the same narrative to appear as seven separate hadiths in Sahih Muslim. The fact that the total number of hadiths in Sahih Muslim is around 5,300 stems from these repetitions.
Is it possible, then, to provide a definitive figure regarding the total number of hadiths attributed to the Prophet (pbuh)? When considered together with the different transmission paths of the same hadith, the total count of hadiths with repetitions appears to have reached 1.5 million by the III/IX. century. However, it can be stated that the number of unique, non-repeated narrations, including the statements of the sahabi and the tabi’un, does not exceed 30,000. Furthermore, it can be expressed that at most one-third of these narrations are authentic (sahih). Prominent hadith scholars such as Sufyan al-Thawri and Ahmad ibn Hanbal stated that the number of hadiths belonging directly to the Prophet (pbuh) was 4,400. Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi noted that there are 2,000 legal hadiths (hadith al-ahkam). Imam al-Shafi'i, who stated that the core of the sunnah is formed by 500 hadiths, likely stated a topic-based figure. Consequently, when counting is performed on a topic basis, the number of hadiths is small, whereas when it is performed on a textual basis, the number increases. If minor textual differences are taken into account, this count increases further. Finally, when counting is based on narrators and paths of transmission or chains of narration, the numbers of hadiths multiply exponentially.
Footnotes:
1. Regarding this issue, see: Aynur Uraler, Peygamberimizin Hanımı Ümmü Habibe ve Rivayet Ettiği Hadisler, Istanbul: Çamlıca Yayınları, 2017, pp. 51-52.
2. Regarding this issue, see: Rıdvan Yarba, Sünnete Lafzi/Şekli Yaklaşım İddiaları Bağlamında Ebû Hüreyre’nin Sünnet Anlayışı, (Doctoral dissertation), Çukurova University Institute of Social Sciences, Adana 2018, pp. 104-105.
Note: This article constitutes a component of a broad-perspective study conducted by the Meridyen Association, for the benefit of Muslims, particularly in the context of hadith, sunnah and related subjects. The issues addressed were discussed in detail by a group of experts in their respective fields, and each article was written independently by the relevant author. The following researchers were consulted for this study: Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yücel, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Esra Şahyar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma Kızıl, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahile Kızılkaya Yılmaz, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilek Tekin, and Dr. Betül Yılmazörnek.
Translated by Merve Tosun.
