One of the most debated issues concerning hadith is whether anything learned from the Prophet (pbuh) was written down in any form during his lifetime. According to a widespread but mistaken assumption, hadiths were not written down at all during the time of the Prophet and the Companions; rather, they were preserved solely through memorization, transmitted orally from generation to generation, and were not put into writing until at least two or even three centuries after the Prophet deceased. However, numerous reports demonstrating the existence of hadith-writing during the time of the Prophet and the Companions show that this assumption is not correct.
So then, why did this debate arise in the first place? There are two main reasons behind this debate. The first is the existence of certain hadiths that both prohibit and permit the writing of hadiths. The second is that, since the Arabs of that period did not yet have a written culture, they preferred memorization over writing for the preservation and transmission of knowledge, and Arabic script was not yet sufficiently developed.
Let us first address the first reason, namely the existence of seemingly contradictory hadiths regarding the writing of hadiths. For instance, according to a report from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (d. 74 AH), the Prophet forbade the writing of anything other than the Qur’anic verses during his lifetime, and even stated that anything that had been written should be destroyed. [1] On the other hand, according to reports transmitted by many Companions such as Rafi' ibn Khadij (d. 74 AH) and Anas b. Malik (d. 91 AH), the Prophet explicitly permitted the writing of his own words. [2] Furthermore, the fact that the Prophet gave permission to Abdullah b. Amr b. al-As (d. 65 AH) to write down hadiths, [3] and had his speech written down for Abu Shah of Yemen, [4] shows that hadiths began to be written down during this period. The fundamental principles of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, along with the Prophet's general conduct, make it impossible to speak of a continuous prohibition regarding writing. [5] The Prophet himself at times encouraged writing, and he himself made use of writing for religious and political purposes. The famous Treaty of Hudaybiyyah signed with the Meccans, the many letters the Prophet sent to Arab tribes, and most importantly the Constitution of Medina, are the first examples that come to mind. Some Companions, following his example, recorded the hadiths they heard from the Prophet in the form of sahifas (written sheets). By sahifa, one should understand not a single written page but written texts of several pages in volume (treatise, booklet, fascicle), of varying sizes approaching that of a book. Certain studies show that the number of Companions known to have possessed a sahifa, or from whom hadith was taken down in writing, reaches as many as fifty. [6] Among the Companions known to have possessed a sahifa are figures such as Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH), Ali (d. 40 AH), Abdullah b. Mas'ud (d. 31 AH), Abu Hurayrah (d. 58 AH), A'isha (d. 58 AH), Jabir b. Abdillah (d. —), Abdullah b. Amr (d. 63 AH), and Abdullah b. Abbas (d. 68 AH).
In conclusion, when the reports and practices concerning this matter are examined as a whole, it becomes clear that one cannot conclude that hadiths were not written down during the time of the Prophet. The Prophet must have prohibited the writing of hadith specifically to the scribes of revelation and on the same material as Mushaf, in order to prevent it from becoming mixed with the Qur’an.
In order for the reliable preservation of hadiths, the use of writing alongside memorization became increasingly necessary over time. For this reason, hadiths began to be recorded in writing. By the time of the generation following the Companions, namely the Tabi'un, especially toward the end of the first century of the Hijra, it came to be believed that writing was essential, and its use in preserving hadith became widespread. The sahifa of Hammam b. Munabbih, one of those who wrote down hadith during the era of the Tabi'un, is the oldest written hadith document to have survived to our time, and it has been published.
The second reason behind the assumption that hadiths were not written down is that the pre-Islamic Arabs had not yet transitioned to a written culture, and were a society that preferred memory/memorization and oral transmission for the preservation and conveyance of knowledge. Nevertheless, it is known that in city centers such as Mecca or Medina, where writing was used, even if not widespread during the Jahiliyyah period, written contracts were made, and these and important writings were hung inside the Kaaba. However, with Islam, Arab society gradually shifted from an oral culture toward a written one. Indeed, the emphasis placed by both the Qur'an and the Prophet on reading and writing encouraged this process.
Memorization and recollection were never the sole method for the preservation of hadith. Initially, writing was used as an aid to memory. The systematic writing down of hadith for the purpose of preservation, however, took place through tadwin (compilation). Tadwin, which began toward the end of the first century of the Hijra by the order of Umar b. Abdulaziz, is the activity of collecting hadith texts that had previously been written or had already been put into writing, in addition to committing to writing those reports that had not yet been recorded.
As for the question of how the Sunnah and hadith were transmitted/taught to subsequent generations starting from the Companions, given the conditions of that period, writing alone was not as reliable a means as memory. First of all, the development of writing had not yet reached the necessary level. Arabic script in its early period still lacked the dots and diacritical marks (harakat) needed for accurate reading and comprehension. Using such a written text directly without memorization or hearing it from someone would be very difficult, even impossible in some cases, for the user to read and understand it accurately, regardless of their level of expertise. More important than this in terms of reliability was the matter of the preservation of the written text. In a handwritten manuscript, which was most often a single copy, various additions, omissions, or alterations by others for various purposes were always possible and easy if the owner did not seriously protect them. Having also memorized the written text, however, or having heard it directly from the mouth of someone who knew it, would have been sufficient to eliminate these dangers. This is precisely why, when it came to the transmission of reports that were well preserved both in writing and through memorization, the necessity of learning by hearing became an indispensable method of the science of hadith.
Footnotes:
1- It is narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Prophet said: "Do not write anything from me except the Qur'an. Whoever has written anything from me other than the Qur'an should erase it." Muslim, “Zuhd,” 72; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, III, 12, 21, 39, 56; Darimi, “Muqaddimah,” 42.
2- al-Baghdadi, Taqyid al-'Ilm, pp. 81-83, 86.
3- The most well-known report regarding the Prophet's permission to write down hadith is the one related to Abdullah b. Amr as he narrated: “I used to write down everything I heard from the Messenger of Allah in order to memorize it. The Quraysh tried to prevent me from writing, saying, 'He speaks only when he is angry or happy, but you are writing down everything you hear from him.’ So I stopped writing. I told the Prophet about this matter, and he said, ‘Write it down. I swear by Allah, in whose hand is my soul, that nothing but the truth comes out of my mouth.’” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, II, 162, 192; Abu Dawud, ‘Ilm, 3; Darimi, “Muqaddimah,” 43.
4- Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, II, 238; Bukhari, ‘Ilm, 39) Tirmidhi, 'Ilm, 12.
5- "O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. Let a scribe write it down between you in justice. No scribe should refuse to write as God has taught him; so let him write. Let the one who owes the debt dictate."
6- Muhammed Mustafa el-Azamî 50 sahabinin hadis yazdığını tespit ederek, bu sahâbîlerin ve onlardan hadis yazanların isimlerini kaydetmiştir. Bu sahâbîlerin kimler olduğunu görmek için bakınız Azamî, İlk Devir Hadis Edebiyatı, İz Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 1993, s. 34-57.
6- Muhammad Mustafa al-A'zami identified 50 Companions who wrote down hadith, and recorded the names of these Companions and those who wrote down hadith from them. To see who these Companions were, see al-A'zami, İlk Devir Hadis Edebiyatı, İz Yayıncılık, Istanbul, 1993, pp. 34-57.
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.
