Description

An Introduction to the Conservation of Hadith

(In the light of the Sahifah of Hammam ibn Munabbih)

by Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah

Since the middle of the nineteenth century several orientalists had come out with series of works challenging the authenticity of Hadith material. Their starting points were that the major collections of Hadith had been compiled in the 3rd century and that these compilations were based on oral transmission which, in their estimate, provided much scope for misreporting, adding and altering traditions from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Dr Hamidullah discovered some very early collections of ahadith preserved in the libraries of Turkey, France and Germany. On the basis of these collections he refuted the misgivings spread by orientalists, thus paving the way for other scholars to establish definitively the historicity of Hadith material with convincing arguments and wealth of historical evidence. In order to substantiate his thesis about the dual method of transmitting ahadith, written and oral, Dr Hamidullah selected one of earliest collections of Hadith by Hammam ibn Munabbih (d.719/101H), a close disciple of Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet’s companion.

The present work brings into light the text of the earliest extant work and helps to demolish any orientalist misconception about the historicity of Hadith.