Studies in Early Hadith Literature.

by Muhammad Mustafa al-ʿAzami

Studies In Early Hadith Literature by M. M. Azami Ahadith are the repository of the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (S), which is the second principal source of Islamic legislation. Thus, literature on the nature and science of ahadith is the richest source of study and investigation of early Islamic history. It provides material for an understanding of the legal, cultural and religious ideas of this period. This book contains a survey of the literary activities in pre-Islamic Arabia, and of the early days of Islam in the region. Then follows a discussion of whether or not the recording of the ahadith was permitted by the Prophet (S), to be proceeded by a comprehensive survey of pre-classical Hadith literature. This book is an excellent source of in-depth study of the role of ahadith in the first years of Islam. It includes information on thousands of books circulating among scholars in the pre-classical period.

Genres: Islam, History, Religion, Nonfiction

526 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Muhammad Mustafa al-ʿAzami, a leading contemporary hadith scholar recognized for his critique of Orientalist studies of hadith, was born in India in 1932 and educated at Darul Uloom Deoband. He went on to study at Al-Azhar University (M.A., 1955) and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D., 1966). He is Professor Emeritus at King Saud University in Riyadh and chaired its Department of Islamic Studies. In 1980, he was the recipient of the prestigious King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies. He has also served as curator of the National Public Library, Qatar, and acted as Visiting Scholar, Fellow, and Professor respectively at numerous institutes, including Umm al-Qura University, Princeton University, and St. Cross College at the University of Oxford. His publications include Studies in Early Hadith Literature, Hadith Methodology and Literature, On Schacht's Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence, Dirasat fiʾl Hadith an-Nabawi, Manhaj an-Naqd ʿind al-Muhaddithin, and Al-Muhaddithun min al-Yamamah. He has also edited Al-ʿIlal of Ibn al-Madīnī, Kitab at-Tamryiz of Imam Muslim, Maghazi Rasul Allah of Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik, the Sahih of Ibn Khuzaymah, and the Sunan of Ibn Majah.

Reviews

[Abū'l-Layth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book, leaves a huge dent on the orientalist arguments over the reliability of hadith sciences.

[Muhammad Fadel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly not an easy book to read. In fact, I saw in one article that this book was classified as "Advanced" literature of hadith field.

Dr Azami is known in Hadith field as someone who wrote very early about Hadith development in the Early muslim period (Companion and Successor). This work in fact, is said to counter works of several European Historian, such as Joseph Schacht and Ignac Goldizher.

This book is rich in sources familiar to Islamic tradition which provide a very strong rebuttal to Schacht and Goldizher conclusions over many aspects of Hadiths, such as when Hadith is first wrote, and the reliability of Isnads.

Even more amazing, Dr Azami wrote an exhaustive list of companion who wrote hadith and and their related work/Kitab. In the Indonesian version that I read, it took up ~200 pages alone! Well, for general reader who have little use to know about that you can skip it, but it would be very useful for the academics or experts on that subject.

On the not-so-bright side, this book is quite dry (which can be understood as this was the doctoral thesis of Dr Azami). This book is perfect if you wanted to get a deeper understanding particularly on the debate of the early orientalist over the authenticity and reliability of hadith from the Islamic tradition perspective.

If you are looking into a more general intro to Hadith studies, check out "Hadith" from Dr Jonathan Brown. Amazing book, and Dr Brown have an entertaining writing style.

[Guntar Ramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secara umum buku ini membahas permasalahan yang diutarakan oleh para orientalis dalam klaim mereka bahwa penulisan hadits nabi belum dimulai di zaman Nabi. Klaim tsb. mereka dasarkan pada terdapatnya hadits-hadits yg ditulis tanpa sanad atai rantai periwayatan hadits didalam beberapa kitab fikih. Buku ini merupakan terjemahan dari kitabnya yg berbahasa Arab yang ternyata diterbitkan menjadi 2 jilid besar, sedangkan terjemahan ini diterjemahkan oleh murid langsung beliau, Prof. Ali M. Yakub. Asal mula dari buku ini adalah disertasi beliau di Universitas Cambridge dibawah bimbingan Prof. A.J.Arberry. Prof. A.J.Arberry sendiri merupakan salah satu orientalis terkemuka di zamannya. Secara umum buku ini sangat bagus bila dibaca bagi mereka yang suka membaca laporan penelitian karena memang asal mula buku ini adalah disertasi doktor sehingga bahasa dan sistematika penulisan sangat ilmiah. Buku ini juga patut ditelaah oleh mereka yang konses mendalami masalah pemikiran terutama dalam bidang turots Islam dan pemikiran Barat. Pendapat saya pribadi buku ini tidak dianjurkan untuk dibaca oleh orang awam. WaAllahua'lam.

[ARHAM MOIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book in the academic sense on the subject matter of the historical nature of hadith (Sayings and actions of The Prophet (saw)), their collection, transmission, the culture and the methods used at the time for transmission, as well as to understand how its authenticity was guaranteed.

It uses huge lists of transmitters and books of hadith to be able to give the reader a sense of his arguments and to enable the reader to appreciate what historians mean when they talk about multiple authentic transmitters of hadith being present.

He explains and criticizes the theories proposed by many orientalists about the hadith using clear arguments and evidences. It is a great book, albeit very deep, requiring a lot of mental gymnastics. One important thing is that while the depth of this book is immense, for somebody totally new to this subject, he may not be fully capable of understanding all the aspects of isnad, matan, and hadith and would require quite some supplementary information to protect themselves from spurious ideas

[Muhammad Imran Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Azami does a great job of dispelling the wrong and misleading inferences of the orientalists owing to their poor grasp of Hadith methodology and Arabic vernacular as well as their covert and sometimes overt biasness. It is Dr Azami's PhD thesis, so understandably a lot of references, which at times becomes cumbersome for the average reader, but I guarantee if you wade through that sea of names of narrators and references, you will surely find pearls of wisdom

[Haris Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

In his works, Azami raises some good points here and there. But overall, his works are highly polemical and apologetic, with hardly any attempt at objectivity. So, it’s not a surprise his works are not taken too seriously by critical scholars.

[Aulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Teguh Bud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exicited

[Khizar Junaid]

Mentioned by Hamzah Karamali as being a great counter to atheism and Islamic objection in Kalam 3.0 video with Dr. Shadee.

[Yusuf Ks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Di dalam buku ini syaikh Muhammad Mustafa Al-Azami membahas dengan sangat lengkap dan jelas sejarah penulisan dan penyusunan hadits sejak zaman dahulu (zaman Nabi dan shahabat) hingga tersusunnya kitab-kitab hadits, serta berisi bantahan yang gamblang terhadap pihak (terutama orientalis) yang meragukan originitas dan validitas hadits.

Detil pembahasannya terbagi menjadi beberapa bab :
1. Pengertian dan kedudukan sunnah dalam Islam
Bab awal yang bagus yang membahas tentang pengertian hadits/sunnah, serta kedudukannya di dalam Islam. Selain itu, pada bab ini juga dibahas tentang inkarussunnah pada zaman dahulu dan sekarang.

2. Kegiatan tulis menulis di jazirah Arab pada masa Jahiliyah dan Permulaan Islam
Bab yang bagus tentang sejarah tulis menulis di jazirah Arab pada zaman dahulu.

3. Sekitar penulisan hadits Nabawi
Bab yang bagus yang berisikan seputar penulisan hadits seperti tentang sikap Nabi Muhammad Shallallahu Alaihi Wasallam terhadap penulisan hadits, juga tentang pendapat para ulama tentang penulisan hadits.

4. Penulisan hadits sejak masa Nabi sampai kira-kira abad kedua Hijriyah
Inilah bab yang sangat panjang pembahasannya dalam buku ini, kira-kira sekitar 170-an lembar. Bab ini berisikan sejarah penulisan hadits Nabi, juga disertai tentang biografi singkat tentang para rawi dari masa Shahabat, Tabi'in, dan Tabi'ut Tabi'in. Mungkin pada bab ini juga bisa dikatakan sebagai rangkuman biografi rawi hadits yang ada pada kitab seperti Ath-Thabaqat.

5. Penyebaran hadits
Bab yang bagus yang berisikan tentang cara penyebaran hadits dari satu rawi ke rawi yang lain.

6. Kitab hadits
Bab yang membahas tentang kitab hadits, termasuk tentang media kitab yang digunakan (kertas, dsj), metode penulisan, bentuk kitab, dan lain-lain.

7. Isnad (pemakaian sanad)
Bab yang menjelaskan tentang sanad dan sejarah penggunaannya. Juga membahas tentang pendapat yang dilontarkan orientalis tentang sanad serta bantahan terhadap pendapat tersebut.

8.Hadits Nabawi dan Otentitasnya
Ada orientalis yang menganggap hadits nabawi itu tidak otentik, pada bab terakhir ini syaikh membantah pendapat orientalis tersebut dan membuktikan tentang keotentikan dan validitas hadits Nabawi

Subhanallah, pembahasan yang detil dan jelas sekali! Tapi tunggu dulu, masih ada bagian lampiran yang memuat tentan perbedaan "akhbaranaa" dengan "hadatstsanaa", Cara menghitung hadits, dan beberapa naskah hadits zaman dahulu. Lampiran tersebut, terutama pembahasan perbedaan dan cara menghitung hadits, adalah pembahasan yang sangat bagus yang dapat menambah wawasan kita tentang ilmu hadits.

Nilai akhir : Lima bintang

Sangat disarankan untuk umumnya kaum Muslimin supaya lebih memahami tentang pengertian dan sejarah kodifikasi hadits serta dapat memperyakin tentang keotentikan&validitas hadits Nabawi, dan lebih terkhusus untuk yang sedang mempelajari ilmu hadits.

[semut2 revolusi · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Studies In Early Hadith Literature’ yang diterjemahkan oleh Ali Musthafa Yaqub dengan judul ‘Hadis Nabawi dan Sejarah Kodifikasinya " >

[Tanweer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but can be dry for some readers