It is not correct to conclude that some of the rulers, such as Hadrat Abu Bakr and Hadrat ‘Umar, did not trust hadiths or hadith narrators. It is known that Hulefâ-yi Râshidîn used hadith in many matters that they could not find the solution in the Qur’an, and even consulted with the Companions to determine whether there were hadiths that would provide solutions to the problems that arose (Bukhârî, “Ṭıb”, 30; Muslim, “Salām”, 98; Abū Dāwūd, “Farāʾiż”, 5; Tirmidhī, “Ṭalāḳ”, 23; Dārimī, “Muḳaddima”, 20). The meticulousness of the early caliphs in the narration of hadith may have stemmed from a concern that by concentrating on the narration based on memory, they might neglect to reflect sufficiently on the issues contained in the narration. The same concern may have been behind ‘Umar’s reminder to his men sent to Iraq that the people there were new Muslims and therefore could not yet read the Qurʾān correctly, and his admonition to them to narrate enough hadīth to meet their needs in important matters and to avoid too much (Ibn Māja, “Muḳaddime,” 3; Dārimī, “Muḳaddime,” 28). It is not possible to think that Hazrat ‘Umar, who advised learning hadīth and sunnah like learning the Qurʾān (Dārimī, “Ferāʾiż,” 1) and ordered Qāḍī Shurayh to consult the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah for a matter whose solution he could not find in the Qurʾān (Dārimī, “Muḳaddime,” 20), was against the narration of hadīths. One of the reasons he forced the Companions to narrate fewer hadiths was that he wanted to encourage them to be as meticulous as possible in their narration.

Some of the Companions were concerned that narrating too many hadiths might lead to errors in the hadith texts, such as redundancy or deficiency, and thus false words would be attributed to the Prophet. In fact, the hadith that states that narrating everything one hears can make one a liar (Muslim, “Muḳaddimah”, 5) led them to be cautious in this regard and to narrate fewer hadiths. Indeed, the first four caliphs and the Companions such as Zubayr b. Awwām, Abū Ubaydah b. Jarāḥ, Zayd b. Erkam, and ‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar were extremely cautious in this regard and paid attention to narrating hadīths verbatim. In addition to being cautious in narrating hadiths, they were also influenced by verses and hadiths condemning those who withhold their knowledge from others (al-Baqarah 2/159-160, 174-176; al-Bukhārī, “ʿIlm”, 42; Ibn Mājah, “Muḳaddime”, 24; Musnad, II, 296, 499, 508). Companions such as Ā’ishah, Anas b. Mālik, ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ūd, Abū Saīd al-Khudrī and Abū Hurayrah were more relaxed in this regard and did not object to the narration of hadiths with the meaning (see also RIVAYET).

Although the Muslims of the Prophet’s time took into account that mistakes could be made in the narration of hadiths due to error or forgetfulness, they did not think that the Companions could lie. The hypocrites, who feared that “a sûrah would be revealed to them that would inform them of what was in their hearts” (al-Tawbah 9/64), also hesitated to attribute to the Messenger of Allah something he had not said. After the Prophet’s death, the Hulefāʾ-yi Rāshidīn and the prominent Companions, who felt the need to be more rigorous in the acceptance of hadīths, asked those who narrated a hadīth that they had not heard from the Messenger of Allah either to bring a witness who had heard it from the Messenger of Allah (al-Bukhārī, “Istiʾẕān,” 13, “Iʿtiṣām,” 13), as did Hadrat ‘Umar, or to bring a witness who had heard it from the Messenger of Allah (al-Bukhārī, “Istiʾẕān,” 13, “Iʿtiṣām,” 13), as did Hadrat ‘Ali. He made them swear that they had heard the hadith from the Prophet (Musnad, I, 2, 10), or he checked the hadith by asking them again after a long time to see whether the narrator had learnt it well, as was done by ʿA’isha (Muslim, “ʿIlm,” 14).

Abū Bakr burned 500 hadiths that he had collected and written down from the Companions who had heard them from the Messenger of Allah out of concern that a mistake might have been made in the narration (al-Zaḥabī, Taẕkirat al-ḥuffāẓ, p. 5). ‘Umar’s abandonment of the idea of writing down the hadiths after consulting with the prominent Companions for a month was also based on his concern that this might lead to the neglect of the Qurʾān (al-Khatīb, Taḳyīd al-ʿilm, pp. 50-51). It would have been out of the question for the first two caliphs and other prominent Companions to attempt a task forbidden by the Messenger of Allah.

The reasons that justified those who thought of collecting the hadiths in a book intensified over time. The increasing number of conquests from the time of Caliph ‘Umar, the death of the Companions who knew the hadiths, and the departure of many Companions from Medina after the death of Hazrat ‘Umar, who did not find it right for the Companions to leave Medina, and the Caliph ‘Uthman did not prevent this, made it necessary to take measures in this regard. The fact that malicious people from the people of the newly conquered countries attempted to corrupt the religion, especially after the martyrdom of the last two caliphs, made it necessary to record and protect the hadiths in writing, and many of those who were initially opposed to this work later became supporters of it, and the students of the well-known Companions attached such importance to this issue that they wrote on their clothes, on the backs of saddles, and even on walls when they could not find paper to record what they heard from them (Dārimī, “Muḳaddimah”, 43). Thus, hadiths were saved from being lost by the efforts of zealous individuals who considered narrating them a form of worship. According to one estimate, in the first century of the Hijrah, the number of Companions who dictated hadith to their students from the tābiʿīn reached fifty (M. Mustafa al-Aʿẓamī, Hadith Literature of the First Period, pp. 34-58).

The tābiīs who were engaged in narrating hadith were much more numerous than the Companions. Among them are Saīd b. Musayyeb, who risked travelling for days for a hadīth, Saīd b. Jubayr and Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, who were known for recording the narrations they heard immediately. The fact that there were many among the Talibites who were initially against the writing down of hadiths, but later gave up this idea and regretted not writing down the hadiths from the early stages of their lives, reveals that the writing down of hadiths was highly appreciated in this generation.

This article was included in the 15th volume of the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam, published in Istanbul in 1997, on pages 27-64.