New Age Islam

Islamic Ideology

Chronological Development of the Concept of An Authentic Hadith in Relation to the Concept of Sunna during the First Four generations of Muslims

by Dr. Adis Duderija, NewAgeIslam.com

There is nothing against the assumption that the Companions and disciples wished to keep Prophet’s sayings and rulings from being forgotten by reducing them in writing” and that “it can be assumed that the writing down of Ḥadith was a very ancient method of preserving it. At the time of the Prophet, writing down the Ḥadith, however, was rather a random and individualised undertaking. The number of Ḥadith must have been rather limited, for Rahman writes, “the only need for which it [Ḥadith] would be used was the guidance in the actual practice of the Muslims and this need was fulfilled by the Prophet himself.”...

http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/dr.-adis-duderija,-newageislam.com/chronological-development-of-the-concept-of-an-authentic-hadith-in-relation-to-the-concept-of-sunna-during-the-first-four-generations-of-muslims/d/6660