Hadeeths (or commonly referred to as ahadeeth is plural for hadeeth) are the sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Historically, hadeeths were not written down during the time of the Prophet so as to not mix it with the Qur’an, which was being written at that time.  However, the Companions of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) used to take great care in memorizing the hadeeths. Anas ibn Malik (RA) said that they used to sit with the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and listen to him. Once the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) left, they used to memorize and review what they learned. Abu Huraira (RA), who, incidentally, spent much of his time with the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), used to split his night into three portions: first to review all the hadeeth he learnt that day, second to sleep and the third for qiyam-ul-layl.

As for the writing of hadeeths it started during the life of the Prophet and reached its peak during the early half of the third century A.H.

In Musnad Ahmad 6510 the Prophet  was asked by Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-’As if he should write everything the Prophet says, and he replied: “Write (everything), for by Him in whose hands is my soul, nothing comes out of me but the truth.”

In addition, the Companions actions were based on the sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), which the next generation saw and learned from. They taught the next generation from what they learned from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) resulting in the hadeeths being transformed. Each generation would memorize the hadeeths and transfer them to the next (orally and in writing). By the second half of the third century almost all the hadeeths were documented in writing.

When some hadeeths became susceptible to corruption, the Science of Hadeeth was developed by the scholars. Authentic hadeeths were sorted out from the non- authentic ones through a method of verification of reports known in the history to be unique only to Islam. That is unlike all other religions which did not have a systematic method for veracity, or a verifiable chain of narrators. In fact many of the books of the Bible, itself, have unknown authors.

You can learn more about some of the great scholars who compiled hadeeth by clicking here.

To learn more about hadeeth: click here