Chapter 5.15 - Mohammed Pbuh

1. Narrated Muslim in his Sahih from the Hadith of AbiSa‘īd al-Khidri that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Do not write down anything from me, and he who wrote down anything from me except the Qur’an, he should erase it. But, narrate from me, for there is nothing wrong in doing so. Whoever attributes any falsehood to me – Hammām said: I think he also said ‘deliberately’ – let him occupy his seat in Hellfire.”)
2. The meaning of the Hadith is: The Prophet, peace be upon him, forbade people from writing his Aheedth and whatever he told them about, but he excluded the Noble Quran, permitting people to write it down.
3. In some Ahadeeth the Prophet, peace be upon him, permitted some of the Companions to write down his Ahadeeth, so the scholars have different opinions regarding the meaning of the prohibition that had several aspects, including:
   • The prohibition was at the beginning of the mission and the Islamic era, then when the Qur’an and Islam started to be established firmly, the Prophet, peace be upon him, authorized writing His Ahadeeth. Narrated Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn al-‘As: I used to write everything which I heard from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I intended (by it) to memorize it. The Quraysh prohibited me saying: Do you write everything that you hear from him while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is a human being: he speaks in anger and pleasure? So I stopped writing, and mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He signaled with his finger to his mouth and said: Write, by Him in Whose hand my soul lies, only right comes out from it.”
   • Because of this hadith, some scholars said that the prohibition was only for writing the Qur’an along with the Hadith on the same record, which might have confused the reader.
4. What is certain is that much of the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was written down during the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him, as was written down by Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas. Also, sheets were found with the names of the noble Companions written down by their hands, such as Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas, and Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them all. Furthermore, some sound Ahadeeth were written down from whatever Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, had memorized, and it is called the authenticated record, Moreover, other records such as the ones of Jabir bin Abdullah Al-Ansari and Abi Musa Al-Ash’ari were written down by the honorable Companions during the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
5. Undoubtedly, the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was not written down during the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him, with all its details, for the above-mentioned reasons. However, one should remember that the Arabs relied on their memory in transmitting poems, speeches, stories, lineages, and so on. They are known for their good memory and great ability of memorization. They relied on their good memory in transmitting the Ahadeeth of the Messenger of, peace be upon him.
6. The aforementioned Hadith narrated by Abi Sa‘īd al-Khidri, “…But, narrate from me, for there is nothing wrong in doing so. Whoever attributes any falsehood to me – Hammām said: I think he also said ‘deliberately’ – let him occupy his seat in Hellfire”, refers to the dependence of the Companions on their memorization in narration, so how would someone have narrated the Hadith had he not depended on his ability to memorize? So how would anyone that there are lies in the Ahadeeth of the Prophet during the process of narration and transmitting since they were narrated by the people who were known for their good memory on which they depend in narrating poetry, lineages, stories, and the like?
7. Had the Prophet, peace be upon him, believed that the memory of his Companions were poor, he would not have asked them to write down his Ahadeeth, given the Sunnah explains the Qur’an, clarifies its meanings, and goes into the details of the things mentioned in general. Accordingly, the prohibition of writing down the Sunnah at that time contradicts logic and wisdom, because Allah the Almighty said to His Prophet, peace be upon him: “…so that you may explain to people what has been revealed”. [An-Nahl: 16-44]. So, how would he explain something to them then leave it to be forgotten?! How would he even forbid them to make use of the available means to keep that explanation?!! This is what the mind never accepts to attribute to a great leader who is successful in his leadership, so how about attributing it to the Prophet, peace be upon him, who led such a great civilization that spread all over the farthest countries of the East and the farthest countries of the West!!

In conclusion: All Sunnah was kept in the hearts of the honorable Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, before the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and some of the Sunnah was written down during his life, peace be upon him.