Did the Prophet (PBUH) Forbid His Companions From Writing His Sayings?
ما حقيقة منع النبي ﷺ لأصحابه من تدوين سنته في حياته؟
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.”)
The meaning of the Hadith is: The Prophet, peace be upon him, forbade people from writing his Ahadeeth and whatever he told them about, but he excluded the Noble Quran, permitting people to write it down.
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.
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 Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari were written down by the honorable Companions.
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.
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 could anyone claim that lies entered 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?
Had the Prophet, peace be upon him, believed that the memory of his Companions was poor, he would not have forbidden them from writing down his Ahadeeth, given the Sunnah explains the Qur’an, clarifies its meanings, and goes into the details of the things mentioned in general. Otherwise, prohibiting the writing down of the Sunnah would have contradicted 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.
روى مسلم في صحيحه من حديث أبي سعيد الخدري أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: ” لا تَكْتُبُوا عَنِّي، ومَن كَتَبَ عَنِّي غيرَ القُرْآنِ فَلْيَمْحُهُ، وحَدِّثُوا عَنِّي، ولا حَرَجَ، ومَن كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ”.
معنى الحديث: أن النبي ﷺ نهى عن كتابة حديثه وما يخبر به، واسْتَثْنى مِما تجوز كتابته القرآن الكريم، أما ما دونه فإنه لا يكتب ويأمر بمحوه ومسحه.
ولما كانت هناك أحاديث تأمر بالكتابة وتأذن لبعض الصحابة في كتابة شيء من حديثه ﷺ اختلف العلماء في معنى النهي الوارد على عدة أوجه ومن ذلك:
إنَّ النهي كان في أوَّلِ البعثة وأول الإسلام، ثم لما استقر أمر القرآن والإسلام أذن النبي ﷺ بالكتابة كما قال عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص-رَضِيَ اللهُ عنهما-: ” كنتُ أكتُبُ كلَّ شيءٍ أسمَعُهُ مِن رسولِ اللهِ ﷺ أُريدُ حِفْظَهُ، فنهَتْني قريشٌ، وقالوا: أتكتُبُ كلَّ شيءٍ تسمَعُهُ ورسولُ اللهِ ﷺ بشَرٌ يتكلَّمُ في الغضبِ والرِّضا؟! فأمسَكْتُ عَنِ الكِتابِ، فذكَرْتُ ذلك لرسولِ اللهِ ﷺ فأَوْمأَ بإِصْبَعِهِ إلى فِيهِ، فقال: اكتُبْ؛ فوالذي نفْسي بيدِهِ، ما يخرُجُ منه إلَّا حقٌّ”.
ومن أجل ذلك الحديث ذهب بعض العلماء إلى أن النهي إنما كان عن أن يكتب القرآن مع الحديث في صَحيفةٍ واحدَةٍ؛ فذلك يؤدي للاختلاط والاشتباه على القارئ.
الأمر المتيقن أن السنة النبوية قد دون كثير منها في حياة النبي ﷺ كما كان يدونه عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص، وقد وجدت صحائف بأسماء الصحابة الكرام دونوها بأيديهم مثل عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص، وعلي بن أبي طالب-رضي الله عنهم أجمعين-، كما دونت بعض الصحيفة الصحيحة-مثلا-عن حفظ أبي هريرة-رضي الله عنه-، وتسمى الصحيفة الصحيحة، ودونت صحيفة جابر بن عبد الله الأنصاري، وصحيفة أبي موسى الأشعري، وقد دُوّن بعض هذه الصحف في حياة النبي ﷺ وبعضها بعد وفاته.
الذي لا شك فيه أن السنة النبوية لم تدون في حياة النبي ﷺ باستقصاء كامل، وإنما كان التدوين شخصيًّا-للأسباب التي سبق ذكرها-، ولكن الذي لا بد من الالتفات إليه أن العرب كانوا يعتمدون على ذاكرتهم في نقل الأشعار والخطب والقصص والأنساب ونحو ذلك، فهم معروفون بقوة الذاكرة وسرعة الحفظ، ومثل ذلك الاعتماد على الذاكرة في نقل حديث رسول الله ﷺ.
حديث أبي سعيد الخدري المتقدم: ” وحَدِّثُوا عَنِّي، ولا حَرَجَ، ومَن كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ” يشير إلى اعتماد الصحابة على الحفظ في الرواية، فكيف ستحصل الرواية عنه إلا من خلال الحفظ؟ وكيف يحذر من الكذب عليه إلا والناس تروي خبره من ذاكرتهم التي رووا من خلالها الأشعار والأنساب والقصص ونحو ذلك؟
لو تصور أن ذاكرتهم ضعيفة عن تحمل سنة النبي ﷺ ونقلها، لم يكن ﷺ لينهاهم عن تدوين السنة؛ لأن السنة تشرح القرآن وتوضح معانيه وتفصل مجمله، فيكون النهي عن تدوين السنة حينئذٍ مجانبًا للصواب، مخالفًا للحكمة؛ لأن الله قال لنبيه ﷺ: “لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ”، فكيف يبين لهم شيء ويتركه يضيع من بين أيديهم؟! بل وينهاهم عن اتخاذ الأسباب التي تحفظ ذلك البيان، هذا مما لا يقبله العقل أن ينسب لقائد اعتيادي ناجح في قيادته، فكيف بنسبته للنبي ﷺ، وهو الذي قاد تلك الحضارة العظيمة التي وصلت أقصى بلاد المشرق وأقصى بلاد المغرب!!
والخلاصة: إن كل السنة قد حفظت في صدور الصحابة الكرام-رضي الله عنهم- قبل وفاته ﷺ، ومن السنة ما دون في حياة النبي ﷺ، وباقي السنة دونت من حفظ الصحابة الحفاظ-رضي الله عنهم- بعد وفاته ﷺ.
1. The Hadith of Prohibition in Sahih Muslim | نص حديث النهي في صحيح مسلم وسياقه
In Sahih Muslim, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet said: "Do not write down anything from me, and whoever has written anything from me other than the Quran, let him erase it; and narrate from me, and there is no harm." Many scholars hold that this statement belongs to the early phase of the prophetic mission.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ (سورة الحجر: 9)
روى مسلم عن أبي سعيد الخدري أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: "لا تكتبوا عني، ومن كتب عني غير القرآن فليمحه، وحدثوا عني ولا حرج". وكان هذا التوجيه حاسماً في صدر الإسلام لتركيز جهود الأمة على كتابة وحفظ القرآن الكريم وحده.
2. The Core Wisdom: Preserving the Quranic Text | الحكمة التشريعية: حماية القرآن من الاختلاط واللبس
Hadith scholars and historians explain that writing materials were scarce in Arabia, and companions often recorded text on palm leaves and bones. Prohibiting the recording of hadith on the same surfaces prevented any inadvertent confusion between Allah's direct speech and the Prophet's explanatory words.
لَّا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ (سورة فصلت: 42)
أوضح المحققون أن أدوات الكتابة كانت نادرة آنذاك؛ فخشي النبي ﷺ أن يكتب الصحابي الحديث بجوار الآية في صحيفة واحدة فيلتبس كلام الله بكلام رسوله على الأجيال اللاحقة، فأراد توجيه كل طاقات التدوين لضبط القرآن.
3. Explicit Permission and Abrogation in Later Stages | نسخ النهي والإذن الصريح بالكتابة لاحقاً
Once the Quran was fully committed to memory and officially recorded by designated scribes, the initial restriction was lifted, according to many scholars. When Abu Shah requested a copy of the Conquest sermon, the Prophet commanded: "Write for Abu Shah." Similarly, he instructed Abdullah ibn Amr: "Write, for by Him in Whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it except truth."
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا (سورة الحشر: 7)
حين تمكن الصحابة من حفظ القرآن وميزوا أسلوبه الإعجازي، رخّص النبي ﷺ في كتابة الحديث ونسخ النهي؛ فقال في خطبة فتح مكة: "اكتبوا لأبي شاه"، وقال لعبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص: "اكتب، فوالذي نفسي بيده ما خرج منه إلا حق".
4. Written Hadith Collections During the Prophetic Lifetime | صحف الصحابة المدونة في العهد النبوي
Numerous companions compiled personal written collections (Suhuf) during the Prophet's life with his explicit blessing. Foremost among them was the "Sahifah As-Sadiqah" of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas, which contained a large number of traditions written directly from the Prophet's mouth.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ (سورة البقرة: 282)
دون عدد من الصحابة سنن النبي ﷺ في حياته وبإقراره؛ فاشتهرت "الصحيفة الصادقة" لعبد الله بن عمرو التي ضمت مئات الأحاديث، وصحيفة علي بن أبي طالب في الديات، وكتب النبي ورسائله للملوك والولاة التي اشتملت على أحكام الزكاة والفرائض.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Why did the Prophet initially forbid writing down his hadiths?
To ensure that the newly revealed Quran would not be accidentally mixed with prophetic explanations on the same manuscripts.
Did the prohibition against writing hadith remain permanent?
No, according to many scholars it was later lifted once the Quran was thoroughly memorized and transcribed by appointed scribes.
What did the Prophet say when Abu Shah requested a copy of his speech?
The Prophet instructed his companions: "Write for Abu Shah."
What was the Sahifah As-Sadiqah?
It was an authoritative collection of hadiths recorded by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas directly from the Prophet with his explicit permission.