Gabaɗaya, an yi amfani da hanyoyi uku wajen adana ḥadīth:

Generally, three methods were used to preserved úódõth:

Hanyar farko ita ce haddacewa. Larabawa sun shahara da ƙwarewa wajen tuna abubuwa, musamman ikon haddace dogayen waƙoƙi tare da tarihin rayuwar mawallafansu. Suna iya tuna dogayen jerin sunayen kakannin mawaƙa da kuma asalin nasabarsu. Ba wannan kaɗai ba, Larabawa sun kuma haddace nasabar dawakansu, har ma da salon tafiyar dawakan. Don haka, dubban sunaye suna kan harshensu, kuma ta hanyar albarkar hadisai, Allah سبحانه وتعالى ya ƙara musu ƙwarewa a fasahar haddace.

The first method was memorization. The Arabs were renowned for their memories, particularly their ability to memorize long poems along with the biographies of their authors. They could recollect long lists of the names of poets’ forefathers and their lineages. Not only that, the Arabs also memorized the lineage of their horses, even the horse’s gaits. Thus, thousands of names were at the tip of their tongues, and through the blessings of the ahadith Allah سبحانه وتعالى added to their proficiency in the art of memorization.

Wannan hanya mai sauƙi ta adana hadisi ba za a iya yin watsi da ita ba, musamman idan manyan malamai irin su Imam Bukhari sun rubuta lamura kamar na Marwan, waɗanda ke nuna ƙwaƙwalwar Larabawa mai ban mamaki. Marwan shi ne gwamnan Damascus na farko, kuma shi ne sarkin farko na daular Umayyawa.

This simple method of preserving hadith cannot be ignored, especially when eminent personalities like Imam Bukhari have recorded incidents such as that of Marwan, which illustrate the extraordinary memory of the Arabs. Marwan was the first governor of Damascus and also the first emir of the Umayyad Dynasty.

Sakatarensa, Abu al-Za‘za, ya ba da labari cewa a wani lokaci Marwan ya kira babban Sahabi Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه zuwa fadarsa. Ana cewa dalilin wannan gayyata ta musamman zuwa fadar Marwan ga wani Sahabi shi ne cewa Marwan ya yi shakkar yawan hadisan da Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه ya haddace kuma yake ruwaitawa akai-akai. Kafin Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه ya shigo, Marwan ya umurci sakatarensa, Abu al-Za‘za, ya boye a bayan labule da alkalami da takarda a hannunsa. Ya ce: "Zan tambaye shi wasu hadisai; yayin da yake ruwaitawa, ina so ka rubuta dukkan hadisan." Lokacin da Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه ya shiga, Marwan ya tambaye shi wasu hadisai. Yayin da Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه ya fara ruwaitawa, Abu al-Za‘za ya rubuta su. Abu al-Za‘za ya ce: "Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه ya ci gaba da ruwaitawa na dogon lokaci, sai na ga cewa na rubuta tarin hadisai masu yawa a takardata." Daga kalmomin Abu al-Za‘za "hadithun kathirun" ana iya fahimtar cewa lallai ya rubuta tarin hadisai masu yawa a takardarsa.

His secretary, Abu al-Za‘za, narrates that once Marwan called the eminent Sahaba رضي الله عنه‎, Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎ to his court. It is said that the reason behind this rare invitation of a Sahaba رضي الله عنه‎ to Marwan’s court was that Marwan doubted the large number ofahadith Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎ had memorized and frequently narrated. Before Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه‎ entered, Marwan instructed his secretary, Abu al-Za‘za, to hide behind a curtain with a pen and paper in his hand. He said, “I am going to ask him to narrate some ahadtih; while he narrates, I want you to pen all the ahadith down.” When Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎ entered, Marwón asked him about some aúódõth. As Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎began narrating, Abñ al-Za‘za wrote them down. Abu al-Za‘za says, “Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎continued narrating for a long time and I saw that I had written a large collection of aúódõth on my papers.” It seems from Abu al-Za‘za’s words “hadithun kathirun” that he had indeed recorded a large collection of aúódõth on his paper.

A cikin wannan lokacin, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه bai san cewa ana gwada shi ba. Bayan wannan, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه ya tafi. Marwan ya adana takardun hadisan da aka rubuta a asirce, ya kuma jira shekara mai zuwa. Bayan shekara guda, Marwan ya sake gayyatar Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه domin ya girmama shi da kasancewarsa. Sake, Marwan ya gaya wa Abu al-Za‘za ya ɓoye a bayan labule tare da takardun da ya rubuta hadisan a kansu a shekarar da ta gabata. Ya ce, "Zan maimaita tambayoyin iri ɗaya da na yi a bara. Ka duba ka ga ko sun dace da aúódõth na shekarar da ta gabata." Gwaji ne na farat ɗaya ga Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه. Abu al-Za‘za ya ce, "Don haka Marwan ya riƙe hadisan na shekara guda a hannunsa. Bayan shekara guda, ya sake kiran Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه yayin da ni nake zaune cikin natsuwa a bayan labulen. Yayin da yake yin tambayoyin, ni kuma na duba takardu na. Bai ƙara ko rage ko kalma ɗaya daga cikin wani hadisi ba."8

Meanwhile, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه‎had no idea he was being tested. After this, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه‎left. Marwan preserved the scrolls of the secretly recorded ahadithand waited for the following year. A year later, Marwan again invited Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه‎t o honor him with his presence. Once again, Marwan told Abu al-Za‘za to hide behind the curtain with the papers on which he had written the ahadith the previous year. He said, “I am going to repeat the same questions I asked last year. Check and see if it coincides with the aúódõth of the previous year.” It was an extemporaneous test for Abu Hurairaرضي الله عنه‎. Abu al-Za‘za says, “So Marwan kept the year old ahadith in his hands. After one year, he again called upon Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه‎ as I sat quietly behind the curtain. As he put the questions, I looked into my papers. He did not add to or subtract from even one word of a úadīth.”8

Ko da yake ba zai yiwu a tabbatar da ainihin adadin hadisan da aka rubuta ba, a bayyane yake cewa adadin yana da yawa. Irin wannan lamari ya faru da Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri a lokaci guda. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ya kira Ibn Shihab zuwa fadarsa. A cikin wannan lamari, an bayyana sarai cewa Ibn Shihab ya ruwaito hadisai dari hudu daidai.

Though it is not possible to ascertain the exact number of ahadith noted, it is clear that it was a significant number. A similar incident occurred with Ibn Shihób al-Zuhrõ during the same time period. Hishóm ibn ‘Abd al-Malik called Ibn Shihób to his court. In this incident, it is clearly mentioned that Ibn Shihób narrated exactly four hundred aúódõth.

An kuma ambata a littattafan tarihi cewa Hishom ya gwada ƙwaƙwalwar Ibn Zuhri kamar yadda Marwan ya yi wa Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه. Labarin ya tafi kamar haka:

It is also mentioned in the books of history that Hishóm tested Ibn Zuhri’s memory as Marwan had Abñ Huraira’s رضي الله عنه‎. The story goes like this:

Wata rana, Ibn Shihab ya zo kotun domin wani abu. Hisham da kansa ya nemi Ibn Shihab ya rubuta wasu hadisai domin ɗansa, yarima. Ibn Shihab ya amince; aka kira wani magatakarda, sai aka fara dictation. Dhahabi ya rubuta cewa, "Ibn Shihab ya yi dictation na hadisai ɗari huɗu ga yarima." Sannan Ibn Shihab ya tafi. Lokacin da Ibn Shihab ya dawo bayan wata guda, Hisham ya nuna nadama ta ƙarya ya ce wa Ibn Shihab, "Ina baƙin ciki in faɗa maka cewa takardun da aka rubuta hadisan a kansu sun ɓace, ba a iya samun su ko'ina." "Me ya sa za a yi kuka a kan haka?" Ibn Shihab ya tambaya. "Kira magatakarda, zan sake yi masa dictation." Wannan ita ce ainihin manufar Hisham. Nan take ya umarci magatakarda ya zo kotun. Ibn Shihab ya sake yi wa hadisan dictation iri ɗaya. Gaskiya tarin hadisan farko bai ɓace ba; kawai dabara ce don gwada tunawar Ibn Shihab game da hadisai. Lokacin da Ibn Shihab ya bar kotun, Hisham ya kwatanta kwafin tsohon da na sabon, ya ga cewa babu wani canji da aka yi a kwafin asali na hadisan.9

One day, Ibn Shihab came to the court for something. Hisham personally requested Ibn Shihab to write some ahaadith for his son, the prince. Ibn Shihab accepted; a scribe was called in and the dictation began. Dhahabi writes, “Ibn Shihab dictated four hundred ahdith to the prince.” Then Ibn Shihab left. When Ibn Shihab returned a month later, Hisham feigned remorse by saying to Ibn Shihab, “I am saddened to tell you that the parchments on which the ahadith were written have disappeared and they are nowhere to be found.” “What is this to cry about?” asked Ibn Shihb. “Call the scribe and I will dictate them again.” This was precisely the objective of Hisham. He quickly ordered the scribe to his court. Ibn Shihab dictated the same ahadith over again. The first collection of ahadith had not really disappeared, it was only a ploy to test Ibn Shihab’s memory of ahadith. When Ibn Shihab left the court, Hisham compared the older copy with the new one and saw that no change had been made to the original copy of ahadith.9

Da an sami huffaz na Alƙur'ani a yau, da-wuya a yarda da iƙirarin cewa "ba a ƙara komai ba a asalin kwafin hadisai", kamar yadda zai zama labari kawai na littafin labarun yara. A yau mutum zai iya gwada wani hafiz na Alƙur'ani, wanda ya fi girma fiye da tarin hadisai ɗari huɗu. Idan aka sa shi ya karanta wani surah na Alƙur'ani, sannan a roƙe shi ya maimaita shi daga zuciya, za a tabbatar cewa kalma da kalma, babu bambanci tsakanin karatun farko da na biyu. Don haka dole ne a amince cewa babu wani ƙari ko raguwa da aka yi a waɗannan hadisai.

Had it not been for the huffaz [memorizers] of Qura’n today, the claim “not one addition had been made to the original copy of ahadith” would seem like a tale from a children’s storybook. Today one can test a hafiz [memorizer] from the Qura’n, which is bigger than a collection of four hundred ahadith. Having him read a chapter of the Qur’an and then asking him to recite it from memory will prove that word for word, there will be no difference between the first recitation and the second. One is thus forced to admit that neither any addition nor any subtraction was made to these ahadith.