Contoh kami Aḥmad—semoga Tuhan meridainya—tidak percaya pada penulisan kitab.

Our exemplar Aḥmad—God be pleased with him—did not believe in writing books.

Beliau melarang sesiapa menulis apa yang beliau katakan atau merekodkan jawapan beliau kepada soalan-soalan hukum.163 Jika beliau berpendapat sebaliknya, beliau tentu telah menghasilkan banyak himpunan dan mempunyai banyak tulisan atas namanya. Karya-karya beliau, oleh itu, ialah himpunan riwayat Hadis, seperti Riwayat-Riwayat Sahih Mengikut Perawi, yang mengandungi tiga puluh ribu riwayat.164 Beliau pernah berpesan kepada anaknya ʿAbd Allāh: “Jagalah Riwayat-Riwayat Sahih itu dengan baik kerana orang ramai akan memerlukannya.” Beliau juga menyusun Tafsir al-Qur’an, yang mengandungi 120,000 riwayat,165 Ayat-Ayat Nasikh dan Mansukh dalam al-Qur’an,166 Penentuan Tarikh,167 Riwayat-Riwayat Hadis yang Dipindahkan oleh Shuʿbah,168

He forbade anyone to write down what he said or to record his replies to legal questions.163 Had he believed otherwise, he would have generated many compilations and had many had many writings to his credit. His works are therefore compilations of Hadith reports, such as the Authenticated Reports Listed by Transmitter, which contains thirty thousand reports.164 He used to tell his son ʿAbd Allāh: “Take good care of that Authenticated Reports because people will need it.” He also compiled the Interpretation of the Qurʾan, which contains 120,000 reports,165 The Abrogating and Abrogated Verses of the Qurʾan,166 Fixing of Dates,167 Hadith Reports Transmitted by Shuʿbah,168

Unsur-unsur yang Dipindahkan dalam Al-Qur'an, Jawapan Mengenai Al-Qur'an, Kitab Besar tentang Rukun Haji, Kitab Kecil tentang Rukun Haji, dan tajuk-tajuk lain.169 27.1

Transposed Elements in the Qurʾan, Answers Regarding the Qurʾan, The Greater Book on Pilgrimage Rites, The Lesser Book on Pilgrimage Rites, and other titles.169 27.1

Walaupun Aḥmad tidak membenarkan sesiapa pun menuliskan apa yang beliau katakan, Tuhan tetap membenarkan beliau menunaikan niat baiknya dengan memastikan kata-katanya dapat disampaikan dan dipelihara. Memang sedikit sahaja persoalan yang beliau tidak menyumbangkan teks yang berkaitan, sama ada mengenai prinsip-prinsip usul fiqh atau mengenai hukum-hukum tertentu. Dalam banyak keadaan, sumbangan beliau telah terpelihara, sedangkan karya para fuqaha yang menulis dan mengumpulkan dokumen pula telah hilang. 27.2

Although Aḥmad did not allow anyone to write down what he said, God nevertheless allowed him to fulfill his benevolent intentions by ensuring that his words were transmitted and preserved. Few indeed are the questions where he has not contributed a relevant text, whether on the principles of jurisprudence or on specific points of law. In many cases, his contribution has been preserved, whereas the work of jurists who did write and amass documents has been lost. 27.2

[Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal mengumpulkan kami—saya, Ṣāliḥ, dan ʿAbd Allāh—lalu membacakan kitab Musnad-nya kepada kami. Kami adalah satu-satunya yang mendengarnya daripada beliau. Beliau berkata kepada kami, "Ini ialah kitab yang saya susun dengan menapis lebih daripada 750,000 riwayat. Apabila kamu mendapati orang Islam berselisih pendapat mengenai sesuatu Hadith Rasulullah ﷺ, periksalah sama ada riwayat itu terdapat di dalam kitab ini. Jika tiada, maka ia tidak diterima." 27.3

[Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal gathered us together—me, Ṣāliḥ, and ʿAbd Allāh—and read his Authenticated Reports to us. We are the only ones to have heard it from him. He told us, “This is a book I put together by sorting through more than 750,000 reports. Whenever you find Muslims disagreeing about a Hadith of the Emissary, check to see if the report is in here. If it’s not, it’s doesn’t count.” 27.3