Secara umumnya, tiga kaedah digunakan untuk memelihara ḥadīth:

Generally, three methods were used to preserved úódõth:

Kaedah pertama ialah hafalan. Bangsa Arab terkenal dengan daya ingatan mereka, terutamanya keupayaan mereka menghafal syair-syair panjang berserta biografi penyair-penyairnya. Mereka mampu mengingat semula senarai panjang nama nenek moyang penyair dan salasilah mereka. Bukan itu sahaja, bangsa Arab juga menghafal salasilah kuda mereka, malah rentak larian kuda tersebut. Dengan demikian, beribu-ribu nama sentiasa berada di hujung lidah mereka, dan melalui keberkatan hadis-hadis, Allah سبحانه وتعالى menambahkan lagi kemahiran mereka dalam seni hafalan.

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.

Kaedah mudah memelihara hadith ini tidak boleh diabaikan, terutamanya apabila tokoh-tokoh terkemuka seperti Imam Bukhari telah merekodkan peristiwa seperti peristiwa Marwan, yang menggambarkan daya ingatan luar biasa orang Arab. Marwan ialah gabenor pertama Damsyik dan juga amir pertama Dinasti Umayyah.

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.

Setiausahanya, Abu al-Za‘za, meriwayatkan bahawa pada suatu ketika Marwan telah memanggil sahabat yang mulia رضي الله عنه, Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, ke mahkamahnya. Diceritakan bahawa sebab di sebalik jemputan jarang-jarang ini kepada seorang sahabat رضي الله عنه ke mahkamah Marwan ialah kerana Marwan meragui jumlah besar hadith yang telah dihafal dan kerap diriwayatkan oleh Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه. Sebelum Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه masuk, Marwan mengarahkan setiausahanya, Abu al-Za‘za, supaya bersembunyi di sebalik tirai dengan pena dan kertas di tangannya. Katanya, "Aku akan meminta dia meriwayatkan beberapa hadith; semasa dia meriwayatkan, aku mahu engkau menulis kesemua hadith itu." Apabila Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه masuk, Marwan bertanya kepadanya tentang beberapa hadith. Ketika Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه mula meriwayatkan, Abu al-Za‘za menulisnya. Abu al-Za‘za berkata, "Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه terus meriwayatkan untuk tempoh yang lama, dan aku dapati aku telah menulis sejumlah besar hadith di atas kertasku." Daripada kata-kata Abu al-Za‘za, "hadithun kathirun", nampaknya beliau memang telah merekodkan sejumlah besar hadith di atas kertasnya.

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.

Sementara itu, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه tidak tahu bahawa dia sedang diuji. Selepas ini, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه beredar. Marwan menyimpan gulungan hadith yang dirakam secara sulit dan menunggu tahun berikutnya. Setahun kemudian, Marwan sekali lagi menjemput Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه untuk memuliakannya dengan kehadirannya. Sekali lagi, Marwan memberitahu Abu al-Za‘za untuk bersembunyi di belakang tirai bersama kertas-kertas yang dia telah tulis hadith-hadith itu pada tahun sebelumnya. Dia berkata, "Saya akan mengulangi soalan yang sama seperti yang saya tanya tahun lepas. Semak dan lihat sama ada ia sepadan dengan hadith-hadith tahun sebelumnya." Ini merupakan ujian secara spontan bagi Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه. Abu al-Za‘za berkata, "Maka Marwan memegang hadith yang sudah berusia setahun itu. Selepas setahun, dia sekali lagi memanggil Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه ketika saya duduk diam di belakang tirai. Semasa dia mengemukakan soalan-soalan itu, saya melihat kertas-kertas saya. Dia tidak menambah atau mengurangkan walau satu perkataan pun daripada sesebuah hadith."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

Walaupun jumlah tepat hadis yang dicatat tidak dapat dipastikan, jelaslah bahawa jumlahnya sangat banyak. Peristiwa serupa berlaku kepada Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī pada zaman yang sama. Hisyām bin ‘Abd al-Malik memanggil Ibn Shihāb ke istananya. Dalam peristiwa ini, dinyatakan dengan jelas bahawa Ibn Shihāb meriwayatkan tepat empat ratus aḥādīth.

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.

Dalam kitab-kitab sejarah juga disebutkan bahawa Hisyam menguji ingatan Ibnu Zuhri sebagaimana Marwan pernah menguji Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه. Kisahnya adalah seperti berikut:

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:

Suatu hari, Ibn Shihab datang ke mahkamah untuk suatu urusan. Hisham secara peribadi meminta Ibn Shihab menulis beberapa hadith untuk anaknya, sang putera. Ibn Shihab bersetuju; seorang jurutulis dipanggil dan proses pengimlaan pun bermula. Al-Dhahabi menulis, "Ibn Shihab mengimlakkan empat ratus hadith kepada sang putera." Kemudian Ibn Shihab pulang. Apabila Ibn Shihab kembali sebulan kemudian, Hisham berpura-pura menyesal dengan berkata kepada Ibn Shihab, "Saya bersedih untuk memberitahu anda bahawa helaian kulit yang di atasnya hadith-hadith itu ditulis telah hilang dan tidak dapat dijumpai di mana-mana." "Apa yang perlu ditangisi?" tanya Ibn Shihab. "Panggilkan jurutulis itu dan saya akan mengimlakkan semula hadith-hadith tersebut." Inilah sebenarnya tujuan Hisham. Dia segera memerintahkan jurutulis itu dihadirkan ke mahkamahnya. Ibn Shihab mengimlakkan semula hadith-hadith yang sama. Koleksi hadith yang pertama sebenarnya tidak pernah hilang; ia hanyalah helah untuk menguji ingatan Ibn Shihab terhadap hadith. Apabila Ibn Shihab beredar dari mahkamah, Hisham membandingkan salinan lama dengan yang baharu dan mendapati tiada perubahan dibuat pada salinan asal hadith tersebut.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

Sekiranya tidak kerana para huffaz [penghafal] Al-Qur'an pada hari ini, dakwaan bahawa "tidak ada satu tambahan pun yang dibuat ke atas salinan asal hadith" akan kelihatan seperti cerita daripada buku cerita kanak-kanak. Pada hari ini seseorang boleh menguji seorang hafiz [penghafal] Al-Qur'an, yang jumlahnya lebih besar daripada sekumpulan empat ratus hadith. Dengan menyuruhnya membaca satu surah daripada Al-Qur'an dan kemudian meminta dia membacanya semula dari ingatan, akan terbukti bahawa dari segi kata demi kata, tidak akan ada perbezaan antara bacaan pertama dan bacaan kedua. Maka seseorang terpaksa mengakui bahawa tidak ada sebarang tambahan mahupun pengurangan yang dibuat ke atas hadith-hadith ini.

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.