‘Umar akajibu: “Lazima uniletee ushahidi kuhusu jambo hili, la sivyo nitakuadhibu.” Abu Musa alikuja kwetu tulipokuwa tumekaa, na uso wake ulikuwa umetoka jasho. Tukasema: “Kuna nini kwako?” Hivyo akatujulisha, kisha akauliza: “Je, kuna yeyote miongoni mwenu aliyesikia Hadith hii?” Tukajibu: “Ndiyo, sote tumesikia (Hadith) hii.” Basi tukamtuma mtu miongoni mwetu hadi akamfikia ‘Umar na kumwambia. ‘Ali akasema: “Kama ningesikia Hadith kutoka kwa Mtume wa Allah ﷺ ambayo Allah alinufaisha nayo, kisha mtu akazungumza nami kuihusu, ningemtaka aapishe, na akinipa kiapo ndipo ningemwamini.” Kutokana na haya tunaona jinsi Maswahaba walivyokuwa makini katika kusimulia hadithi, na tahadhari kubwa waliyokuwa nayo katika kupokea taarifa. Imesimuliwa pia kwamba ‘Umar hakutoa umuhimu mkubwa kwa simulizi ya Fatimah bint Qays (inayosema) kwamba hakuna matumizi (nafaqa) wala makazi kwa mwanamke aliyepewa talaka tatu zisizoweza kurudishwa. Alisema: Hatutauacha Kitabu cha Mola wetu wala Sunnah ya Mtume wetu ﷺ kwa maneno ya mwanamke, kwa kuwa hatujui kama amelikariri au amelisahau. Hii haimaanishi (kwamba ‘Umar aliacha hadithi yake) kwa sababu ni mwanamke; bali maana yake ni kwamba hatutaacha Kitabu na Sunnah kwa maneno ya mtu ambaye haijulikani kama amelikariri au amelisahau. Sababu (illah) ni kama alilikariri au hakulikariri, na si kwa sababu alikuwa mwanamke.
‘Umar replied: “You must bring me an evidence about this matter otherwise I will punish you.” Abu Musa came to us while we were sitting down and his face was sweaty. We said: “What is the matter with you?” So he informed us and asked: “Did anyone of you hear this Hadith?” We replied: “Yes, all of us have heard this (Hadith).” So we sent a man from amongst us till he came to Umar and told him. Ali said: “If I heard a Hadith from the Prophet of Allah which Allah benefited me with it, and if anyone talked to me about it, I would ask for an oath from him, and if he gave it to me then I would trust him.” From this we see the care of the Sahabah in the narration of hadīth and the extreme care they excercised in accepting reports. It has even been narrated that Umar did not give much attention to the narration of Fatimah ibn Qays (which states) that there is no maintenance (nafaqa) or lodging for the woman who has been irrevocably divorced with three pronouncements. He said: We shall not abandon the Book of our Lord or the Sunnah of our Prophet for the speech of a woman for we do not know if she has memorised it or forgotten it. This does not mean (that Umar left her hadīth because) she is a woman, rather what it means is that we will not leave the Book and Sunnah for the speech of someone for whom it is not known whether she has memorised it or forgotten it. The illah (reason) is whether she memorised it or not, and not because she was a woman.
Fitna (vita vya ndani) vilipoanza baada ya kuuawa kwa Uthman, Waislamu walianza kutofautiana wenyewe kwa wenyewe, na kwa sababu hiyo vikundi mbalimbali viliundwa. Umakini wa kila kikundi ulielekezwa katika kuchimbua dalili na kusimulia hadithi zilizounga mkono madai yao. Baadhi yao, walipohitaji hadithi ili kuunga mkono kauli fulani au kuthibitisha jambo fulani, walijitungia wenyewe hadithi. Uzushi wa namna hiyo uliongezeka sana katika kipindi hiki cha machafuko. Baada ya fitna (vita vya ndani) kutulia, Waislamu walianza kuhakiki hadithi, na wakagundua kwamba zile hadithi za kuzushwa zilikuwa zimeenea sana. Kwa hiyo walijitahidi sana kutenganisha hadithi za kuzushwa na hadithi sahihi (Sahih).
When the fitna (civil war) ensued after the murder of Uthman and Muslims started to disagree among themselves and different groups were formed as a result. The attention of every group was devoted to deducing evidences and reporting ahadīth which supported their claims. Some of them when they needed a hadīth to support a saying or establish proof for something, they would themselves fabricate a hadīth. There was a proliferation of such fabrications during this period of disorder. After the fitna (civil war) had abated the Muslims embarked upon checking the ahadīth, they found that those fabrications had become widespread. So they worked hard to separate the fabrications from the sound (Sahih) ahadīth.
Na wakati zama za Masahaba zilipokwisha na Tabi'un wakaja baada yao, walifuata mwenendo uleule, wakawafuata Masahaba watukufu katika kuzingatia hadithi na kuieneza kwa njia ya usimulizi, hadi wakati wa Khalifa mwadilifu 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz mwanzoni mwa karne ya pili ya Hijria, alipoamuru hadithi ziandikwe. Bukhari alisema katika Sahih yake, katika kitabu al-'ilm (Kitabu cha Elimu), kwamba 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz alimwandikia Abu Bakr ibn Hazm: "Tafuta kile unachoweza kupata cha hadithi za Mtume wa Allah ﷺ na ukiandike. Ninaogopa kupotea kwa mafunzo ya elimu na kupungua kwa idadi ya wanazuoni. Usikubali chochote isipokuwa hadithi ya Mtume ﷺ, ili uweze kusambaza elimu na kukaa chini kuwafundisha wasio na elimu hadi wapate elimu. Hakika elimu haipotei isipokuwa inapohifadhiwa kwa siri."
And when the age of the Sahabah had come to an end and the Tabi'un came after them they followed on the same method and they followed the noble Sahabah in their attention to the hadīth and its spread through the medium of narration until the reign of the just Khalifah 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz in the beginning of the second Hijri century, He ordered the hadīth to be written down. Bukhari said in his Sahih in the kitab al-'ilm (The Book of Knowledge) that 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz wrote to Abu Bakr ibn Hazm: 'Look for what you can find of the ahadīth of the Messenger of Allah and write them down. I fear for the loss of the lessons of knowledge and the dwindling numbers of the scholars. Do not accept anything other than the hadīth of the Prophet so that you may dissiminate knowledge and sit down to teach those who do not have knowldge until they have knowldge. Verily, knowledge does not perish unless it is kept secret'.
Vivyo hivyo, aliwaandikia 'Amils (magavana wa wilaya) katika miji mikubwa kuwataka wafuatilie Hadith.
Likewise, he wrote to his 'Amils (district governors) in Major towns to pursue the ahadīth.
Wa kwanza kurekodi hadith kwa mujibu wa amri ya 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz alikuwa Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Shihab az-Zuhri. Alipata elimu kutoka kwa kundi la Masahaba vijana na Tabi'in wakubwa. Kisha urekodi wa hadith ukaenea katika kizazi kilichofuata kizazi cha az-Zuhri. Miongoni mwa waliokusanya hadith walikuwa Ibn Jurayj huko Makka, Malik huko Madina, Hammad ibn Salama huko Basra, Sufyan al-Thawri huko Kufa, al-Awza'i katika eneo la al-Sham, na wengine katika nchi mbalimbali za Kiislamu. Makusanyo ya hadith ya watu hao yalichanganyika na kauli za Masahaba na fatwa (hukumu za kisheria) za Tabi'in. Yote haya yalikuwa katika karne ya pili baada ya Hijra. Kisha wapokezi wa hadith wakaanza kuandika makusanyo na kazi zao wenyewe mwanzoni mwa karne ya tatu. Ukusanyaji wa hadith uliendelea mfululizo hadi kuja kwa Imam Bukhari. Alijulikana katika elimu ya hadith, akaandika kitabu chake maarufu, Sahih al-Bukhari, ambamo alinukuu zile hadith alizoona kuwa ni sahihi. Alifuatiwa na Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, ambaye alikuwa mwanafunzi wa Bukhari. Aliandika kitabu chake maarufu, Sahih Muslim. Kazi hizo mbili zinajulikana kwa jina la 'Sahihayn' (vitabu viwili sahihi).
The first one to record the hadīth in accordance with the order of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz was Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Shihab az-Zuhri. He learned knowledge from a group of young Sahabah and senior Tabi’een. Then the recording of hadīth became widespread in the generation which followed the generation of az-Zuhri. From among those who collected the hadīth they were Ibn Jurayj in Makkah, Malik in Madinah, Hammad ibn Salama in Basra, Sufyan al-Thawri in Kufa, Al-Awza’i in the al-Sham region and others in the various Islamic lands. The hadīth collections of those people were mixed with the sayings of Sahabah and the fatwas (legal verdicts) of the Tabi’een. All this was in the second century A.H (After Hijra). Then the transmitters of hadīth began to write their own compilations and compositions in the beginning of the third century. Compilation of hadīth continued consecutively until the appearance of Imam Bukhari. He was distinguished in the science of hadīth and he wrote his renowned book ; Sahih al-Bukhari in which he quoted those hadīth which he perceived to be authentic. He was followed in his tracks by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj who was a student of Bukhari. He wrote his famous book: Sahih Muslim. Those two works are designated as the 'Sahihayn' (the two Sahih works).
Wakati maimamu wa hadīth walipoanza kuandika hadīth, waliziandika kwa namna walivyozikuta. Walio wengi hawakuacha chochote kilichowafikia isipokuwa kile kinachojulikana kuwa ni cha kuzuliwa na kubuniwa. Walizikusanya pamoja na isnādi zake kama walivyozikuta, kisha wakachunguza kwa umakini hali ya wapokezi mpaka wakawa na uhakika ni nani ambaye simulizi yake inaweza kukubaliwa, ni nani ambaye simulizi yake inapaswa kukataliwa, na ni nani ambaye simulizi yake hawakuweza kuikubali. Baada ya hapo wakafuatisha kwa kuchunguza hadīth yenyewe na hali ya simulizi, kwa sababu kila kinachosimuliwa na mpokezi anayesifika kwa uaminifu na usahihi hakiwezi kuchukuliwa moja kwa moja, kwa kuwa yeye anaweza kusahau au kukosea.
When the imams of hadīth began to record the hadīth, they recorded them in the manner in which they found them. They did not omit anything that reached them in the majority of cases except what was known to be fabricated and concocted. They compiled them with their isnāds as they found them, and then they rigorously investigated the status of the transmitters until they were certain of whose narration could be accepted, and whose narration is to be rejected and whose narration they could notaccept. They followed that up with a study of the report and the status of the narration because everything that is narrated by a transmitter who is characterised with trustworthiness and accuracy cannot be taken because he is susceptible to forgetfulness or error.
Hadith ilikuwa ni mada pana iliyojumuisha taaluma zote za Kiislamu. Ilihusisha tafsiri ya Qur’ani (tafsīr), sheria (tashrīʿ) na Siyrah. Mpokezi wa hadith angesimulia hadith iliyokuwa na tafsiri ya aya ya Qur’ani Tukufu, au hadith iliyokuwa na hukumu kuhusu tukio fulani, au angesimulia hadith itakayotaja mojawapo ya vita, na kadhalika. Waislamu walipoanza kukusanya hadith na hadith zikaanza kuandikwa, ukusanyaji wa hadith ukaanza katika miji mbalimbali ya Dola. Ukusanyaji wa hadith ulitenganisha hadith za Mtume ﷺ na kila kitu kingine kisicho chake. Kwa sababu hiyo, hadith ikawa huru kutoka katika fiqh, kama ilivyokuwa huru kutoka katika tafsiri. Hilo lilikuwa mwishoni mwa miaka mia mbili ya kwanza. Baadaye harakati za kukusanya hadith zilishamiri, na wakusanyaji wakatenganisha hadith sahihi na dhaifu, wakielezea wapokezi (wasimulizi) na kutoa hukumu kama ni wa kuaminika au la.
Hadīth was a broad topic which encompassed all the Islamic disciplines. It included tafsīr (Qur’ānic exegesis), legislation and the Sīrah. The hadīth transmitter would narrate a hadīth which would include the tafsīr of an ayah of the Noble Qur’ān, or a hadīth which contained a ruling on an incident, or he would narrate a hadīth which would mention one of the battles, and so on and so forth. When the Muslims began to collect the ahadīth and the hadīth came to be put down in writing, the compilation of hadīth began in the various cities of the State. The compilation of hadīth singled out the hadīth of the Messenger from everything other than it. Due to this the hadīth became independent from the fiqh just as it became independent from the tafsīr. This was at the end of the first two hundred years. Afterwards the movement for the collection of hadīth was active and the compilers separated the sound hadīth from the weak ones, describing the men (transmitters) and passing a ruling whether in favour or against them.