Kwa ujumla, njia tatu zilitumika kuhifadhi Hadith:

Generally, three methods were used to preserved úódõth:

Njia ya kwanza ilikuwa kuhifadhi kwa kukariri. Waarabu walijulikana kwa kumbukumbu zao, hasa uwezo wao wa kukariri mashairi marefu pamoja na wasifu wa waandishi wake. Walikuwa wanaweza kukumbuka orodha ndefu za majina ya babu za washairi na nasaba zao. Si hivyo tu, Waarabu pia walikariri nasaba za farasi wao, hata mwendo wa farasi. Hivyo, maelfu ya majina yalikuwa midomoni mwao, na kwa baraka za Hadith, Allah سبحانه وتعالى aliongeza umahiri wao katika sanaa ya kukariri.

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.

Njia hii rahisi ya kuhifadhi hadithi haiwezi kupuuzwa, hasa wakati wasomi mashuhuri kama Imam Bukhari wamerekodi matukio kama lile la Marwan, yanayoonyesha kumbukumbu ya ajabu ya Waarabu. Marwan alikuwa gavana wa kwanza wa Damascus na pia amiri wa kwanza wa Nasaba ya Umayyad.

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.

Katibu wake, Abu al-Za‘za, anasimulia kwamba siku moja Marwan alimwita kwenye mahakama yake Sahaba mashuhuri Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه. Inasemekana kwamba sababu ya mwaliko huu adimu wa Sahaba kwenye mahakama ya Marwan ni kwamba Marwan alitilia shaka idadi kubwa ya hadithi ambazo Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه alikuwa amezihifadhi na kuzisimulia mara kwa mara. Kabla Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه hajaingia, Marwan alimwagiza katibu wake, Abu al-Za‘za, ajifiche nyuma ya pazia akiwa na kalamu na karatasi mkononi. Alisema, “Nitamwomba asimulie baadhi ya hadithi; wakati anasimulia, ninataka wewe uziandike hadithi zote.” Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه alipoingia, Marwan alimwuliza kuhusu baadhi ya hadithi. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه alipoanza kusimulia, Abu al-Za‘za aliziandika. Abu al-Za‘za anasema, “Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه aliendelea kusimulia kwa muda mrefu, nami nikaona kwamba nimeandika mkusanyiko mkubwa wa hadithi kwenye karatasi zangu.” Inaonekana kutokana na maneno ya Abu al-Za‘za “hadithun kathirun” kwamba kwa kweli alikuwa ameandika mkusanyiko mkubwa wa hadithi kwenye karatasi yake.

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.

Wakati huo huo, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه hakujua kwamba alikuwa anajaribiwa. Baada ya haya, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه aliondoka. Marwan alihifadhi kurasa za hadithi zilizorekodiwa kwa siri na akasubiri mwaka uliofuata. Mwaka mmoja baadaye, Marwan tena alimwalika Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه ili amheshimu kwa uwepo wake. Mara nyingine tena, Marwan alimwambia Abu al-Za‘za ajifiche nyuma ya pazia pamoja na karatasi ambazo alikuwa ameandika hadithi humo mwaka uliopita. Alisema, "Nitarudia maswali yaleyale niliyouliza mwaka jana. Angalia na uone kama yanalingana na hadithi za mwaka uliopita." Ilikuwa ni jaribio la ghafla kwa Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه. Abu al-Za‘za anasema, "Hivyo Marwan alibaki na hadithi za mwaka mmoja uliopita mikononi mwake. Baada ya mwaka mmoja, alimwita tena Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه wakati mimi nilikaa kimya nyuma ya pazia. Alipouliza maswali, mimi nilitazama karatasi zangu. Hakuongeza wala kupunguza hata neno moja la hadithi yoyote."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

Ingawa haiwezekani kubaini idadi kamili ya hadithi zilizoandikwa, ni wazi kwamba zilikuwa nyingi. Tukio kama hilo lilitokea kwa Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri katika kipindi hicho hicho. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik alimwita Ibn Shihab kwenye mahakama yake. Katika tukio hili, imetajwa wazi kwamba Ibn Shihab alisimulia hadithi mia nne kamili.

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.

Pia imetajwa katika vitabu vya historia kwamba Hishām alijaribu kumbukumbu ya Ibn Zuhri, kama vile Marwān alivyomjaribu Abū Huraira رضي الله عنه. Hadithi inaenda hivi:

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:

Siku moja, Ibn Shihab alikuja mahakamani kwa jambo fulani. Hisham alimwomba binafsi Ibn Shihab aandike baadhi ya hadithi kwa ajili ya mwanawe, mkuu. Ibn Shihab alikubali; mwandishi aliitwa na kuanza kuandika kwa kuamriwa. Dhahabi anaandika, "Ibn Shihab aliamrisha hadithi mia nne kwa mkuu." Kisha Ibn Shihab aliondoka. Ibn Shihab aliporudi mwezi mmoja baadaye, Hisham alijifanya kujutia kwa kumwambia Ibn Shihab, "Nasikitika kukuambia kuwa karatasi zilizoandikwa hadithi zimepotea na hazionekani popote." "Kuna sababu gani ya kulia kwa hili?" aliuliza Ibn Shihab. "Mwite mwandishi nami nitamwamrisha tena." Hii ndiyo ilikuwa hasa lengo la Hisham. Mara moja aliamuru mwandishi aletwe mahakamani kwake. Ibn Shihab aliamrisha hadithi zile zile tena. Mkusanyiko wa kwanza wa hadithi haukupotea kweli; ilikuwa ni hila tu ya kujaribu kumbukumbu ya Ibn Shihab kuhusu hadithi. Ibn Shihab alipoondoka mahakamani, Hisham alilinganisha nakala ya zamani na ile mpya, na akaona kwamba hakuna mabadiliko yoyote yaliyofanywa katika nakala asili ya hadithi.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

Kama si huffaz (wale wanaohifadhi Qur'an kwa moyo) wa leo, dai kwamba "hakuna nyongeza yoyote iliyofanywa kwenye nakala asilia ya hadith" lingeonekana kama hadithi ya kitabu cha watoto. Leo mtu anaweza kumjaribu hafidh wa Qur'an, ambayo ni kubwa kuliko mkusanyiko wa hadith mia nne. Akimwomba asome sura moja ya Qur'an kisha amwambie aisome tena kwa kumbukumbu, itathibitishwa kwamba neno kwa neno hakutakuwa na tofauti kati ya usomaji wa kwanza na wa pili. Hivyo mtu analazimika kukubali kwamba hakuna nyongeza wala punguzo lililofanywa kwenye hadith hizi.

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.