One of the claims hurled at Muslims by Christian missionaries and Hadithrejecters are that they say: there are

no hadiths collections from early Islam. According to them Hadiths came into e!istence "#$ to %$$ years after the &ro'het Muhammed(s )'* demise.

In this article I +ill sho+ e,idence from -on-Muslim .cholars that Hadith e!isted +ay +ay before the dates they ha,e brought forth.

/irst Century Hadith Collections

.ahifa Hamman 0. Munabbih

It is +ell-1no+n fact among Muslim scholars that Hammam 0. Munabbih +as a student of Abu Huraira. 2he earliest hadith collection +e ha,e e!tant is .ahifa b. Munabbih +hich +as +ritten by the student of Abu Huraira. 2he 0oo1s name is 3.ahifah Hammam b.Munabbih(.

4. American .cholar 5illiam Albert 6raham +ho is a &rofessor of middle eastern studies says:

..Of the four remaining collections the earliest is the .ahifah of Hammam b. Munabbih )d. Ca. 4$4-$"7849-"$*. It is a collection of 4%: hadiths that dates from around the end of the first Century A.H. and contains some eighteen ;i,ine sayings. <4=

". &rofessor Alfred /eli! >andon 0eeston also comments on .ahifa Hammam 0. Munabbih he says:

An e!am'le is the .ahifah of Hammam b. Munabbih )d. 44$7849* a ?emenite follo+er and a disci'le of Com'anion Abu Hurayrah )d. #:7@88* from +hom Hammam learned and +rote this sahifah +hich com'rises 4%: hadith and is belie,ed to ha,e been +ritten around the mid-first7se,enth

Century. It is significant that Hammam introduces his te!t +ith the +ords: 3Abu Hurayra told us in the course of +hat he related from the &ro'het( thus gi,ing the source of his information in the manner +hich became 1no+n as sanad or isnad i.e. the teacher or chain of teachers through +hom an author reaches the &ro'het a 'ractice in,ariably and systematically follo+ed hadith in com'ilations. <"=

%. In the 0oo1 3Ancyclo'aedic Historiogra'hy of the Muslim 5orld( +ritten by &rofessor -agendra Br. .ingh he goes in detail on Hadith and also comments on .ahifa 0. Munabbih. 2a1e also notice of him saying that 3OCA> 2CA-.MI..IO-( O/ HA;I2H +as the most fa,oured he says:

Com'ilation of hadith in a boo1 form had become a 1no+n 'ractice e,en during the 'ro'het(s lifetime. 5e are told that Ali b. Abu 2alib had com'iled a small boo1 containing 2raditions of the &ro'het 3Abdullah b. 3Amr b. Al-As has also collected by 'ermission of the &ro'het some 2raditions in a boo1 +hich he named as al-.ahifa al-sadiDa. .imilarly Eabir b. Abdillah )d. 8: A.H.* +as the com'iler of a small collection of hadith. Abu Huraira and Amr b. HaFm are also re'orted to ha,e gathered some 2raditions +hile the latter had also committed to +riting a number of such letters of the &ro'het as he had des'atched to the neighbouring rulers in,iting them to embrace the ne+ faith. Abu Huraira a close com'anion of the &ro'het had 'reser,ed and transmitted a large number of traditions.

A'art from oral transmission he is re'orted to ha,e dictated some traditions to his 'u'ils +ho committed them to +riting. Hammam b. Munabbih com'iled a boo1 entitled al-sahifa of +hich the manuscri'ts are found in the libraries of 0erlin and ;amascus. Its Arabic te!t along +ith the Grdu 2ranslation and necessary notes has recently been 'ublished by ;r. Hamidullah. Ma(mar b. Cashid a disci'le of Hammam also com'iled a boo1 entitled Eami Manuscri'ts of +hich are in the An1ara Gni,ersity >ibrary and in Istanbul.

Abu 0a1r Abd al-CaFFaD b. Hammam al-san(ani )4"@-"44 A.H.* +as a student of ma(mar and one of the teachers of Ahamd b. Hanbal. He is also the com'iler of a boo1 entitled 3musannaf(. In ,ie+ of these facts it +ould be erroneous to assume as some of the orientalists do that the +or1 of hadith-

com'ilation +as un1no+n during the 'ro'het(s lifetime and hence the entire collection of hadith becomes of Duestionable authenticity.

5e ha,e seen that Abu Huraira his 'u'il Hammam b. Munabbih his disci'le Ma(mar and his 'u'il Cashid his student Abd al-CaFFD and his 'u'il Ahmad b. Hanbal ha,e made continued efforts in 'reser,ing and com'iling the hadith literature. After the disco,ery of these +or1s +e may rightly su''ose that there must ha,e been some other com'iled +or1s +hich did not come do+n to us. It should be also 1e't in mind that because of scarcity and dearth of +riting material oral transmission +as a 'o'ular 'ractice during the early days of Islam. /urthermore this had become a common 'ractice since the 're-Islamic days because 3;ays of the Arab( legends of the &ro'hets and the Eahiliyya 'oetry +ere transmitted orally. -ay dictation or +riting of such material +as rather loo1ed do+n u'on as com'ared to oral transmission. <%=

3Musanaf of Abdul CaFFaD( to be a source of Authentic Hadith from the 4st Century(H

&rofessor Harold MotF1i belie,es 3Musanaf of Abdul CaFFaD( to be a source of Authentic Hadith from the 4st CenturyH. His article is massi,e I am just going to 'resent his Conclusion he says:

5hile studying the Musannaf of IAbd al-CaFFaD I came to the conclusion that the theory cham'ioned by 6oldFiher .chacht and in their footste's many others J myself included J +hich in general reject hadith literature as a historically reliable sources for the first century AH de'ri,es the historical study of early Islam of an im'ortant and a useful ty'e of source. <K=

Mu+atta Imam Mali1( com'iled Mid-second century AH

MLli1 ibn Anas +ho +as born in the year 844 and died 89# )9% AH J 489 AH * is another Aarly .cholar of Islam +ho collected hadiths. He +as one of the most highly res'ected scholars of fiDh )Islamic Euris'rudence* in .unni Islam. Imam Mali1 +hile he +as ali,e com'iled a Hadith boo1. 2he Hadith 0oo1(s name is 3Mu+atta Imam Mali1( and +e still ha,e this Hadith boo1 e!tant to

this day.

Ilya &a,lo,ich &etrushe,s1y )4:9:J4988* +ho +as a &rofessor of History of the -ear Aast at the Gni,ersity of >eningrad for t+enty years comments on Imam Mali1(s Mu+atta he says:

2he oldest collections of Hadith +ere com'iled according to tariDs that is the com'anions of the &ro'het +ere listed in al'habetical order and under each name the hadith issuing from the 'articular fountain head +ould be su''lied. 2his 'rinci'le of com'ilation +as 1no+n as 3ala r-rijal 3 on )the names of* the earliest re'orters(. Of the AM2A-2 CO>>AM2IO-. of this ty'e t+o are celebrated. One if the Mu+atta or 0eaten 2rac1 of mali1 b. Anas )d. 89#* e'onymous founder of the Mali1ite system.. <#=

&rofessor Clinton 0ennett:

2o'ically arranged )musannaf* +or1s also a''ear in the mid-second7eighth century. 2he earliest e!tant musannaf +or1 is the Mu+atta of Medinan .cholar mali1 b. Anas )d. 489 AH789# CA* the e'onymous founder of the Mali1i school of .unni juris'rudence and teacher of Muhammad ibn Idris al.hafii )d. "$K AH7:"$ CA*. <@=

I +ill finish my article of +ith a last reference by &rofessor Michael 0onner +ho refutes Eose'h .chacht(s theory that someho+ Hadith could not be traced before the year 84: -849. He says:

.chacht thought that no hadith could be 'ro,ed to date from before year 4$$ of the Hijra )84:-849 CA*. 2here is much more to .chacht(s theory than this but here it +ill suffice to 'oint out that for se,eral decades in the 5est much of the argument o,er the hadith has been an argument o,er the theories of Eose'h .chacht. -o+adays .chacht(s +or1 together +ith 6oldiFher is less fa,oured than it +as not ,ery long ago. As more te!ts of hadith and early Islamic la+ ha,e become a,ailable se,eral scholars ha,e analyFed these materials correlating the Isnad )the su''orting chain of authority for such hadith itself* in more 'ainsta1ing and systematic +ays than

.chacht had done in his day. As a result of this +or1 +e can 'ercei,e in CICH ;A2AI> the acti,ities of transmission of learning and 'roduction of +ritten te!ts going on in early 'eriods sometimes before the cutoff date of AH 4$$ that .chacht declared to be the outer limit. <8=

Conclusion: /rom all the e,idence 'resented by -on-Muslim .cholars just goes to sho+ ho+ reliable early hadiths transmitters and collectors +ere. 5hate,er Muslim .cholars of the 'ast ha,e said on Hadith reliability no+ -on-Muslim .cholars affirm this truth. I belie,e e,erything I ha,e brought forth in this article from Academic sources thoroughly debun1s missionary liars.

Ceferences:

<4= ;i,ine 5ord and &ro'hetic 5ord in Aarly Islam )4988* 0y 5illiam Albert 6raham 'age :" <"= Arabic >iterature to the And of the Gmayyad &eriod )"$$%* 0y A. /. >. 0eeston 'age "8" <%= Ancyclo'aedic Historiogra'hy of the Muslim 5orld 0y -agendra Br. .ingh ,olume 4 &age %48 <Author Br. .ingh htt':77+++.easternboo1cor'oration.com7moreinfo.'h'N t!tOsearchstringP%8@9= <K= 2he MuQannaf of RAbd al-CaFFLD al-.anRLnS as a .ource of Authentic ATLdSth of the /irst Century A. H. Harald MotF1i Eournal of -ear Aastern .tudies Uol. #$ -o. 4 )Ean. 4994* ''. "4 <#= Islam in Iran 0y &rofessor Ilya &a,lo,ich &etrushe,s1y 'age 4$# <@= 2he 0loomsbury Com'anion to Islamic .tudies edited by Clinton 0ennett 'age :$ <8= Eihad in Islamic History: ;octrines and &ractice 0y &rofessor Michael 0onner 'age K: