Abu Dawud

Explanation:
1:
From this hadith, it is understood that the command not to write hadith was later abrogated; thus, this hadith is an explicit proof for the permissibility of writing down the sayings of Allah’s Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Similarly, the following hadith and the blessed ahadith recorded in the books of hadith are as clear as daylight evidence against the deniers of hadith, proving that the “blessed practice of writing hadith” took place during the pure life of the Seal of the Messengers, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. According to our research, among the noble Companions radi Allahu anhum, there were twenty such individuals—including our masters Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Wa’il ibn Hujr, Sa’d ibn Ubadah, Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, and Rafi’ ibn Khadij radi Allahu anhum—who wrote down the blessed sayings of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

The number of ahadith written by these Companions reached several thousands. Furthermore, Companions like Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu, who could not write themselves, memorized the blessed sayings word for word, and then had these ahadith written down by their students; the number of these also reaches several thousands.

According to our estimation, a large portion of all the ahadith present in the books of hadith had already been written during the era of the Companions.

(For further details, refer to the first chapter of the first volume of our book “Muqaddimat al-Hadith” and Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah Khan’s “Al-Watha’iq al-Siyasiyyah fi ‘Ahd...”, Abu Yahya)