In some narrations, there is mention of burning hadiths, which are as follows:
❀ It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) that we were sitting to write the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ when he ﷺ came and asked us: What are you writing? We said: Whatever we hear from you ﷺ. He ﷺ said: Another book alongside the Book of Allah? Keep the Book of Allah pure. So whatever we had written was gathered in one place and then set on fire.
Reference: Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 11092
❀ Umm al-Mu'minin Aisha (RA) narrates from her father Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) that once he burned five hundred hadiths.
Reference: Reference: Tadhkirat al-Huffaz by Al-Dhahabi: 1/10–11, Kanz al-Ummal by Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi: 10/285, No. 29460
❀ Qasim bin Muhammad narrates that during the time of the Commander of the Faithful, there were a great many hadiths, so he ordered those books to be collected from the people and then burned them.
Reference: Reference: Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'd: 7/187, Taqyeed al-Ilm by Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Hadith number: 72
Based on these narrations, it is claimed that the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) burned the hadiths, and this would only be possible if, in their view, the hadiths were not authoritative!
➊ First Point
The three aforementioned hadiths and reports are not authentic in terms of their chains of narration, therefore the claim based on them is invalid. Below is a brief explanation of their weakness in order:
◄ Regarding a narrator named Abdul Rahman bin Zaid bin Aslam in the chain of narration of the Hadith of Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA), Imam Bazzar states that there is consensus among the Muhaddithin about his weakness. For this reason, Imam Zahabi has declared this Hadith as rejected.
Reference: References: Musnad al-Bazzar: 15/277 No. 8763, Mizan al-I'tidal by Zahabi: 2/565
◄ In the narration of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA), one narrator Ali bin Saleh was declared unknown by Hafiz Ibn Kathir, while the other narrator Musa bin Abdullah was declared weak by Imam Bukhari. For this reason, Imam Zahabi and Hafiz Ibn Kathir have declared this narration weak.
Reference: References: Kanz al-Ummal by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi: 10/286, Al-Kamil fi Dhu'afa al-Rijal by Ibn 'Adi: 9/543, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz by Zahabi: 1/11
◄ The narration of Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) is weak due to a break in the chain of transmission. Its narrator Qasim bin Muhammad did not live during the time of Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). He was born during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
Reference: References: Siyar A'lam al-Nubala by Al-Dhahabi: 5/54, Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar: 16/94
➋ Second point
Even if the hadith of Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) is accepted as authentic, the aforementioned claim is not proven from it. The first point in this regard is that this hadith does not mention that the Prophet ﷺ ordered them to be burned; rather, it was their own action. Even if it is accepted that this order came from the Prophet ﷺ, its purpose was not to abolish the hadith. In fact, this narration itself states that when people asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to narrate hadiths, they were granted permission
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 11092
. This indicates that the purpose of burning was not to end the narration of hadith; otherwise, permission to narrate would not have been given. The real purpose was to prevent confusion and mixing between the hadith and the Quran when both were written in the same place, so that people would not be unable to distinguish between the two. That is why the Prophet ﷺ said: "Another book along with the Book of Allah? Keep the Book of Allah pure"
Reference: Daf' Abateel Dr. Mustafa Mahmood: 66
.➌ Third point
In the narration of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), it is mentioned that he burned those five hundred hadiths which he had not heard directly from the Prophet ﷺ but had heard through someone else, and he feared that the narration might not be exactly as that person had conveyed it. This indicates that he only burned those hadiths whose authenticity he doubted
Reference: Tadhkirat al-Huffaz by al-Dhahabi: 1/11
.➍ Fourth point
The detailed narration regarding the burning of hadiths by Hazrat Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) is found in the book Taqyeed al-Ilm by Khateeb Baghdadi. By carefully reading the words of this narration and other narrations on this topic, it becomes clear that the books which Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had burned were not books containing Prophetic hadiths, but rather those books contained Israelite traditions, stories, opinions of scholars, and their fatwas. During the time of Sayyiduna Umar, such books had become common, and the finalized copies of the Holy Quran were not yet widely available in people's hands. In such a situation, if these types of books became widespread, there was a strong possibility that people might start reading and teaching them as if they held the status of the Holy Quran. Therefore, to prevent this, Hazrat Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) took this wise step. Khateeb Baghdadi also pointed to this matter at the end of this chapter.
Reference: For details, see: Taqyeed al-Ilm by Khateeb al-Baghdadi (p. 133), Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Arab Qabl al-Islam by Jawad Ali: 15/326
➎ Fifth Point
As has been proven, these three narrations are not reliable due to their weakness. On the contrary, it is established in authentic narrations that these three individuals had the practice of having hadiths written from the Companions:
◈ The Prophet ﷺ permitted Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As رضي الله عنهما to write hadiths
Reference: Sunan Abi Dawood: 3646
.◈ Similarly, on the occasion of the Conquest of Mecca, a Yemeni man was ordered to have hadiths written for him upon the request of Abu Shah
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari: 2434, Sahih Muslim: 1355
.◈ It is established from Abu Bakr Siddiq رضي الله عنه that when he sent Sayyiduna Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه to Bahrain, he gave him detailed written instructions regarding zakat issued by the Prophet ﷺ
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari: 1454
.◈ It is established from Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه that he wrote a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ and sent it to the conqueror of Azerbaijan, Utbah ibn Farqad رضي الله عنه
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari: 5828, Sahih Muslim: 2069
.➏ Sixth Point
To say that hadiths were burned because they were not considered authoritative by them is a misconception. Every sensible person knows that whether something is authoritative or not does not depend on whether it is written down, not written, or written and then burned. That which is authoritative remains so before it is written and after it is written. Similarly, that which is not authoritative does not become authoritative by being written down. Writing or not writing relates to its preservation, not its authority. This is why the Holy Quran was authoritative even when it was not formally written in a Mushaf. Its authority was because it is the word of Allah and His revelation. In the same way, the authority of hadith is because it is the statement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, about whom the Quran itself testifies that he does not speak without Allah’s revelation [سورة النجم : 3 – 4]. Thus, it is proven that not writing hadiths, writing them late, or writing and then burning them does not affect the authority of hadith in any way.
➐ Seventh Point
Burning the hadiths only destroys their written form, whereas the hadiths were also preserved in the hearts of people. According to the claim, if the intention was to eliminate the hadiths, then merely burning them would not have yielded any significant benefit. The benefit would have been if an order was issued prohibiting the narration of hadiths altogether, whereas here, on the contrary, in the hadith of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), people are being permitted to narrate hadiths! This indicates that the order to burn or erase hadiths was temporary and was during the early period of Islam when the Quran was not yet in a written book form, and there was a concern that writing the Quran and hadith together might cause confusion. Later, when this concern was removed, permission was granted to write hadiths.
➑ Eighth Point
It is also worth considering here that if hadiths were lost due to burning, then how did the mentioned hadith remain safe from burning? If it is said that people later fabricated hadiths and attributed them to the Prophet ﷺ, then the same argument can equally apply to the hadith in which the order to erase or burn hadiths is present! If this hadith can be used as evidence for the lack of preservation of hadiths, then why can't the hadiths that command the writing of hadiths be used as evidence for the preservation of hadiths?
