The era of the Companions and their Followers

The Companions did their utmost to convey this Deen (religion) to the generations succeeding them in the best and most accurate way possible. They sincerely loved it, honestly lived according to it and faithfully preserved it and kept any impurity or irregularity out of it.

Their role in the preservation of the Deen was one of utmost importance to the continuation of the message of Islam, but they were highly prepared for it by the best teacher and trainer, Prophet Muhammad, [Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam (SAWS) / sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention )]. Thus the studying of this era, especially with respect to the history and authority of the Sunnah, is necessary to all Students of Knowledge and students of Islam.

And since this series will not provide enough details to properly cover the subject, it is recommended that the readers consult the following list of books on the subject:

Studies of Early Hadeeth Literature by M. M. Azami, Sunnah Qabla at-Tadween (the Sunnah before Writing) by Ajaj al-Khateeb, The Sunnah and its Place in Islam by Mustafa as-Siba’ee, Manhajj an-Naqd fi Uloom al-Hadeeth (the Methodology of Critique in the Sciences of Hadeeth) by Noor-ddeen Etr, al-Hadeeth wal Muhaddithoon (Hadeeth and Hadeeth Narrators) by Muhammad M. Abu Zahou, and Hujjiatus Sunnah (The Authority of the Sunnah) by Houcine Chouat.

Methodology of the Companions in Preserving the Sunnah

Before discussing the Companions’ ways of learning, practicing, preserving and conveying of the Sunnah, it is worthwhile to shed some light on the main points one needs to understand about the Companions and their methodology:

- The Companions were fully aware of the responsibility they shoulder after the death of the Prophet, (SAWS). Their love of this Deen is unsurpassed.

- The Companions are all trustworthy. They never doubted one another in the matters of this Deen and the narration of hadeeth.

- The Companions have developed a methodology for scrutinizing hadeeth and narrators, and by doing that have established the rules of ascertaining narrations for those who came after them.

- The ability of different Companions to understand the Sunnah, memorize it and convey it varied from one Companion to another.

- The Companions left Makkah and Madinah to many places around the Muslim world at the time for the purpose of delivering the message and teaching Islam to those who accepted it thus spreading the Sunnah throughout the land.

It is interesting to note that about 750 Companions narrated hadeeth, seven of whom narrated a high number of ahadeeth, and about twenty narrated an average number, the rest narrated a small number.

The seven who narrated a large number of ahadeeth are: Abu Hurairah who narrated 5374 hadeeth, Abdullah Ibn Umar narrated 2630, Anas Ibn Malik narrated 2286, Aisha As-Siddiqah narrated 2210 hadeeth, Abdullah Ibn Abbas narrated 1660, Jabir Ibn Abdullah narrated 1540, and Abu Sa’eed aI-Khudri narrated 1100 hadeeth. They understood their role and were aware of the significance of their ability in narrating the ahadeeth and did their best to deliver them diligently and accurately. Muslims of all times are indebted to them.