Al'Quran is not the only guide for Muslims. We also need the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad. So now we will discuss how Islamic scholars maintain the authenticity of the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad.
Just to remind you, at the time of the Prophet Muhammad SAW and his companions, as also written by Michael Zwettler:
"In ancient times, writing was rarely used. So people used the memorization method and spread it orally." (Michael Zwettler)
The habit of people in ancient times was to memorize and spread the words of their ancestors from mouth to mouth, and they rarely wrote them down. In that way, the memorizing ability of mankind at that time was stronger than it is now.
Many people today are surprised because we are not used to memorizing. Therefore, our memory tends to be weak. For example, we prefer to record something to remember on a laptop or on a piece of paper. But in those days, people preferred to memorize.
Hadith if translated means "story". Actually Al-Qur'an is also referred to as Al-hadith, in fact Al-Qur'an is the best hadith, the best story or narration. Generally, in Islam, the words of the Prophet Muhammad are recorded in the hadiths. So hadith is the term for the writings in which the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad are recorded.
And there are many hadith books because there are many things that the Prophet Muhammad SAW said/done during his apostolic period
Since there are so many hadiths, one problem arises. After the Prophet Muhammad SAW died, many people began to make up and lie about the Prophet. For example, rice sellers think that to make their rice sell better, they make up "The Prophet suggested we eat rice, because rice is good for your health." So if everyone thinks rice is healthy and this is also recommended by the Prophet, then more and more people will buy rice. Likewise, the Arab rulers tried to cover up their mistakes by fabricating the words of the Prophet.
It should be noted that authenticating the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad is different from maintaining the authenticity of the Al'Quran. This is due to: First, the Qur'an was memorized by thousands of Muslims from the early days of Islam. And Al'Quran texts have also been collected & compiled since the early days of Islam. So if someone makes a mistake, if a certain group wants to make up verses of the Koran, they will not be able to do it because the text of the Koran has already been memorized and has been agreed upon by everyone.
However, this is not the case with the hadiths or sayings of the Prophet. Therefore, there are many hadith books. There is indeed a collection of hadiths which are very reliable and authentic. This book is considered the second most authentic book after the Qur'an. This book is Sahih Al Bukhari Hadith. The word "Sahih" means "authentic." And Al-Bukhari is the name of the Imam who collected various sayings of the Prophet Muhammad SAW and recorded them. The most authentic collection of hadiths after the hadiths of Sahih Al-Bukhari are the hadiths of Sahih Muslim. The hadith book Sahih Muslim was compiled by Imam Muslim. He is a very famous scholar.
God said:
"Ya ayyuhal ladzina amanu ati' ullaha wa ati' urrosul"
(O you who believe, obey Allah and the Messengers)
And indeed many of Islam's most important worship are not fully explained in the Qur'an.
For example about the five daily prayers. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Akki musallah" which means “Establish prayer”, but the methods are not explained in the Qur'an. Likewise, there are many things in the Qur'an that we are unable to understand unless the Prophet Muhammad SAW once said and exemplified it. If you want to know how to perform the five daily prayers, then you should also know the following:
When is the prayer time?
What should we say during prayer?
How many cycles are in each prayer?
What should be said in every prayer movement?
What are the moves?
What is the sequence of movements in prayer?
None of this is mentioned in the Quran. The only way to know all of this is through the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad. He also said "Pray as you see me praying."
Even Allah himself repeatedly emphasizes the importance of referring to the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. In one of the verses, Allah swears by Himself.
"No, by Allah, they do not believe, unless they make you Muhammad, a judge in all disputes between them, & so that there is no rejection in their hearts & they bow truly bow down."
So the verse above explains that the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad is part of the Islamic religion. Allah SWT also says in the Qur'an, that whatever the Prophet Muhammad said, we must accept it, and whatever the Prophet forbids, we must leave it.
Now let's discuss how the scholars maintain the authenticity of the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.
First of all, for Muslims, Prophet Muhammad is the best role model. Even the Qur'an says in the letter Al-Ahzab verse 21 which reads:
"Indeed, the Messenger of Allah has a good role model for you (namely) for those who hope (grace) Allah and (the arrival of) the Day of Judgment and he mentions Allah a lot." (Al-Ahzab: 21)
So the Al-Qu'ran says that the actions and lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad SAW is a good role model, which must be followed by anyone who believes in Allah.
For this reason, we always try to imitate the deeds and attitudes of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. The Sunnah of the Prophet is applied in all areas of human life. The Sunnah of the Prophet is not only to be memorized, but also to be implemented in practice. For example, Prophet Muhammad SAW said:
"If it doesn't become a problem for my people, I will order the use of miswak as an obligation for Muslims."
And the Prophet himself often used miswak. He used it in the morning and at night, before leaving the house, before praying, and his companions also followed suit. The children of the Prophet's companions also followed him. And their grandchildren also followed suit, so they often said: "We saw the Prophet Muhammad doing this and that, he told us to do it." So in this way the Sunnah of the Prophet can be maintained.
For example, I remember that my dad, Gavin Green, taught me about a little phrase that says: RAU which is an acronym for “Return After Use". This means when I have used something, I have to put it back. it in its place. And he told me that my grandfather taught him & maybe my great-grandfather taught my grandfather.
So it's actually a delivery chain. I learned from my father, whose name was Gavin Green, who learned from my grandfather, so this chain spanned over a hundred years. If you do the math, my dad is 86 at this point, so if you count back to my grandfather's time, it's over a hundred years apart. That's quite a long time. And if I also teach my kids these phrases, and then they teach them back to their kids, then this is what we call a chain of delivery.
The chain of transmission is called "isnad" in Islamic terms. And isnad is very important in maintaining the authenticity of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. And one of the most powerful sayings of the Prophet, is conveyed through the transmission of Mutawatir .
Now we return to our previous discussion where many people started making up and lying about the sayings of the Prophet.
So some Companions decided to check those who said that they heard the Prophet saying this and that. They wanted to check, from which of the Prophet's companions did this person hear it? Then afterwards they would go and check on the friend "Did you say this? Are you sure that Prophet Muhammad SAW said it?" If they know that the person has lied, then they will announce it in front of the crowd: "This person is lying about the Prophet, do not believe him, he has made up the words of the Prophet."
And the Prophet Muhammad himself once said "Whoever creates lies about me on purpose, then they will go to hell." So no one is allowed to lie and make up the words of the Prophet.
So the Companions said: "We want to know who said that. Where did you hear that the Prophet said it? Give us the isnad." Then developed a science about the chain of transmission. It was from there that the scholars began to study it and there were several conditions that had to be considered to legitimize a hadith: "Has so and so actually met so and so? Does he believe what he says? Is he honest? does he have a good memory? is he a human being? godly?” They examined the traits and personalities of everyone in the chain of transmission.
Of course this is really a very broad science. In order to learn isnad knowledge, one has to study for a long time, so that they can definitely authenticate the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
And many scholars throughout Islamic history have dedicated their lives to the study of isnad. These scholars have compiled authentic hadith books, such as Sahih Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Muslim, Sunnah Abu Dawud, Sunnah An-Nasa'i, and so on. So as I said, this is a very broad science and this knowledge aims to ascertain the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad SAW