Usool al Hadith - Forever Islam

THREE: TransmissionTahammul al-‘IlmDuring the era of the dissemination of hadeeths and their compilation in the firstthree centuries a variety of methods of learning and teaching evolved. Thesemethods were later categorized and technical terminology developed to describethem within the field of hadeeth science. The following eight methods wereidentified, the first two of which were the most common and accurate.1. Samaa‘ : Reading by the TeacherThis method of transmission of hadeeths had four different formats:a) Recitation from memory by the teacher. Wide use of this practice began todecline by the middle of the second century, though it persisted to a muchlesser extent for a long time after that. Students remained with theirteachers for long a time until they became authorities.b) Reading from Books. This method could either involve the teacher readingfrom his own books, which was preferred, or the reading of the teacherfrom his student’s book, which was either a copy or a selection from hisown work.c) Questions and Answers. Students would read to their teacher a part of thehadeeths and he would complete the narration.d) Dictation. The companion, Waathilah ibn Asqaa (d. 83) was the first tohold classes for dictation of hadeeths. It was not a favored method initiallydue to the ease with which students could gather knowledge. However, az-Zuhree departed from this attitude and followed this method throughouthis life. Later on, some scholars refused to dictate if their students did notwrite the hadeeths down. Dictation was either from memory or frombooks. A fast writer was often chosen to record all the hadeeths, whileothers watched him write to catch his mistakes. Later they borrowed thebooks and made their own copies. These copies were revised among thestudents or with the teacher himself.