Were Hadith narrated along with Quran?

For the first couple hundred years after the death of the prophet, the main focus for most Muslims was the Quran. Sunni Islam did not become mainstream until around the year 848 CE, during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Mutawakkil. Before that, people who propagated Hadith were fringe and not mainstream. According to “Hadith Literature, Its Origin, Development & Special Features” by Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi ~99% of the companions did not narrate any Hadith.

Additionally, there was no formal effort by any of the first four Caliphs to formally catalog and compile Hadith like they did the Quran. Not only did they not make an effort to preserve the Hadith, but the history of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali shows that they actively tried to suppress the spread of Hadith.

ABU BAKR AND HADITH

According to a narration some writers report from al-Hakim an-Nisaburi, Aisha stated the following:

Narrated ‘Aisha: My father had collected five hundred hadiths of the Prophet. On the night he did it, he tossed and turned in bed. I asked, “Do you have an illness or have you heard something?” In the morning, he said, “My daughter! Bring me the hadiths that I gave you.” I brought them. He wanted some fire and burned them. When I asked him why he burned them, he said, “I do not want to die having these hadiths with me because I am afraid that there are hadiths that are not originally as they are reported though I heard them from people whom I trust; I am afraid to narrate them that way”

Al-Dhahbiy: Tadhkirat al-Huffadh 1:5 Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad: al-I`tisam bi-Habl-illah al-Matin 1:30 `Abd al-Ghaniy `Abd al-Khaliq: Hijjiyyat al-Sunnah 394

After the demise of the Holy Prophet, Abu-Bakr gathered people and said, ‘You are reporting about the Messenger of Allah inconsistent narrations. People coming after you will be engaged in more intense discrepancy. Therefore, do not report anything about the Messenger of Allah, and if anyone asks you, you should refer to the Book of Allah as the arbitrator. You should thus deem lawful whatever is lawful therein and deem unlawful whatever is unlawful therein.’

Al-Dhahbiy: Tadhkirat al-Huffadh 1:32 `Abd al-Ghaniy Abd al-Khaliq: Hijjiyyat al-Sunnah 394

UMAR AND HADITH

Umar staunchly believed that the Quran was sufficient and was incredibly uptight regarding the spreading of Hadith.

Narrated ‘Ubaidullah bin `Abdullah: Ibn `Abbas said, “When the ailment of the Prophet (ﷺ) became worse, he said, ‘Bring for me (writing) paper and I will write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.’ But `Umar said, ‘The Prophet is seriously ill, and we have got Allah’s Book with us and that is sufficient for us.’ But the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) differed about this and there was a hue and cry. On that the Prophet (ﷺ) said to them, ‘Go away (and leave me alone). It is not right that you should quarrel in front of me.” Ibn `Abbas came out saying, “It was most unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise.

حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي يُونُسُ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ لَمَّا اشْتَدَّ بِالنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَجَعُهُ قَالَ ‏”‏ ائْتُونِي بِكِتَابٍ أَكْتُبُ لَكُمْ كِتَابًا لاَ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ ‏”‏‏.‏ قَالَ عُمَرُ إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم غَلَبَهُ الْوَجَعُ وَعِنْدَنَا كِتَابُ اللَّهِ حَسْبُنَا فَاخْتَلَفُوا وَكَثُرَ اللَّغَطُ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ قُومُوا عَنِّي، وَلاَ يَنْبَغِي عِنْدِي التَّنَازُعُ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَخَرَجَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ يَقُولُ إِنَّ الرَّزِيَّةَ كُلَّ الرَّزِيَّةِ مَا حَالَ بَيْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَبَيْنَ كِتَابِهِ‏.‏

Sahih al-Bukhari 114 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:114

It is reported that Umar, during his reign as Caliph, did not allow the free travel of the prophet’s companions without his permission because he did not want them to propagate Hadith. It wasn’t until the reign of Uthman that this ban was lifted, and the companions were allowed to emigrate to some of the newly Muslim-conquered regions.

In Tadhkirat al-huffaz, al-Dhahabi reported from Shu’bah, from Sa’id ibn Ibrahim from his father, that Umar detained Ibn Mas’ud, Abu al-Darda’ and Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari, saying to them: You have narrated hadith abundantly from the Messenger of Allah. It is reported that he had detained them in Medina, but they were set free by Uthman.

Ibn Sa’d and Ibn Asakir reports from Mahmud ibn Labid that he said: I heard Uthman ibn Affan addressing people from over the pulpit: It is unlawful for everyone to narrate any hadith he never heard of during the time of Abu Bakr and that of Umar. Verily that which made me abstain from narrating from the Messenger of Allah was not to be among the most conscious of his Companions, but I heard him declaring: “Whoever ascribing to me something I never said, he shall verily occupy his (destined) abode in Fire.”

ALI AND HADITH

Narrated Abu Juhaifa: I asked Ali, “Do you have the knowledge of any Divine Inspiration (wahi) besides what is in Allah’s Book?” Ali replied, “No, by Him Who splits the grain of corn and creates the soul. I don’t think we have such knowledge, but we have the ability of understanding which Allah may endow a person with, so that he may understand the Qur’an, and we have what is written in this paper as well.” I asked, “What is written in this paper?” He replied, “The understanding, releasing of the captive, and that a Muslim should not be killed by a disbeliever.

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ، حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرٌ، حَدَّثَنَا مُطَرِّفٌ، أَنَّ عَامِرًا، حَدَّثَهُمْ عَنْ أَبِي جُحَيْفَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِعَلِيٍّ ـ رضى الله عنه هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ شَىْءٌ مِنَ الْوَحْىِ إِلاَّ مَا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ قَالَ وَالَّذِي فَلَقَ الْحَبَّةَ وَبَرَأَ النَّسَمَةَ مَا أَعْلَمُهُ إِلاَّ فَهْمًا يُعْطِيهِ اللَّهُ رَجُلاً فِي الْقُرْآنِ، وَمَا فِي هَذِهِ الصَّحِيفَةِ‏.‏ قُلْتُ وَمَا فِي الصَّحِيفَةِ قَالَ الْعَقْلُ وَفَكَاكُ الأَسِيرِ، وَأَنْ لاَ يُقْتَلَ مُسْلِمٌ بِكَافِرٍ‏.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3047 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3047

Further Reading