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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Prohibition of Recording the Hadith, Causes and Effects Fourth Reason: Justifications Of Abu-Zahw And `Abd Al-Ghaniy Mr. Abu-Zahw says, “There was another thing that urged the Holy Prophet to prohibit them from recording the Hadith; it was the maintenance of their talents of memorization! Had they recorded the Hadith, they would have depended upon the records completely and neglected their capacities of memorization.

With the elapse of time, such great capacities would certainly vanish.”[^1] Shaykh `Abd al-Ghaniy says, “The Holy Prophet prohibited the recordation of the Hadith for fear that they (the Sahabah) would entirely depend upon the records and neglect the memorization, which was their nature and innate disposition and, as a result, their talents would be exposed to weakness.

Therefore, the Holy Prophet’s prohibition was dedicated to those whose memories were too strong to be affected by oblivion.”[^2] Before the above-mentioned text, Shaykh `Abd al-Ghaniy has said, “Memorization and recording alternate in the protection of the Shari`ah, yet in most cases one faints when the other grows stronger.

On this account, we can understand the causes that incited the Sahabah to urge their disciples to depend upon their memories and neglect their pens; they understood that writing would certainly weaken the talent of memorization, which was in their natures, and as a general rule, human soul always tends to whatever nourishes the nature and avoids whatever opposes or weakens it.”[^3] Dr.

al-Khatib says, “They refused that the students of Hadith would devote themselves to their records, making them the stores of their knowledge. They also did not want to violate the Sahabah in the question of the compliance with memorization and the complete dependence upon the memory, since to depend upon the records results in the weakening of the memory and the negligence of the memorization.”[^4] Commenting on the words of Shaykh `Abd al-Ghaniy, Sayyid al-Jalaliy says.

“Except its oratory purpose, the wording is empty of any scientific or conclusive matter. Moreover, it is far away from subjectivity since the main topic of the study is the prohibition of the recording, while the wording is only agreeable to personal desires!