This prompted his companions to fight the apostates.

This prompted his companions to fight the apostates. As a result, more than three hundred companions[^4] were killed in the battle of Yamamah alone. Following this, they felt the need for recording the traditions ( hadith ). However, there was a difference of opinion in this regard. Some of the companions held that it was allowed to record the hadith, while others advocated its prohibition.

The idea of prohibition gained more ground because of the ban on the recording of the hadith by the first[^5], the second[^6] and the third[^7] caliphs. The effect of such a prohibition and dislike continued up until the second century H when the Muslims unanimously agreed on the legitimacy of recording the hadith. The Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (as), always considered the recording of hadith as legal. The first thing he recorded was the Book of Allah, the Almighty.

Immediately after the Prophet’s burial, he had vowed not to put on his cloak, except for prayers, until after he has collected the Holy Qur’an.

He consequently collected it according to its chronological order, also pointing out the general ( ‘amm ) and the restricted ( khass ) verses of it; the absolute ( mutlaq ) and the qualified ( muqayyad ); the clear ( mubayyan ) and the unclear ( mujmal ); the concrete ( muhkam ) and the ambiguous ( mutashabih ); and the abrogating ( nasikh ) and the abrogated ( mansukh ). He also made distinct the verses after whose recital prostration becomes obligatory from those which are otherwise.

There was also a mention of the manners and norms that have appeared in it, together with the cases of revelation ( sha’n al-nuzul ). He had also clarified in this collection all that which might have seemed difficult in some respect. He also composed a work on blood money after the collection of the Holy Qur’an which was then known as ‘Sahifah’. Ibn Sa‘d has brought this work at the end of his book famously known as al-Jami’ .

Al-Bukhari also narrates from this particular work in a number of places in his Sahih , for instance in the beginning of the first volume of Kitab al-‘Ilm (Book of Knowledge). A group of his adherents at that time followed him in collecting the hadith. Among them was Abu Rafi’ Ibrahim al-Qibti and his two sons: ‘Ali and ‘Ubaidullah.

‘Ubaidullah has a book in which he lists those who participated in the battles of Jamal, Siffin and Nahrawan.[^8] Hence, this is the first book in history to be written by a follower of Imam ‘Ali (as).