Rereading the Motivations Behind the Prohibition of Narrating and Recording Traditions and Their Historical Implications

The prohibition of narrating and writing traditions is one of the effective factors contributing to the formation of Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic history. During his reign, ‘Umar bin Khaṭṭāb used to forbid people from narrating and writing traditions. Various viewpoints have been expressed in the works of Shiite and Sunni intellectuals as well as in the works of orientalists in relation to the occurrence or the lack of occurrence of such a phenomenon and ‘Umar bin Khaṭṭāb’s motivation behind such prohibition. Through studying the relevant documents and records, this research aims to clarify the following: a) The occurrence or the lack of occurrence of the aforementioned prohibition, b) ‘Umar bin Khaṭṭāb’s motivation for imposing such a prohibition, c) The implications of such a measure. The study of the relevant documents and records indicates that such a measure took place in the history of Islam, albeit not in relation to all traditions (aḥādīth). Some of these documents refer to abstractions (tajrīd) and composition of texts on the margins of the copies of the Qur’an (tawshīḥ) by the companions of the Prophet (S), the uprising of ʿĀshūrāʾ and the confrontation between the proponents of ‘individual opinion’ and the proponents of ‘traditions’ in the second Hijri century. Having historically proven the occurrence of the prohibition of narrating and writing legal and jurisprudential traditions in the first two centuries of the Islamic calendar, the authenticity and accuracy of Sunni narrations in the third century ought to be established through a new approach.