Why did al-Zuhri write hadith down?

لماذا كتب الزهري الحديث؟

Ibn Sa'd relates from Ma'mar that al-Zuhri said: 'We used to dislike writing down knowledge until these rulers compelled us to it; then we decided not to withhold it from any Muslim.' He also relates from Salih ibn Kaysan that he and al-Zuhri wrote down the sunan; al-Zuhri then wrote down what came from the Companions too and Salih did not — 'he succeeded and I lost'. The editor reads the saying to mean that al-Zuhri disliked writing lest people rely on books, and began writing when Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik pressed him to dictate for his sons. He criticises Goldziher for quoting the saying cut short, to suggest that al-Zuhri served the rulers' wishes ¹ ².

The reports

In the notice of al-Zuhri in al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Ibn Sa'd gives two reports on his writing down of knowledge:

From 'Abd al-Razzaq, from Ma'mar, from Salih ibn Kaysan: "Al-Zuhri and I met while seeking knowledge and wrote down what came from the Prophet ﷺ. Then al-Zuhri said: let us write what came from his Companions, for it is sunna. I said: it is not sunna. He wrote and I did not; he succeeded and I lost." ³
From 'Abd al-Razzaq, from Ma'mar, from al-Zuhri: "We used to dislike writing down knowledge until these rulers compelled us to it; then we decided not to withhold it from any Muslim." ⁴

Ibn Sa'd also relates that al-Zuhri attached himself to the Umayyad caliphs from 'Abd al-Malik to Hisham, that Yazid ibn 'Abd al-Malik made him a judge, and that Hisham placed him with his sons to teach them law and hadith and go on pilgrimage with them. ¹

The readings

A point to notice

The disagreement turns on the wording. In Ibn Sa'd's report the saying speaks of "writing down knowledge" and ends "then we decided not to withhold it from any Muslim"; the wording the editor ascribes to Goldziher speaks of "writing hadiths" and lacks the ending. ⁴

Opinions on the question

The question: Ibn Sa'd's report of al-Zuhri's saying on writing knowledge down, the reading of it by the editor of the completing section, and his criticism of the orientalist Goldziher's reading as he describes it.

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni — the reading of the editor of the completing sectionMain reference

al-Zuhri did not want hadith written down lest people rely on books instead of memory. He began writing when Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik pressed him to dictate for his sons, and then went out to people with his well-known saying, which ends with their decision not to withhold knowledge from any Muslim. ²

More opinions (1)

Academic — Goldziher's reading as the editor describes it viewSecondary opinion

the editor says Ignaz Goldziher quoted the saying as "these rulers compelled us to write hadiths", altered and cut short, to cast doubt on al-Zuhri and suggest he was ready to serve the rulers' wishes. This reading is given here in its critic's words and has not yet been taken from Goldziher's own work. ⁴

Sources

Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, the completing section on the Successors of Medina and after them (from the last quarter of the third generation to the middle of the sixth) — study and edition by Ziyad Muhammad Mansur, Maktabat al-'Ulum wa-al-Hikam, Medina, 2nd edition 1408 AH/1987 CE , p. 162

Why did al-Zuhri write hadith down?

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