Importance of knowing the narrators of Hadeeth

The narrators of Hadeeth are the most honourable and respectable
Muslims, as they are keepers and preservers of Sunnah. Most of them
are the companions of the Prophetwho witnessed the acts and learnt the
sayings of the Prophet. Others are the successors of the companions.
Who were blessed by Allaah and they are highly respectedby all
Muslims. They are shinning stars of Islam.
Their hearts were free from worldly desires. Reading their biographies
will increase love and devotion towards them and develop more interest
to be faithful and obedient in the heart of the Muslimwho reads their
biography.
Allaah Almighty Says (what means):"Verily, We have sent down the
Reminder, and surely, We will guard it (fromcorruption)."[Quran; 15:9]
The above promise made by Allaah is obviously fulfilled in the
undisputed purity of the Quranic text throughout the fourteen
centuries since its revelation.
However, what is often forgotten by many Muslims is that the above
divine promise also includes, by necessity, theSunnah of the Prophet
Muhammadfor it is the practical example of the implementation of the
Quranic guidance, the Wisdom taught to theProphetalong with the
Scripture, and neither the Quran nor theSunnah can be understood
correctly without recourse to the other.
Allaah preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companionsand their
followersto memorize, write down and pass on the statements of the
Messenger of Allaahand the descriptions of his way, as well as to
continue the blessings of practicing the Sunnah. Later, as the purity
of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allaah caused the
Muslim nationto produce outstanding individuals of incredible
memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to
collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true
words of precious wisdom of their Messengerfrom those corrupted by
weak memories, from forgeriesby unscrupulous liars, and from the
statements of the enormous number of scholars, the Companions and
those who followed their way, who had taught in various centers of
learning and helped to transmit the legacy of Muhammad- all of
thisachieved through preciseattention to the words narrated and
detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of
reporters ofHadeeth. Action being the best way to preserve teachings,
the scholars ofIslam also revived the practice of the blessed
authentic Sunnah.
Unfortunately, however, statements will continue to be attributed to
the Prophetalthough the person quoting them may have no idea what the
people of knowledgein the field of Hadeeth science have ruled
regarding those hadeeths, thus ironically being in danger of
contravening the Prophet'swidely-narrated stern warnings about
attributing incorrect/unsound statements to him.
The methodology of the expert scholars of Hadeeth in assessing
narrations and sorting out the genuine from themistaken, fabricated
etc., forms the subject-matter of a wealth of material left to us by
the scholars of Hadeeth (traditionists).
A Hadeeth is composed oftwo parts: the Matn (text)and the Isnaad
(chain of reporters). A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but
it needs an authentic Isnaad with reliable reporters to be acceptable.
'Abdullaah Ibn Al-Mubaarak(d. 181 AH), one of the illustrious teachers
of Imaam Al-Bukhaarisaid: "The Isnaad is part of the religion, had it
notbeen for the Isnaad, thenpeople would have claimed whatever they
wished."
Among the sciences of Hadeeth is the study of the chain of reporters
(the Isnaad). Many Muslim scholars have specialized in this field.
Itincludes identifying the name of each and every narrator (reporter),
his character (his truthfulness, piety, publicbehavior), his ability
and reputation as a memorizer and the types of narrations he is known
to report, whether authentic, weak, fabricated, etc. In addition, each
narrator should be identified by a rating given by other narrators who
knew him.So all of these and many other details must be considered to
know the degree to which a Hadeeth may be used as a basis for Islamic
belief or practice (Sharee'ah), or merely as a point of interest (not
to be attributed to the sayings, etc. of the Prophet).
After the Book of Allaah (The Quran), the books ofHadeeth collection
that were collected by Imaams Bukhaari and Muslimare considered by the
Muslimscholars to be the most authentic books of Hadeeth. However,
there are other famous scholars in the field who compiled books of
Hadeeth such as; Abu Daawood (d.275), At-Tirmithi (d. 279), An-Nasaa'i
(d. 303) and others.