the rules and regulations for its payment and collection. These are but two examples; but since Islām covered the whole sphere of human activity, hundreds of points had to be explained by the Holy Prophet by his example in action and word, while on the moral side, his was the pattern which every Muslim was required to follow (33:21). The man, therefore, who embraced Islām stood in immediate need of both the Holy Qur’ān and the Sunnah.

Transmission of Ḥadīth in Holy Prophet’s lifetime

The transmission of the practices and sayings of the Holy Prophet from one person to another, thus became necessary during the Holy Prophet’s lifetime. In fact, the Holy Prophet himself used to give instructions about the transmission of what he taught. Thus when a deputation of the tribe of Rabī‘ah came to wait upon him in the early days of Madīnah, he concluded his instructions to them with the words: “Remember this and report it to those whom you have left behind.”2 Similar were his instructions in another case: “Go back to your people and teach them these things” (Bu. 3:25). There is another report according to which on the occasion of a pilgrimage, the Holy Prophet, after enjoining on the Muslims the duty of holding sacred each other’s life, property and honour, added: ‘He who is present here should carry this message to him who is absent” (Bu. 3:37). Again, there is ample historical evidence that whenever a people embraced Islām, the Holy Prophet used to send them one or more of his missionaries who not only taught them the Holy Qur’ān but also explained to them how its injunctions were to be carried out in practice. It is also on record that people came to the Holy Prophet and demanded teachers who could teach them the Holy Qur’ān and the Sunnah. And the Companions of the Holy Prophet knew full well that his actions and practices were to be followed, should no express direction be met with in the Holy Qur’ān. It is related that when Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, on being appointed Governor of Yaman by the Holy Prophet, was asked how he would judge cases, his reply was, “by the Book of Allāh.” Asked what he would do if he did not find a direction in the Book of Allāh, he replied “by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allāh” (AD. 23:11). The Sunnah was, therefore, recognized in the very