History of Hadith Compilation

“Abu Bakr, when Caliph, was concerned to learn hadiths, but was careful not to accept the words of those who reported them without an independent witness. He also asked Muslims not to relate traditions which might cause discord among them [see reference below].” – p. 23

Note: There was no formal effort to compile and preserve the Hadith like there was for the Quran during the reign of the four Caliphs. Not only that, but it looks like an active effort was made by them to reduce the spreading of Hadith.

“Bukhari mentions a hadith related from the ‘book’ of Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, while Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, is reported to have collected five hundred hadiths, which he later destroyed because he suspected that it contained some hadiths related by unreliable people.” – p. 24

“Umar ibn al-Khattab meant the hadith of the Prophet when he asked his companions not to narrate too many hadiths.” – p.1

Narrated ‘Ubaidullah bin’Abdullah: Ibn’Abbas said, “When the ailment of the Prophet (ﷺ) became worse, he said, ‘Bring for me (writing) paper and I will write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.’ But’Umar said, ‘The Prophet is seriously ill, and we have got Allah’s Book with us, and that is sufficient for us.’ But the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) differed about this, and there was a hue and cry. On that, the Prophet (ﷺ) said to them, ‘Go away (and leave me alone). It is not right that you should quarrel in front of me.” Ibn’Abbas came out saying, “It was most unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise.