It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not write anything from me except the Qur'an. Whoever has written anything other than the Qur'an should erase it."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: We were sitting and writing down the ahadith we had heard from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and asked: "What is this that you are writing?" We said: "Whatever we hear from you." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Is something being written along with the Book of Allah? Write only and only the Book of Allah. Is something being written along with the Book of Allah? Write only and only the Book of Allah and do not mix it with anything else." So we gathered whatever we had written in one place and burned it with fire. Then we said: "O Messenger of Allah! Can we narrate your ahadith?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, you can narrate from me, there is no harm in it. However, whoever deliberately lies about me, let him prepare his abode in Hell." Then we said: "O Messenger of Allah! Can we also narrate from Banu Isra'il?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, you can narrate from Banu Isra'il, there is no harm in it. Whatever you narrate from them, in any case, there will be something even more astonishing among them."

Abdul Muttalib bin Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates that Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, went to Sayyiduna Muawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, and related a hadith to him. He ordered a man to write down this hadith, but Sayyiduna Zaid, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade writing down his hadith." So he erased it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both), he says: Whatever I used to hear from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I would write it down with the intention of remembering it. But the Quraysh forbade me from doing so and said: "You write down everything you hear from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), while he is a human being and speaks in both states of anger and happiness." So I stopped writing and informed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about this. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You write! By the One in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes from me except the truth."

It is narrated from Mujahid and Mughira bin Hakim, may Allah have mercy on them, they say: We heard Sayyiduna Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, saying: "No one knew the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, more than me, except Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As, may Allah be pleased with them both. The reason for this is that he used to write them down with his hand and memorize them by heart, whereas I used to memorize them by heart but did not write them down." He had sought permission from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, to write, and he, peace and blessings be upon him, granted him permission.

(Second chain) Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, says: "There was no one who knew more of the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, than me, except for Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr, may Allah be pleased with them both. The reason for this is that he used to write, and I did not write."

Yahya ibn Ma'in, may Allah have mercy on him, says: Imam Abdur Razzaq, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me: "Write from me, even if it is only one hadith," but I did not have a book. I (Yahya) said: "No, I will not write even a single letter."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not ask the People of the Book about anything, for they will never guide you, while they themselves have gone astray. In this matter, you will either have to affirm falsehood or deny the truth. So indeed, if Musa (peace be upon him) were alive among you, it would not be permissible for him except to follow me."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a book which he had obtained from some people of the Book, and he began to read it to him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became angry and said:“O Umar bin Khattab! Have you fallen into doubt regarding your religion? By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! I have brought to you a Shari’ah that is clear, pure (and free from doubt and suspicion). Do not ask anything from the people of the Book, otherwise it may happen that they tell you something true and you deny it, or they tell you something false and you affirm it. By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! If Musa (peace be upon him) were alive, even he would have no choice but to follow me.”

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said:“O Messenger of Allah! I passed by a brother from the tribe of Qurayzah, and he wrote down for me some important points from the Torah. Should I present them to you?”Upon hearing this, the face of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to change. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him):“Do you not see what change has come over the face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?”Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“We are pleased with Allah as our Lord, with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as our Messenger, and with Islam as our religion.”The (state of anger) then left the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said:“By Him in Whose hand is my soul! If Musa (peace be upon him) were to appear among you and you were to leave me and follow him, you would surely go astray. Indeed, you are my share among the nations, and I am your share among the Prophets.”