A Critical Study of Umar Falata's View on the Beginning of Forging Hadith

The issue of the beginning of hadith fabrication is one of the major issues about which the Shia and Sunni scholars have expressed different and sometimes conflicting opinions. One of the views belongs to Umar ibn al- Hasan ibn Uthman Falata، a Sunni contemporary author، whose book al-Wad` fi al-Hadith is the most important source in the field of hadith fabrication study. Reviewing other scholars'' ideas along with presenting historical documents، he sought to prove the last third part of the first century (about 67 AH) as the beginning time of hadith fabrication. Analyzing Umar Falata’s views from both negative and positive perspective using a systematic method based on the beliefs of Sunni people، the authors of the present research study attempts to demonstrate that hadith forgery occurred during the life of the Holy Prophet and caution against the consequences of imputing the beginning of hadith fabrication to Shia and introducing Shia as the main cause.