Chapter: ….

Abū Bakr ibn in-Naḍr bin Abīn-Naḍr narrated to me, he said Abūn-Naḍr Hāshim bin ul-Qāsim narrated to me, Abū Aqīl, companion of Buhayyah, narrated to us, he said: ‘I was sitting near al-Qāsim bin Ubayd Allah and Yahyā bin Sa’īd [bin Qays al-Madanī al-Qāḍī], when Yahyā said to al-Qāsim: ‘Oh Abā Muhammad! Indeed it is gravely harmful for the likes of you to be asked about something from the affair of this Dīn, and then knowledge of it is not found with you, and no relief [in the form of an answer]’ -or- ‘…knowledge and no articulation’. So al-Qāsim said [to Yahyā bin Sa’īd]: ‘Where did that come from?’ [Yahyā] said: ‘It is because you are the son of two Imāms of guidance- a descendent of Abu Bakr and Umar.’ [al-Qāsim] said to him: ‘More harmful than that- according to whoever reflects about Allah- is to speak without knowledge or to take [Ḥadīth] from someone who is not trustworthy’. [Abū Aqīl] said: ‘So [Yahyā bin Sa’īd] was quiet and did not respond to him’.

Bishr bin ul-Hakam al-Abdī narrated to me, he said, I heard Sufyān bin Uyaynah saying, they informed me on authority of Abī Aqīl, companion of Buhayyah, that a descendent of 'Abd Allah bin 'Umar was asked about something that he did not have knowledge about, so Yahyā bin Sa’īd said to him: ‘By Allah, indeed it is a grave matter that the likes of you, a descendent of two Imāms of guidance – meaning 'Umar and Ibn 'Umar – is asked about a matter and you have no knowledge of it’. So [al-Qāsim] said: ‘By Allah, more grave than that according to Allah, and to whoever reflects about Allah, is to speak without knowledge or to report on authority of one who is not trustworthy’. [Ibn Uyaynah] said that Abū Aqīl Yahyā bin al-Mutawakkil witnessed them both when they said that.

Amr bin Alī Abū Hafs narrated to us, he said I heard Yahyā bin Sa’īd, he said: ‘I asked Sufyān ath-Thawrī , Shu’bah, Mālik, and Ibn Uyaynah about a man who is not reliable (Thabt) in Ḥadīth, and someone comes and asks me about him, and they said: ‘Inform [others] against him that he is not reliable’.’

Ubayd Allah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, he said, I heard an-Naḍr saying: ‘Ibn Awn was asked about the Ḥadīth of Shahr and he was standing at the threshold of the door, so [Ibn Awn] said: ‘Indeed they criticized Shahr, indeed they criticized Shahr’. Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him, said ‘He means- the tongues of men were busy criticizing him’.’

Hajjāj bin ush-Shā’ir narrated to me, Shabābah narrated to us, he said, Shu’bah said: ‘I had met Shahr then abandoned transmitting from him’.

Muhammad bin 'Abd Allah bin Quhzādh, from the people of Marw, narrated to me, he said Alī bin Husayn bin Wāqid informed me, he said 'Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak said, I said to Sufyān ath-Thawrī: ‘Indeed Abbād bin Kathīr, about whose condition you are aware, when he related [narrations] he introduced a grave matter- do you believe that it should be said to the people ‘Do not take from him?’ Sufyān said: ‘Indeed!’ 'Abd Allah [bin al-Mubārak] said: ‘So when I was in an assembly and Abbād was mentioned there, I praised him regarding his Dīn and said: ‘Do not take from him.’ Muhammad said, 'Abd Allah bin Uthmān narrated to us, he said, my father said, 'Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak said: ‘I ended up in an assembly of Shu’bah, and he said: ‘This is Abbād bin Kathīr so be warned against him.’

Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said, I asked Mu’allā ar-Rāzī about Muhammad bin Sa’īd whom Abbād transmitted from, so he informed me about what Īsā bin Yūnus said: ‘I was at his door and Sufyān was with [Muhammad bin Sa’īd], then when he came out I asked [Sufyān] about him. So he informed me that he was a liar.’

Muhammad bin Abī Attāb narrated to me, he said Affān narrated to me, on authority of Muhammad bin Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān, on authority of his father, he said: ‘We do not see the righteous more false in anything than they are regarding Ḥadīth’. Ibn Abī Attāb said: ‘So Muhammad bin Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān and I met and I asked him about it and he said on authority of his father: ‘You will not see the people of good (Ahl ul-Khayr) more false in anything than they are regarding Ḥadīth.’ Muslim said: ‘He was saying that falsehood flows upon their tongues although they do not intend to lie’.

Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said Yazīd bin Hārūn narrated to us, he said Khalīfah bin Mūsā informed me, he said: ‘I entered upon Ghālib bin Ubayd Allah so he began dictating to me ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me this’ and ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me that’. So he prepared to answer the call of nature and stood up, then I looked in his notebook and in it was ‘Abān narrated to me, on authority of Anas’ and ‘Abān on authority of so-and-so’. So I abandoned [listening to his Ḥadīth] and stood up [to leave]’.

Muhammad bin Abd Allah bin Quhzādh narrated to me, he said I heard Abd Allah bin Uthmān bin Jabalah saying, I said to Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak: ‘Who is this man from whom you transmit the Ḥadīth of Abd Allah bin Amr, ‘The day of Fitr is the day of prizes…’?’ [Abd Allah] said: ‘Sulaymān bin al-Hajjāj. Look at what I placed in your hands [of praise] about him’.

Ibn Quhzādh narrated to me, he said, I heard Wahb [bin Zam’ah] saying, on authority of Sufyān [bin Abd il-Mālik], on authority of Ibn al-Mubārak, he said: ‘Baqiyyah [bin al-Walīd] is truthful of tongue however he transmits [Ḥadīth] from those who approach [the Muhaddithīn, i.e. are trustworthy] and from those who turn their backs on [the Muhaddithīn, i.e. and are weak]’.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Mughīrah, on authority of ash-Sha’bī, he said: ‘al-Hārith al-A’war ul-Hamdānī narrated to me, and he is a liar’.

Abū Āmir Abd Allah bin Barrād al-Ash’arī narrated to us, Abū Usāmah narrated to us, on authority of Mufaḍḍal, on authority of Mughīrah, he said I heard ash-Sha’bī saying: ‘al-Hārith al-A’war narrated to me,’ and he [ash-Sha’bī] was testifying that he was one of the liars’.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Mughīrah, on authority of Ibrāhīm [bin Yazīd an-Nakhā’ī], he said, Alqamah said: ‘I memorized the Qur’ān in two years’. Al-Hārith said: ‘The Qur’ān is easy; the revelation [i.e. the secret revelation to Alī in the belief of the Shī’ah] is more difficult ’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad- meaning Ibn Yūnus- narrated to us, Zā’idah narrated to us, on authority of al-A’mash, on authority of Ibrāhīm that al-Hārith said: ‘I studied the Qur’ān for three years and the revelation for two years’; or he said: ‘…the revelation in three years and the Qur’ān in two years ’.

Hajjāj narrated to me, he said Ahmad- and he is Ibn Yūnus- narrated to me, Zā’idah narrated to us, on authority of Mansūr and al-Mughīrah, on authority of Ibrāhīm that al-Hārith was imputed.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Hamzah az-Zayyāt, he said: ‘Murrah al-Hamdānī heard something from al-Hārith and said to him: ‘sit by the door’. [Hamzah] said: ‘So Murrah went inside and took his sword and al-Hārith sensed evil and left’.

Ubayd Allah bin Sa’īd narrated to me, Abd ur-Rahman- meaning Ibn Mahdī- narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, on authority of Ibn Awn, he said, Ibrāhīm said to us: ‘Beware of al-Mughīrah bin Sa’īd and Abū Abd ar-Rahīm for they are both liars’.

Abū Kāmil al-Jahdarī narrated to us, Hammād- and he is Ibn Zayd- narrated to us, he said Āsim [bin Bahdalah] narrated to us, he said: ‘We would catch up with Abū Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulamī and at the time we were young men, so he would say to us: ‘Do not sit with story-tellers other than Abūl-Ahwas and beware of Shaqīq [Abū Abd ar-Rahīm]’. [Muslim] said: ‘This Shaqīq held the view of the Khawārij and is not Abū Wā’il [Shaqīq bin Salamah, the righteous Tabi’ī]’.

Abū Ghassān Muhammad bin Amr ar-Rāzī narrated to us, he said, I heard Jarīr [bin Abd al-Hamīd bin Qurt aḍ-Ḍabbī] saying: ‘I met Jābir bin Yazīd al-Ju’fī and did not write [Ḥadīth] from him; he believed in ar-Raj’ah’ [A Rāfiḍī belief regarding Alī returning].

Al-Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, Yahyā bin Ādam narrated to us, Mis’ar narrated to us, he said: ‘Jābir bin Yazīd narrated to us before there took place what happened [i.e. before his false beliefs] ’.

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ‘The people would transmit from Jābir before there appeared what appeared, then when there appeared what appeared, the people imputed him in his Ḥadīth and some of the people abandoned him’. So it was said to [Sufyān]: ‘What appeared?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Belief in ar-Raj’ah’.

Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, Abū Yahyā al-Himmānī narrated to us, Qabīsah and his brother [Sufyān bin Uqbah] narrated to us, that they heard al-Jarrāh bin Malīh saying, I heard Jābir say: ‘I have 70,000 Ḥadīth all of which are on authority of Abū Ja’far on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad bin Yūnus narrated to us, he said, I heard Zuhayr saying, Jābir said, or, I heard Jābir saying: ‘Indeed I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth that I have not narrated from at all’. [Zuhayr] said: ‘Then that day he related a Ḥadīth and said, ‘This is from the fifty thousand’.

Ibrāhīm bin Khālid al-Yashkurī narrated to me, he said, I heard Abūl-Walīd saying, I heard Sallām bin Abī Mutī’ saying, I heard Jābir al-Ju’fī saying: ‘I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’.

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said, I heard a man ask Jābir about the verse: {Thus I will never depart from the land until my father permits me or Allah decides for me, and He is the best of Judges}[Yūsuf: 80]. Jābir said: ‘An interpretation has not come to me about these [verses]’. Sufyān said: ‘He lied’. We said to Sufyān: ‘What did he mean by this?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Indeed the Rāfiḍah say, ‘Alī is in the clouds and we will not emerge along with he who will emerge from his children [the Khalīfah] until a caller calls from the heaven, meaning Alī: ‘Ride out along with so-and-so [meaning the promised Mahdī]’. Jābir said, ‘that is an interpretation for these verses’, and he would lie as they were regarding the brothers of Yūsuf, peace be upon him’.

Salamah narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ‘I heard Jābir talking about something like 30,000 Ḥadīth [that] I did not regard as permissible to mention anything from, and that to me was like this and that [Ḥadīth].’Muslim said, I heard Abū Ghassān Muhammad bin Amr ar-Rāzī say, ‘I asked Jarīr bin Abd il-Hamīd: ‘Did you meet al-Hārith bin Hasīrah? He said: ‘Yes, [he is a] Shaykh of lengthy silence; he persisted in a grave matter.’

Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm ad-Dawraqī narrated to me, he said Abd ur-Rahman bin Mahdī narrated to me, on authority Hammād bin Zayd, he said, Ayyūb mentioned a man one day and said [about him]: ‘He is not upright in speech [i.e. he lies]’, and he mentioned another [person] and said: ‘He adds to records [i.e. he lies]’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Sulaymān bin Harb narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, he said, Ayyūb said: ‘Indeed I have a neighbor’ and he mentioned some of his virtues, [and continued] ‘…even if he testified to me about two dates I would not see his testimony as permissible’.

Muhammad bin Rāfi’ and Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, they said Abd ur-Razzāq narrated to us, he said Ma’mar said: ‘I did not see Ayyūb speaking ill of anyone, ever, except for Abd al-Karīm- meaning Abū Umayyah’. So he mentioned him and said, may Allah have mercy on him ‘He is not trustworthy- he had asked me about a Ḥadīth of Ikrimah then said ‘I heard from Ikrimah’ [when relating the Ḥadīth].’

Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said Affān bin Muslim narrated to us, Hammām narrated to us, he said, Abū Dāwud al-A’mā came to us and began saying: ‘Al-Barā’ [bin Āzib, the Companion] narrated to us’; he said: ‘Zayd bin Arqam narrated to us’- and he mentioned that [those chains] to Qatādah. [Qatādah] said ‘He lied; he did not hear from them. He would beg the people asking [about Ḥadīth] at the time of the plague’ [circa 67H].

Hasan bin Alī al-Hulwānī narrated to me, he said Yazīd bin Hārūn narrated to us, Hammām informed us, he said ‘Abū Dāwud al-A’mā entered upon Qatādah and when he stood, they said: ‘Indeed this one alleges he has met eighteen of the warriors of the battle of Badr’. Qatādah said: ‘This one was barely asking [about Ḥadīth] before the plague; he did not attend to anything from [seeking Ḥadīth] and he did not speak [to any scholars] regarding it. By Allah, al-Hasan did not narrate to us from a witness of the battle of Badr without an intermediary; and Sa’īd bin al-Musayyib did not narrate to us from a witness of the battle of Badr without an intermediary except from Sa’d bin Mālik’.

Uthmān bin Abī Shaybah narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Raqabah that ‘Abū Ja’far al-Hāshimī al-Madanī was fabricating narrations with words of truth, and they were not from the narrations of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, though he was transmitting them on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him.’

Al-Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, he said Nu’aym bin Hammād narrated to us, he said Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm bin Muhammad bin Sufyān said; and Muhammad bin Yahyā narrated to us, he said, Nu’aym bin Hammād narrated to us, Abū Dāwud at-Tayālisī narrated to us, on authority of Shu’bah, on authority of Yūnus bin Ubayd, he said: ‘Amr bin Ubayd would lie regarding Ḥadīth’.

Amr bin Alī Abū Hafs narrated to me, he said I heard Mu’ādh bin Mu’ādh saying, I said to Awf bin Abī Jamīlah ‘Indeed Amr bin Ubayd narrated to us on authority of al-Hasan that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said: ‘Whoever carries arms against us then he is not from us’. [Awf bin Abī Jamīlah] said ‘Amr lied, by Allah. Rather he intended it as a way to permit his filthy opinion.’

Ubayd Allah bin Umar al-Qawārīrī narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, he said: ‘A man kept company with Ayyūb and listened [to Ḥadīth] from him, but then Ayyūb did not find him [one day]. [When Ayyūb asked, the people] said: ‘Oh Abā Bakr, indeed he keeps company with Amr bin Ubayd [now]’. Hammād said: ‘One day we were with Ayyūb, and we went to the market early in the morning. A man came to meet Ayyūb so he gave Salām to him, asked how he was doing, and then Ayyūb said to him: ‘It reached me that you kept company with that man’. Hammād said: ‘[Ayyūb] designated him, that is to say ‘Amr’.’ [The man] said: ‘Yes, Oh Abā Bakr. Indeed he came to us with strange things [i.e. reports]’. Ayyūb said to him: ‘Indeed we flee…’ or ‘…we fear from these strange things [transmissions]’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Sulaymān bin Harb narrated to us, Ibn Zayd, rather Hammād, narrated to us, he said, it was said to Ayyūb, ‘Indeed Amr bin Ubayd transmitted on authority of al-Hasan that he said: ‘There is no flogging the one who gets drunk from Nabīdh’.’ [Ayyūb] said: ‘He lied, for I heard al-Hasan saying, ‘Flog the one who gets drunk from Nabīdh’.’

Hajjāj narrated to me, Sulaymān bin Harb narrated to us, he said, I heard Sallām bin Abī Mutī’ saying, it reached Ayyūb that I would go to Amr so he turned to me and said: ‘Have you seen a man whose Dīn you do not trust- how do you trust him regarding Ḥadīth?’

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said I heard Abū Mūsā [Isrā’īl bin Mūsā al-Basrī] saying: ‘Amr bin Ubayd narrated to us before what happened’ [i.e. before he became Mu’tazilī].

Ubayd Allah bin Mu’ādh al-Anbarī narrated to me, my father narrated to us, he said: ‘I wrote to Shu’bah asking him about Abū Shaybah , a judge of Wāsit, so he wrote to me: ‘Do not write anything from him [of Ḥadīth] and tear up my letter [to you about this]’.