Tirmidhi

Amr bin Ali Al-Fallas says: I heard Ibn Mahdi say: The Imams of Hadith are four: Sufyan Thawri, Malik bin Anas, Awza'i, and Hammad bin Zaid.

Waki’ says: I heard Shu’bah say: Sufyan Thawri is a greater memorizer of hadith than I am. Whenever Sufyan Thawri narrated a hadith from any shaykh to us, I would ask him about it, and I found it to be exactly as he had narrated it to me.

Ma'n bin Isa al-Qazzaz says: Malik bin Anas was strict in narrating the hadith of the Messenger, even regarding words like "ya", "ta", etc.

Qazi of Madinah, Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Kareem Ansari, says: Imam Malik passed by Abu Hazim while he was sitting. He went ahead, so it was said to him: Why did you not sit? He replied: I did not find a place to sit, so I disliked to listen to the hadith of the Messenger while standing.

Yahya bin Saeed Al-Qattan says: "The hadith narrated with the chain of Malik from Saeed bin Al-Musayyib is more preferable to me than (the one narrated by) Sufyan Al-Thawri from Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i."

Yahya bin Saeed Al-Qattan says: Among the community of hadith scholars, there is no one with more authentic hadiths than Malik; Malik was the Imam of hadith.

Ahmad bin Al-Hasan says: I heard Ahmad bin Hanbal say: I have not seen anyone like Yahya bin Sa'id Al-Qattan.

Ahmad bin Al-Hasan says: Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked about Waki‘ and ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Mahdi, so he said: Waki‘ bin Jarrah is greater in heart (that is, in piety, righteousness, asceticism, worship, and devotion), and ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Mahdi is an Imam.

Ali bin Al-Madini says: If I were made to swear an oath between the Rukn and Maqam Ibrahim, I could swear that I have not seen a greater scholar than Abdur Rahman bin Mahdi.

Imam Tirmidhi says: There is much discussion among the scholars regarding the narrators of hadith, and there are many narrations from the people of knowledge on this subject. We have mentioned some points briefly, so that from this the ranks of the people of knowledge and the differences and distinctions among them in memorization and precision may be deduced, and so that it may be known what are the reasons for which the people of knowledge have spoken about certain narrators.

Imam Tirmidhi says: Reciting hadith to a scholar, if he has memorized the hadiths being recited, or if he has not memorized the hadiths, then the original copy of the book being recited is in his hand, then according to the people of hadith, this is as valid as direct hearing. 1.

Ibn Jurayj says: I recited to Ata bin Abi Rabah, then I asked him, "How should I say?" He said: Say, «حدثنا» (the sheikh) narrated this hadith to us.

Ikrimah says: A group from Ta’if came to Ibn Abbas, and they had with them one of Ibn Abbas’s books. So Ibn Abbas began to read it to them, sometimes reading from the beginning and sometimes from the end, and said: I am unable to bear this difficulty, you read it to me, my acknowledgment is the same as if I were to read it to you.

Mansur bin Mu'tamir says: When a person hands his book to someone and says, "Narrate this from me," then it is permissible for him to narrate it (this is called «مناولہ» in the terminology of the hadith scholars).

I heard Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari say: I asked Abu Asim Al-Nabeel about a hadith, so he said: Recite it to me. I preferred that he recite it, but he said: Do you not consider recitation (reading to the sheikh) permissible, when Sufyan Al-Thawri and Malik bin Anas considered recitation to the sheikh permissible!

Abdullah bin Wahb says: When I use the expression «حدثنا» in narrating hadith, it refers to those ahadith which we heard together with other people, and when I say «حدثنا», it refers to those which are from what I heard alone, and when I say «أخبرنا», it refers to those ahadith which were read before the scholar of hadith, in which I was present, and when I say «اخبرنی», it refers to those narrations which I alone read before the scholar of hadith.

Yahya bin Saeed Al-Qattan says: «حدثنا» and «أخبرنا» are both synonymous words.

Tirmidhi says: We were with Abu Mus'ab, some of his ahadith were read to him, so I said to him: Which expression should we use when narrating hadith? He said: Say: «حدثنا ابو مصعب» that is, Abu Mus'ab narrated hadith to us.

Imam Tirmidhi says: Some scholars have considered the permission (Ijazah) of Hadith to be permissible; when a scholar of Hadith grants someone permission to narrate any of his Hadith, then it is permissible for the one receiving the permission (Mustajez) to narrate from the one granting the permission (the Sheikh giving Ijazah of Hadith).

Bashir bin Nahik says: I wrote a book from the narration of Abu Hurairah, so I asked him, "May I narrate it from you?" He said, "Yes, narrate it."

Muhammad bin Ismail Wasti narrated to us, from him Muhammad bin Al-Hasan Wasti narrated, he reports from Awf Al-A’rabi that a man said to Hasan Al-Basri: I have some of your hadiths with me, may I narrate them from you? He said: Yes.

Tirmidhi says: Muhammad bin Al-Hasan is known by the name "Mahbub bin Al-Hasan," and many Imams have narrated from him.

Ubaidullah bin Umar says: I came to Zuhri with a book and said to him: These are your hadiths, may I narrate them from you? He said: Yes.

Yahya bin Saeed Al-Qattan says: Ibn Jurayj brought a book to Hisham bin Urwah and said to him, "These are your hadiths; may I narrate them from you?" He said, "Yes."

Yahya al-Qattan says: Shu’bah was the greatest expert scholar in the narrators of hadith, that is, who narrates from whom, and Sufyan al-Thawri was an expert in the chapters of jurisprudence.