Did Imam Shuʿbah Accuse Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) of Tadlis? A Research Review
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 342
Question
Did Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) commit tadlis?
Some books quote Imam Shuʿbah as saying:
“كان أبو هريرة يدلس“
(Abu Hurayrah used to do tadlis).
This statement is found in:
- Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (Vol. 2, p. 608, Tadhkirah 126)
- al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah by Ibn Kathīr (Vol. 8, p. 112 — quoting Ibn ʿAsākir)
- Difāʿ ʿan Abī Hurayrah (p. 125) by ʿAbd al-Munʿim Ṣāliḥ al-ʿAlī al-ʿIzzī
- al-Anwār al-Kāshifah (p. 163) by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā al-Muʿallimī
It was also reproduced without strong rebuttal in Daʿwat Ahl al-Ḥadīth, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Rajab 1425H / Sept. 2004), p. 18.
The question is:
Is this statement authentically proven from Imam Shuʿbah with a sound chain?
Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد:
The Chain in Tārīkh Dimashq Dimashq (Ibn ʿAsākir)
Text:
Akhbaranā Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Samarqandī: anā Abū al-Qāsim ibn Masʿadah: anā Ḥamzah ibn Yūsuf: anā Abū Aḥmad: anā al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUthmān al-Tustarī: ḥaddathanā Salamah ibn Ḥabīb qāl: samiʿtu Yazīd ibn Hārūn qāl: samiʿtu Shuʿbah yaqūl: Abū Hurayrah yudallis.
(Vol. 71, p. 266)
The Chain in al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl (Ibn ʿAdī)
Text:
Akhbaranā al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUthmān al-Tustarī: ḥaddathanā Salamah ibn Shabīb qāl: samiʿtu Shuʿbah yaqūl: Abū Hurayrah kāna yudallis.
(Vol. 1, p. 81)
Observations
1️⃣ Name Correction
In Tārīkh Dimashq, “Salamah ibn Ḥabīb” is a misprint or error. The correct name is Salamah ibn Shabīb — as in al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī.
- Tahdhīb al-Kamāl confirms:
- Salamah ibn Shabīb is a student of Yazīd ibn Hārūn.
- Yazīd ibn Hārūn is a student of Shuʿbah.
2️⃣ Missing Link in al-Kāmil
In al-Kāmil, the chain appears to drop Yazīd ibn Hārūn between Salamah ibn Shabīb and Shuʿbah — likely due to scribal or publishing error.
- There is no evidence that Salamah ibn Shabīb met Shuʿbah directly.
Thus, the two chains are two versions of the same narration, both through al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUthmān al-Tustarī.
Status of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUthmān al-Tustarī
Severe criticism from scholars:
- Ibn ʿAdī:
“He used to fabricate and steal people’s ḥadīths. I asked ʿAbdān al-Ahwāzī about him, and he said: He is a liar.”
(al-Kāmil, Vol. 2, p. 756)
This makes him a fabricator and ḥadīth thief.
Conclusion
- The statement “Abu Hurayrah used to do tadlis” is not authentically proven from Imam Shuʿbah.
- The chain contains al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUthmān al-Tustarī, a known liar and fabricator.
- Therefore, this attribution has no scholarly validity and cannot be used as evidence.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
