Excerpt from the Book of the Contemporary Hadith Scholar
Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله
Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahu fī al-Ṣalāh
Report of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ رحمه الله
عن عطاء بن أبى رباح قال صليت خلف عبدالله بن الزبير فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع فسألته فقال عبدالله بن الزبير: صليت خلف أبى بكر الصديق رضى الله عنه فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع وقال أبو بكر: صليت خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع.
Translation:
ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ رحمه الله said: I prayed behind ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, when going into rukūʿ, and when raising his head from rukūʿ. I asked him about this, so ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه said: I prayed behind Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, when going into rukūʿ, and when raising his head from rukūʿ. And Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said: I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, when going into rukūʿ, and when raising his head from rukūʿ.
References:
◈ Authentication of the Chain (Sanad Analysis)
Status of Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ṣaffār al-Zāhid
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said regarding him:
الشيخ الإمام المحدث القدوة
“The shaykh, the Imām, the ḥadīth scholar, and a role model.”
He was declared thiqah by al-Bayhaqī and others. Al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī authenticated his narration, declaring it ṣaḥīḥ according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.
His biography is mentioned in:
He heard al-Musnad al-Kabīr from Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ṣaffār heard ḥadīth from Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī.
He was not a mudallis, therefore his ʿanʿanah is understood as connected.
Status of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī
He was thiqah.
He was declared trustworthy by al-Nasāʾī, al-Dāraquṭnī, al-Ḥākim, Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, Ibn Ḥibbān, and others.
The statement of Ibn Abī Ḥātim, “They spoke about him,” is rejected for the following reasons:
● It contradicts the majority who declared him trustworthy.
● It is non-explanatory criticism (jarḥ ghayr mufassar).
● The critic is unknown.
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī said:
ثقة حافظ لم يتضح كلام ابن أبى حاتم فيه
“He is a trustworthy ḥāfiẓ, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim’s statement regarding him is unclear.”
Status of Abū al-Nuʿmān Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ʿĀrim
He is a principal narrator of the Kutub al-Sittah. Abū Ḥātim and others declared him thiqah.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
الحافظ الثبت الإمام
“The ḥāfiẓ, the firmly reliable one, the Imām.”
It is established that he experienced change in the latter part of his life.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī decisively clarified:
تغير قبل موته فما حدث
“He experienced change before his death, but he did not narrate any ḥadīth during that state.”
Furthermore, the narrator Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī prayed behind him. One whose intellect has completely vanished is not prayed behind except by one whose intellect has also vanished. Hence, this narration is from before the period of confusion and is completely authentic.
✔ Therefore, this report is ṣaḥīḥ without doubt. والله أعلم
