Are Sufyān al-Thawrī’s “ʿan” Narrations Acceptable? Detailed Evidence
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 312
Are the ʿanʿanah (narrations using “ʿan”) of Sufyān al-Thawrī (رحمه الله) acceptable or not? Please explain with evidence.
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد:
Statements from the scholars:
Hushaym ibn Bashīr to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak:
“Your two elders — al-Aʿmash and Sufyān — used to do tadlīs.”
(al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī, Vol. 7, p. 2596; al-ʿIlal al-Kabīr by al-Tirmidhī, Vol. 2, p. 966 — authentic chains)
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn:
“He used to do tadlīs.”
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, Vol. 4, p. 325; al-Kifāyah, p. 361 — authentic chain)
Abū ʿĀṣim al-Nabīl (student of al-Thawrī):
“We believe that Sufyān’s tadlīs was only from Abū Ḥanīfah.”
(Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī, Vol. 3, p. 201, Hadith 3423)
Imām al-Bukhārī:
“The most knowledgeable about al-Thawrī is Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd (al-Qaṭṭān) — because he distinguished between his authentic hadith and his tadlīs.”
(al-Kāmil, Vol. 1, p. 111)
Imām ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī:
“People needed Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān for the hadith of Sufyān, to know what he had heard and what he had not heard.”
(al-Kifāyah, p. 362 — authentic chain)
Abū Bakr al-Ṣayrafī:
“Anyone who is known to make tadlīs from non-thiqah narrators — his narration is not accepted unless he says ‘ḥaddathanī’ or ‘samiʿtu’.”
(Sharḥ al-Alfiyyah / al-Tabṣirah wa al-Tadhkirah, Vol. 1, p. 184–185)
Ibn Ḥibbān:
“As for the mudallisin who are trustworthy and upright, we only accept their narrations if they explicitly state hearing — such as al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and their likes.”
(al-Iḥsān, Vol. 1, p. 92; ed. 1, p. 161)
For detailed study: Nūr al-ʿAynayn, ʿIlmī Maqālāt (Vol. 1, p. 251).
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 312
Question
Are the ʿanʿanah (narrations using “ʿan”) of Sufyān al-Thawrī (رحمه الله) acceptable or not? Please explain with evidence.
Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد:
1. Trustworthiness of Sufyān al-Thawrī
- Consensus: He was thiqah and thabt.
- Praised by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-ʿAjlī, al-Dāraquṭnī, Ibn Ḥibbān, and others.
- Imām al-Nasāʾī said:
“He is above being merely called thiqah — in my view he was among the Imāms of the God-fearing.”
- Imām Shuʿbah called him Amīr al-Muʾminīn fī al-Ḥadīth. (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, Vol. 7, p. 360)
2. His Tadlīs
- Consensus among scholars that Sufyān al-Thawrī practised tadlīs.
Statements from the scholars:
Hushaym ibn Bashīr to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak:“Your two elders — al-Aʿmash and Sufyān — used to do tadlīs.”
(al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī, Vol. 7, p. 2596; al-ʿIlal al-Kabīr by al-Tirmidhī, Vol. 2, p. 966 — authentic chains)
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn:“He used to do tadlīs.”
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, Vol. 4, p. 325; al-Kifāyah, p. 361 — authentic chain)
Abū ʿĀṣim al-Nabīl (student of al-Thawrī):“We believe that Sufyān’s tadlīs was only from Abū Ḥanīfah.”
(Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī, Vol. 3, p. 201, Hadith 3423)
Imām al-Bukhārī:“The most knowledgeable about al-Thawrī is Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd (al-Qaṭṭān) — because he distinguished between his authentic hadith and his tadlīs.”
(al-Kāmil, Vol. 1, p. 111)
Imām ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī:“People needed Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān for the hadith of Sufyān, to know what he had heard and what he had not heard.”
(al-Kifāyah, p. 362 — authentic chain)
3. Classification
- Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar placed him in Ṭabaqah Thāniyah — but correct is Ṭabaqah Thālithah (per Imām al-Ḥākim in Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth, p. 106; Jāmiʿ al-Taḥṣīl, p. 99).
- This means: his ʿanʿanah requires explicit hearing.
4. Tadlīs from Weak Narrators
- He even practised tadlīs from weak narrators. (Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, Vol. 2, p. 169, No. 3322)
5. Principles of Acceptance
Abū Bakr al-Ṣayrafī:
“Anyone who is known to make tadlīs from non-thiqah narrators — his narration is not accepted unless he says ‘ḥaddathanī’ or ‘samiʿtu’.”
(Sharḥ al-Alfiyyah / al-Tabṣirah wa al-Tadhkirah, Vol. 1, p. 184–185)
Ibn Ḥibbān:
“As for the mudallisin who are trustworthy and upright, we only accept their narrations if they explicitly state hearing — such as al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and their likes.”
(al-Iḥsān, Vol. 1, p. 92; ed. 1, p. 161)
Conclusion
- Sufyān al-Thawrī’s ʿanʿanah is not accepted unless:
- He explicitly states hearing (taṣrīḥ bi al-samāʿ), or
- Another authentic chain confirms it (mutābaʿah).
- Without this, his ʿanʿanah is unacceptable according to ḥadīth principles.
For detailed study: Nūr al-ʿAynayn, ʿIlmī Maqālāt (Vol. 1, p. 251).
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
