❖ Authored by: Irshad ul-Haq Athari
Imām Makḥūl ad-Dimashqī is regarded among the senior jurists and ḥadīth scholars of Damascus.
For a detailed discussion on his authentication (tauthīq), refer to Shaykh Irshad ul-Ḥaq Atharī’s book:
“Tawḍīḥ al-Kalām fī Wujūb al-Qirā’ah Khalf al-Imām” (Vol. 1, pp. 330, 334)
It should also be remembered that it is not proven that Makḥūl was a mudallis (a narrator who conceals his source). See:
“al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn fī Taḥqīq Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallīsīn” (3/108) and also Tawḍīḥ al-Kalām (1/334–338).
Other than Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān and Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī, no one has classified Makḥūl as a mudallis, and those who did so afterward merely followed them.
It is also important to note that Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Dhahabī consider even mursal narration (incomplete chains) as tadlīs, see:
Imām Abū Ḥātim said:
"ما أعلم بالشام أفقه من مكحول"
“I do not know anyone in Shām more knowledgeable in fiqh than Makḥūl.”
Imām al-Zuhrī said:
“The scholars are four, and among them is Makḥūl.”
Saʿīd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
Makḥūl was even more learned in fiqh than Imām al-Zuhrī.
Ibn Yūnus al-Miṣrī said:
"اتفقوا على توثيقه"
“There is consensus on his reliability.”
Others such as Imām Iqbālī and Ibn Kharrāsh declared him thiqah and ṣadūq.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī referred to him as:
"ʿĀlim Ahl al-Shām, al-Faqīh, al-Ḥāfiẓ" – The scholar of the people of Syria, a jurist and a ḥāfiẓ.
Refer to the following classical works for further praise:
Contrary to this overwhelming praise, ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Fattānī claimed in Qānūn al-Mawḍūʿāt (p. 298) that Imām Abū Ḥātim said:
“Laysa bi-l-Matīn” (“He is not strong”) — regarding Imām Makḥūl.
However, this statement is not found:
He mistakenly quoted from al-Suyūṭī’s "al-Alī al-Maṣnūʿah", but the criticism of "laysa bi-l-matīn" was not about Makḥūl, rather it was:
About Bard bin Sinān.
In that context, al-Suyūṭī wrote:
“Makḥūl was among the scholars and jurists of the tābiʿīn. Several declared him reliable, and Muslim cited him in his Ṣaḥīḥ. Bard was narrated from by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad and by the Four Sunan compilers. Ibn Maʿīn and al-Nasā’ī declared him reliable, while Ibn al-Madīnī weakened him. Abū Ḥātim said: ‘laysa bi-l-matīn.’”
(al-Alī, p. 106)
It is clear that this statement referred to Bard bin Sinān, not Makḥūl.
This error has also crept into works like Tadhkirat al-Mawḍūʿāt (p. 89), where the quote was again misattributed.
Even Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, in al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah (no. 171), mistakenly attributed the quote to Makḥūl by omitting the name of Bard bin Sinān from al-Suyūṭī’s text. This misplacement caused the entire context to be mistakenly applied to Imām Makḥūl.
The same mistake was copied uncritically by his followers in Muʿjam Asāmī al-Ruwāt (4/185).
“Subḥānallāh! (Only) He who does not forget or err is Allah.”
Hence, it is absolutely clear — as clear as the midday sun — that:
✔ Imām Abū Ḥātim never said "laysa bi-l-matīn" about Imām Makḥūl.
✔ On the contrary, he praised him highly as the most knowledgeable faqīh in Syria.
It is regrettable that Sarfraz Khān Ṣafdar (Deobandi), in his book Aḥsan al-Kalām, repeatedly relied on the false attribution of this statement to undermine Makḥūl’s credibility.
This criticism stems from ignorance of the facts, and had he known the truth, he might not have used it as a basis for attack.
❖ Introduction:
Imām Makḥūl ad-Dimashqī is regarded among the senior jurists and ḥadīth scholars of Damascus.
For a detailed discussion on his authentication (tauthīq), refer to Shaykh Irshad ul-Ḥaq Atharī’s book:
“Tawḍīḥ al-Kalām fī Wujūb al-Qirā’ah Khalf al-Imām” (Vol. 1, pp. 330, 334)
It should also be remembered that it is not proven that Makḥūl was a mudallis (a narrator who conceals his source). See:
“al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn fī Taḥqīq Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallīsīn” (3/108) and also Tawḍīḥ al-Kalām (1/334–338).
Other than Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān and Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī, no one has classified Makḥūl as a mudallis, and those who did so afterward merely followed them.
It is also important to note that Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Dhahabī consider even mursal narration (incomplete chains) as tadlīs, see:
- al-Thiqāt by Ibn Ḥibbān (6/98)
- al-Mūqiẓah by al-Dhahabī (p. 47) — Referenced by Shaykh Badi‘ al-Dīn Shāh al-Rāshidī al-Sindhī
❖ Statements of Praise for Imām Makḥūl:
Imām Abū Ḥātim said:
"ما أعلم بالشام أفقه من مكحول"
“I do not know anyone in Shām more knowledgeable in fiqh than Makḥūl.”
Imām al-Zuhrī said:
“The scholars are four, and among them is Makḥūl.”
Saʿīd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
Makḥūl was even more learned in fiqh than Imām al-Zuhrī.
Ibn Yūnus al-Miṣrī said:
"اتفقوا على توثيقه"
“There is consensus on his reliability.”
Others such as Imām Iqbālī and Ibn Kharrāsh declared him thiqah and ṣadūq.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī referred to him as:
"ʿĀlim Ahl al-Shām, al-Faqīh, al-Ḥāfiẓ" – The scholar of the people of Syria, a jurist and a ḥāfiẓ.
Refer to the following classical works for further praise:
- Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (10/292–293)
- Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (5/159)
- Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (p. 108)
- al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah (vol. ?, p. 305)
- Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa al-Lughāt (2/114)
❖ Refutation of the Claimed Criticism:
Contrary to this overwhelming praise, ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Fattānī claimed in Qānūn al-Mawḍūʿāt (p. 298) that Imām Abū Ḥātim said:
“Laysa bi-l-Matīn” (“He is not strong”) — regarding Imām Makḥūl.
However, this statement is not found:
- In the famous work al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl by his son
- Nor in any known classical book of Jarḥ wa Taʿdīl
❖ The Mistake of ʿAllāmah al-Fattānī:
He mistakenly quoted from al-Suyūṭī’s "al-Alī al-Maṣnūʿah", but the criticism of "laysa bi-l-matīn" was not about Makḥūl, rather it was:
About Bard bin Sinān.
In that context, al-Suyūṭī wrote:
“Makḥūl was among the scholars and jurists of the tābiʿīn. Several declared him reliable, and Muslim cited him in his Ṣaḥīḥ. Bard was narrated from by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad and by the Four Sunan compilers. Ibn Maʿīn and al-Nasā’ī declared him reliable, while Ibn al-Madīnī weakened him. Abū Ḥātim said: ‘laysa bi-l-matīn.’”
(al-Alī, p. 106)
It is clear that this statement referred to Bard bin Sinān, not Makḥūl.
This error has also crept into works like Tadhkirat al-Mawḍūʿāt (p. 89), where the quote was again misattributed.
❖ Mistake by Shaykh al-Albānī:
Even Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, in al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah (no. 171), mistakenly attributed the quote to Makḥūl by omitting the name of Bard bin Sinān from al-Suyūṭī’s text. This misplacement caused the entire context to be mistakenly applied to Imām Makḥūl.
The same mistake was copied uncritically by his followers in Muʿjam Asāmī al-Ruwāt (4/185).
“Subḥānallāh! (Only) He who does not forget or err is Allah.”
❖ Verdict:
Hence, it is absolutely clear — as clear as the midday sun — that:
✔ Imām Abū Ḥātim never said "laysa bi-l-matīn" about Imām Makḥūl.
✔ On the contrary, he praised him highly as the most knowledgeable faqīh in Syria.
It is regrettable that Sarfraz Khān Ṣafdar (Deobandi), in his book Aḥsan al-Kalām, repeatedly relied on the false attribution of this statement to undermine Makḥūl’s credibility.
This criticism stems from ignorance of the facts, and had he known the truth, he might not have used it as a basis for attack.
