Introduction to the Hadith Narrator ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib

Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri

◈ Question:​

What is said about the narrator ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib?

◈ Answer:​

ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib is a narrator who suffered from ikhtilāṭ (confusion due to memory deterioration).

• The narrations transmitted from him before his ikhtilāṭ are accepted.
• The narrations transmitted by students who heard from him after his ikhtilāṭ are not accepted.
• If a student heard from him both before and after his ikhtilāṭ, and it is not possible to distinguish between the two sets of narrations, then all such narrations are considered weak due to uncertainty.
• However, if there is a clear distinction or indicator separating the earlier narrations from the later ones, then the pre-ikhtilāṭ narrations are accepted while the post-ikhtilāṭ narrations are rejected.

❀ Statement of the Scholars​

✔ Imam Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn رحمه الله:
“Abū ʿAwānah heard from ʿAṭāʾ (ibn al-Sāʾib) both when he was sound and after his ikhtilāṭ. His hadith is not to be used as proof.”
(الجرح والتعديل لابن أبي حاتم: 6/334, with authentic chain)


Conclusion:
ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib’s narrations are only reliable when clearly established as being from the period before his ikhtilāṭ. Any narrations from after his memory deterioration are not accepted.