Investigating the Claim that Imam Shuʿbah Accused Abu Hurayrah of Tadlis

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​

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.

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