✦ Introduction
Original Article by: Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri (حفظه الله)Enhanced for clarity with structured headings and formatting.
Mujālid bin Sa‘eed al-Hamdanī al-Kūfī has been declared weak (ḍa‘īf) by the majority of hadith scholars (jumhūr muḥaddithīn). Moreover, in the latter part of his life, he suffered from ikhtiṭāṭ (confusion or memory deterioration). The following scholarly views demonstrate the overwhelming consensus regarding his weakness.
❖ Explicit Declarations of Weakness from Classical Scholars
✔ Imam al-‘Irāqī (d. 806 AH):"The majority declared him weak, and he became confused later in life."
(
Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb, 2/389)✔ Al-Haythamī (d. 807 AH):
"He has been declared weak by the majority."
(
Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, 5/33, 190)✔ Al-ʿAynī (d. 855 AH):
"The majority declared him weak."
(
ʿUmdat al-Qārī, 6/240)✔ Ibn Mufliḥ (d. 884 AH):
"Most scholars consider him weak."
(
Al-Mubdiʿ, 7/345)✔ Al-Manāwī (d. 1031 AH):
Quoted al-‘Irāqī: "Declared weak by the majority."
(
Fayḍ al-Qadīr, 6/14, ḥadīth 8247)✔ Al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH):
"Declared weak by the majority."
(
Nayl al-Awṭār, 2/273)✿ Key Remarks from Early Hadith Authorities
✔ Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH):"His narrations are like dreams."
(
Al-Majrūḥīn, 3/11)"He narrates excessively and inconsistently."
(
Maʿrifah wa al-Taʾrīkh, 2/165)✔ Imam al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 AH):
"His narrations contradict authentic hadith."
(
Al-Majrūḥīn, 3/11)✔ Ibn Saʿd (d. 230 AH):
"Weak in hadith."
(
Al-Ṭabaqāt, 6/349)✔ Al-Jawzajānī (d. 259 AH):
"His narrations are considered weak."
(
Aḥwāl al-Rijāl, 126)✔ Al-Nasā’ī (d. 303 AH):
"Ḍaʿīf."
(
Al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkūn, 233)✔ Al-Dāraqutnī (d. 385 AH):
"Not strong, not reliable."
(
Suʾālāt al-Burqānī, 474)✔ Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354 AH):
"Extremely poor memory, alters isnāds, not to be relied upon."
(
Al-Majrūḥīn, 3/10-11)✔ Yahyā ibn Maʿīn (d. 233 AH):
"Weak, unreliable."
(
Al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 8/362)✔ Yahyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān (d. 198 AH):
"My heart is not clear about him."
(
Al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 8/361)✔ Al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH):
"Weak, many errors, poor memory."
(
Sunan al-Tirmidhī, under ḥadīth 648, 1172)✔ Al-Bayhaqī (d. 458 AH):
"Not relied upon."
(
Al-Sunan al-Kubrā, 8/128)✔ Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 AH):
"Ḍaʿīf", "Ruined."
(
Al-Muḥallā, 3/62; 10/429)✔ Al-Mundhirī, al-Būṣīrī, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Ibn Ḥajar, Ibn Kathīr:
All declared him weak. Ibn Kathīr’s description of one chain as "ḥasan" is incorrect given the overwhelming critique.
✔ Al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH):
"Famous narrator, but weak."
(
Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, 3/438)"Not strong."
(
Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, 2/146)◈ Minority Views in His Favor (With Clarifications)
✔ Yahyā ibn Maʿīn (in one narration):"Thiqah." But this contradicts his other multiple statements and the consensus.
✔ Sufyān al-Thawrī:
"People have criticized him, especially Yahyā ibn Saʿīd, but I consider him thiqah."
(
Maʿrifah wa al-Taʾrīkh, 3/100)✔ Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān:
"People criticized Mujālid and al-Ajlaḥ; however, Mujālid is better than al-Ajlaḥ."
(Note: Al-Ajlaḥ is widely accepted as thiqah.)
✔ ʿAjlī:
"Ḥasan al-ḥadīth."
(
Tārīkh al-Thiqāt, 460)✔ Ibn al-Madīnī:
Ranks him above some other narrators but acknowledges criticism.
✔ Shuʿbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj:
Encouraged others to narrate from him.
But other scholars have clarified this as pre-ikhtiṭāṭ.
✔ Technical Notes and Cautions
- Imam Muslim did not include Mujālid in the aṣl (main text) of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, only in follow-ups (mutābiʿāt).
- Reports like Mujālid’s alleged statement against ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه are based on disconnected (munqaṭiʿ) chains and not reliable.
- Confusion (ikhtiṭāṭ) in his old age is agreed upon — scholars like Ibn Abī Ḥātim clarify that post-memory loss narrations are not acceptable.
