Objections on Two Hadiths of Sahih Bukhari and Their Scholarly Refutations

Source: Fatawa Ilmiyyah (Tawdih al-Ahkam), Volume 2, Page 421

❖ Hadith No. 1:​

Narration:

From Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: Allah said:

"There are three persons with whom I will be an opponent on the Day of Judgment:
➊ A man who makes a promise in My Name and then betrays it.
➋ A man who sells a free person and eats up the price.
➌ A man who hires a laborer, takes full work from him but does not give him his wages."
(Sahih Bukhari 1/302; Musnad Ahmad 2/358)

❖ Critique by Shaykh al-Albani (رحمه الله)​

Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani (رحمه الله) classified this Hadith as weak and criticized the narrator Yahya ibn Salim al-Ta’ifi, claiming he fabricated Hadiths contrary to analogical reasoning.
However, this claim is not substantiated in any reliable source, and in his Mukhtasar Sahih al-Bukhari, Shaykh al-Albani only expressed hesitation, not definitive weakening.

❖ Chain Analysis​

This narration comes through:
Yahya ibn Salim al-Ta’ifi → Isma’il ibn Umayyah → Sa’id al-Maqbari → Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه)
Cited by:

• Imam Ahmad (2/358, Hadith 8692)
• Ibn al-Jarud (579)
• Ibn Majah (2442)
• Ibn Hibban (Ihsan: 7695)

Chain Status: Hasan li-Dhatihi (Good in itself)

• Both Sa’id ibn Abi Sa’id al-Maqbari and his father are trustworthy (thiqah).

❖ Evaluation of Yahya ibn Salim al-Ta’ifi​

Criticisms:

• Imam Ahmad: "There is something wrong in his Hadith."
• Abu Hatim al-Razi: Truthful but not precise; his Hadith is written but not used as proof.
• Al-Nasa’i: Munkar al-Hadith from ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar.
• Al-Daraqutni: Poor memory.
• Al-‘Aqili: Narrates strange reports.
• Ibn Hajar: Truthful but poor memory; weak in narrations from ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar.
• Al-Saji, Al-Bayhaqi: Made mistakes, especially in narrating from ‘Ubaydullah.

Endorsements:

• Yahya ibn Ma'in, Ibn Sa'd, Al-‘Ajli, Ibn Shahin, Ibn Hibban: All declared him trustworthy (thiqah).
• Al-Nasa’i in some places also called him thiqah.
• Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim included his narrations in their Sahihs.
• Other scholars like Ibn ‘Adi, Ibn al-Jarud, Al-Dhahabi, Al-Hakim, Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaymah, Al-Busayri, Al-Baghawi, Al-Zayla’i, Al-Haythami, Al-‘Asqalani, Al-‘Ayni and others affirmed his reliability.

Conclusion: Yahya’s narrations are of four categories:
➊ From ‘Abdullah ibn Khuthaym – Mutqin (precise)
➋ From Al-Humaydi – Sahih al-Hadith
➌ From others – Hasan
➍ From ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar – Weak


Final Verdict: The hadith is Hasan li-Dhatihi, and Shaykh al-Albani’s weakening is not justified.

❖ Hadith No. 2:​

Narration:

From Ali (رضي الله عنه), he said he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say:

"In the end times, a people will emerge who are young in age and immature in intellect. They will recite the best speech of mankind (i.e., the Qur'an), but their faith will not go beyond their throats. They will exit the religion like an arrow leaves the bow. Wherever you find them, kill them, for killing them earns reward on the Day of Judgment."
(Sahih Bukhari: 6930, 5057, 3611; Sahih Muslim: 1066; Abu Dawud: 4767; Al-Nasa’i: 4107)

❖ Shaykh al-Albani’s Note​

He indicated the phrase "min qawl khayr al-bariyyah" may be munkar (strange).

❖ Chain Authentication​

• Suwayd ibn Ghaflah – Trustworthy
• Khaythamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman – Trustworthy
• Sulayman al-A‘mash – Trustworthy, explicitly stated to have heard, hence no issue of tadlis

❖ Variants of the Phrase​

• "min khayr qawl al-bariyyah": Found in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Al-Nasa’i, Musnad Ahmad
• "min qawl khayr al-bariyyah": Found in some versions – this is the version Shaykh al-Albani criticized.

❖ Shaykh al-Albani’s Own Declaration​

In Sahih al-Jami‘ (3654), he classified the version with "min khayr qawl al-bariyyah" as authentic.

In Mukhtasar Sahih al-Bukhari (4/239), he affirmed the authenticity of this hadith.

❖ Conclusion​

➊ First Hadith (Allah’s enmity to three people) is Hasan li-Dhatihi, reliable due to its presence in Sahih Bukhari.
➋ Second Hadith (fighting the Khawarij) is Sahih in chain and text, and agreed upon.

Thus, both hadiths are textually and narratively authentic. The criticisms by Shaykh al-Albani (رحمه الله) have been addressed with scholarly precision and do not affect the established authenticity of these narrations.