This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInda ar-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahu fī aṣ-Ṣalāh, authored by the Muhaddith of the era, Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.
(Tanwīr Ḥusayn Shāh, Harīpūr)
Counting him among the second tier (Ṭabaqah Thāniyah), as done by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله, is not correct. Rather, he belongs to the third tier (Ṭabaqah Thālithah), as stated by al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, who mentioned him among the third tier.
“As for those mudallis narrators who are trustworthy and upright, we do not take proof from their narrations except where they explicitly clarify hearing in what they narrate—such as al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and others like them.”
This research is sound and preferred, and the author has adopted it in Nūr al-ʿAynayn as well as in at-Ta’sīs fī Mas’alat at-Tadlīs (published in Monthly al-Ḥadīth, Issue 33).
This statement of mine was incorrect, and I retract it. Therefore, it should be considered abrogated and void.
“Sufyān (al-Thawrī) is among the mudallisin, and the muʿanʿan narration of a mudallis is not accepted as proof unless his hearing is established through another chain.”
(11 Muḥarram 1424 AH — 15 March 2003)
(2 August 2007)
Imām Sufyān al-Thawrī and the Research on the Third Tier (Ṭabaqah Thālithah)
Question:
What is the preferred (rājiḥ) opinion according to you regarding the tadlīs and muʿanʿan narrations of Sufyān al-Thawrī رحمه الله?(Tanwīr Ḥusayn Shāh, Harīpūr)
Answer:
The preferred and correct view regarding Sufyān al-Thawrī is that, while he was a trustworthy Imam and Amīr al-Mu’minīn fī al-Ḥadīth, he was also a mudallis. He used to practice tadlīs from weak narrators and others. Therefore, his muʿanʿan narrations outside the Ṣaḥīḥayn, in cases where there is no supporting narration (mutābaʿah) and no explicit declaration of hearing (taṣrīḥ as-samāʿ), are weak and rejected.Counting him among the second tier (Ṭabaqah Thāniyah), as done by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله, is not correct. Rather, he belongs to the third tier (Ṭabaqah Thālithah), as stated by al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, who mentioned him among the third tier.
Reference: Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth: 106; Jāmiʿ at-Taḥṣīl: 99; Nūr al-ʿAynayn (New Edition): 138
Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān رحمه الله:
وأما المدلسون الذين هم ثقات وعدول فإنا لا نحتج بأخبارهم إلا ما بينوا السماع فيما رووا مثل الثوري والأعمش وأبى إسحاق وأضرابهم …“As for those mudallis narrators who are trustworthy and upright, we do not take proof from their narrations except where they explicitly clarify hearing in what they narrate—such as al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and others like them.”
Reference: al-Iḥsān: 1/90; other edition: 161 (wording from it)
This research is sound and preferred, and the author has adopted it in Nūr al-ʿAynayn as well as in at-Ta’sīs fī Mas’alat at-Tadlīs (published in Monthly al-Ḥadīth, Issue 33).
Retraction of a Previous Statement
It should be noted that in one of my letters addressed to ʿAbd al-Rashīd Anṣārī Ṣāḥib (dated 19/8/1408 AH), I had written regarding Sufyān al-Thawrī:[Masḥ ʿalā al-Jawrabayn, p. 40]“He is a mudallis of the second tier whose tadlīs is not harmful.”
This statement of mine was incorrect, and I retract it. Therefore, it should be considered abrogated and void.
Statement of ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله:
وسفيان من المدلسين، والمدلس لا يحتج بعنعنته إلا أن يثبت سماعه من طريق آخر“Sufyān (al-Thawrī) is among the mudallisin, and the muʿanʿan narration of a mudallis is not accepted as proof unless his hearing is established through another chain.”
Reference: ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 2/112
(11 Muḥarram 1424 AH — 15 March 2003)
Note:
This question and answer were also published in Monthly Shahādat (Islamabad), April 2003, p. 39. It is now being republished with some corrections.(2 August 2007)
Reference: Monthly al-Ḥadīth, Ḥaḍro: Issue 42, pp. 27–29
