Scholarly Response to Criticism on Two Ḥadīths from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī

Scholarly Response to Criticism on Two Ḥadīths from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī


Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 421

Ḥadīth 1: Allah Will Be the Opponent of Three Types of People​

Narration:


عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ: قَالَ اللَّهُ:
ثَلَاثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يُعْطِ أَجْرَهُ.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1/302; Musnad Aḥmad, 2/358)


Translation:
The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah says: Three persons I will oppose on the Day of Judgement:


① A man who makes a pledge in My Name and then betrays it.
② A man who sells a free person and consumes the price.
③ A man who hires a worker, takes full work from him, but does not pay his wages.

Criticism by Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله):​

• He expressed reservation on this narration due to the narrator Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym al-Ṭāʾifī, claiming he fabricated ḥadīths against analogy.
• However, such a claim has no basis in credible sources, and in Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī he only expressed tawaqquf (pause) on it.

Chain Analysis:​

This narration comes through:
Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym al-Ṭāʾifī → Ismāʿīl ibn Umayyah → Saʿīd al-Maqburī → Abū Hurayrah (RA)

• Reported by:
  
  • Imām Aḥmad (2/358, ḥadīth 8692)
  • Ibn al-Jārūd (no. 579)
  • Ibn Mājah (no. 2442)
  • Ibn Ḥibbān (al-Iḥsān, no. 7695)

Grading:​

• Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburī and his father are both trustworthy (thiqah). (Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 2321, 5676)

Jarḥ on Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym:​

• Imām Aḥmad: “His ḥadīth has some weakness.”
• Abū Ḥātim: “Truthful, but not a ḥāfiẓ; his ḥadīth is written but not used as proof.”
• Al-Nasāʾī: “Munkar al-ḥadīth from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar.”
• Al-Dāraqutnī: “Poor memory.”
• Al-ʿUqaylī: “Narrated munkar reports, especially from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar.”
• Ibn Ḥajar: “Truthful, poor memory; weak from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar.”

Taʿdīl on Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym:​

• Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Ibn Saʿd, al-ʿAjlī, Ibn Shāhīn, Ibn Ḥibbān: “Thiqah”
• Al-Bukhārī and Muslim: Took his narrations in their Ṣaḥīḥayn.
• Al-Dhahabī: “Thiqah”
• Ibn al-Jārūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Baghawī: Considered the ḥadīth authentic.
• Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī: “Truthful; no evidence for declaring him weak.”

Conclusion on Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym’s Levels:​

① From ʿAbdullāh ibn Khuthaym: Strong
② From al-Ḥumaydī: Ṣaḥīḥ
③ From others (besides ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar): Ḥasan
④ From ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar: Weak


Final Ruling: This ḥadīth is Ḥasan li-dhātihi; Shaykh al-Albānī’s criticism is not valid.

Ḥadīth 2: Emergence of the Khawārij and Command to Fight Them​

Narration:


عَنْ عَلِيٍّ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ:
يَخْرُجُ قَوْمٌ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ، أَحْدَاثُ الأَسْنَانِ، سُفَهَاءُ الأَحْلامِ، يَقُولُونَ مِنْ خَيْرِ قَوْلِ الْبَرِيَّةِ، لا يُجَاوِزُ إِيمَانُهُمْ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ، يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الدِّينِ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ، فَأَيْنَمَا لَقِيتُمُوهُمْ فَاقْتُلُوهُمْ، فَإِنَّ فِي قَتْلِهِمْ أَجْرًا لِمَنْ قَتَلَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 6930, 5057, 3611; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1066; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4767; Sunan al-Nasāʾī, 7/119, no. 4107)

Criticism by Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله):​

• He hinted at the phrase “من قول خير البرية” being munkar.

Chain Analysis:​

• Suwayd ibn Ghaflah: Thiqah
• Khaythamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: Thiqah
• Sulaymān al-Aʿmash: Thiqah, explicit samāʿ is recorded, so no issue of tadlīs.

Word Variations:​

• “من خير قول البرية” – in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Musnad Aḥmad.
• “من قول خير البرية” – found in some copies, which is where al-Albānī expressed doubt.

Albānī’s Own Authentication:​

In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (no. 3654), he declared the version with “من خير قول البرية” as ṣaḥīḥ.
In Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4/239), he also authenticated it.

Final Conclusion:​

① The first ḥadīth (Three types Allah will oppose) is Ḥasan li-dhātihi and reliable, especially as recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
② The second ḥadīth (Fight the Khawārij) is Ṣaḥīḥ al-isnād and muttafaq ʿalayh.
③ Both are valid according to the principles of ḥadīth, and the criticisms raised have been addressed on solid scholarly grounds.



هٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب