❖ Source:
Fatawa 'Ilmiyyah, Volume 1 – Principles, Takhrij, and Verification of Narrations, p. 570
❖ Question:
What is the preferred and correct scholarly opinion regarding the tadlīs (concealment in transmission) of Sufyān al-Thawrī رحمه الله?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
❖ Tadlīs of Sufyān al-Thawrī رحمه الله:
◈ Sufyān al-Thawrī رحمه الله was a trustworthy Imām, a jurist (faqīh), a mujtahid, and held the title Amīr al-Muʾminīn fī al-Ḥadīth (Commander of the Faithful in Hadith). However, he was also a mudallis (one who practices tadlīs).
◈ He would practice tadlīs from weak narrators and others.
✿ Implication:
If his muʿanʿan narration (i.e., where he says "from (عن)") is found outside of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and:
➊ It is not supported by corroborating reports, and
➋ There is no explicit statement of hearing (taṣrīḥ al-samāʿ),
➥ Then such a narration is considered weak and rejected.
❖ His Classification in the Categories of Mudallisin:
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar’s categorization of him in the second level (ṭabaqah thāniyah) is not accurate.
◈ Rather, he belongs to the third level (ṭabaqah thālithah) — as noted by al-Ḥākim (correct attribution, not al-ʿAlāʾī).
Refer to:
Jāmiʿ al-Taḥṣīl, p. 99
Nūr al-ʿAyn, p. 127; new edition p. 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 وأبي إسحق واضرابهم"
(al-Iḥsān, Vol. 1, p. 90; also Vol. 1, p. 161 in another edition)
Translation:
"As for those mudallis narrators who are trustworthy and upright, we do not accept their narrations as evidence unless they clearly state that they heard [the narration]. Examples include: al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and others like them."
❖ The Author’s Position:
◈ This is the correct and preferred view.
◈ The author has consistently adopted this view in the following publications:
➊ Nūr al-ʿAyn (new edition, p. 134, 138)
➋ al-Taʾsīs fī Masʾalat al-Tadlīs
— Published in Monthly al-Muḥaddith, Lahore, January 1996, Vol. 27, Issue 4
— Also in Monthly al-Ḥadīth, Hazro, p. 33
❖ Retraction from a Previous View:
In a letter addressed to ʿAbd al-Rashīd Anṣārī, dated 19/1408 AH, the author previously stated:
"He is a second-level mudallis, and his tadlīs is not harmful."
(Source: Masḥ ʿala al-Jawrabayn, p. 40)
◈ The author now declares:
"This statement is incorrect, and I retract it. Hence, it should be considered void and nullified."
❖ Statement of al-ʿAynī (Ḥanafī scholar):
"وسفيان من المدلسين والمدلس لا يحتج بعنعنته إلا أن يثبت سماعه من طريق آخر"
(ʿUmdat al-Qārī, Vol. 3, p. 112)
Translation:
"Sufyān is among the mudallisīn, and the narration of a mudallis through 'ʿanʿanah' is not accepted as proof unless hearing is established through another chain."
❖ Final Note:
Shahādah: April 2003
ھٰذا ما عندي، واللہ أعلم بالصواب
This is what I have [to present], and Allah knows best what is correct.
