This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Zubair Ali Zai Rahimahullah's book on the rulings and issues of Qurbani.
Response to an Objection
There is a famous narration in which the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
أربع لا تجوز فى الأضاحي العوراء بين عورها والمريضة بين مرضها والعرجاء بين ظلعها والكسير التى لا تنقي
Reference: (Sunan Abi Dawood: 2802, for the translation of the hadith see the same book p. 117)
A contemporary objector has declared this narration to be weak in its chain of transmission. See their statement: "Sacrifice of a castrated animal is not Sunnah"
Reference: (p. 4)
. The same person further writes: "Regarding the weakness of this hadith, I will mention the statements of Imam 'Ilal wa Rijal Ali ibn Abdullah al-Madini, Imam al-Muhaddithin Imam Bukhari, and other Muhaddithin with detailed evidence in my new book 'Sacrifice of a Castrated Animal is not Sunnah,' InshaAllah. Therefore, this hadith is weak according to the principles of hadith and Muhaddithin."The Response:
The response to the detailed arguments of the mentioned objector will be given, God willing, only upon the publication of their book, provided there is health and opportunity. Briefly, it is stated that the following Imams of Hadith have declared this narration authentic:
1: Imam Ibn Khuzaymah
Reference: (2912)
2: Imam Tirmidhi
Reference: (1572)
وقال: هذا حديث حسن3: Imam Ibn al-Jarud
Reference: (975, 529)
4: Imam Ibn Hibban
Reference: (5922)
5: Imam Hakim
Reference: (Al-Mustadrak: 1/468, Hadith 1718)
وقال: هذا حديث صحيح ووافقه الامام الذهبي.6: Imam Baghawi
Reference: (Sharh al-Sunnah: 4/340, Hadith 1128)
وقال: هذا حديث صحيح7: Imam Nawawi
Reference: (Sharh Sahih Muslim: 13/120)
وقال: ”صحيح“.8: Imam Ibn al-Mulqan
Reference: (Al-Badr al-Munir: 9/286)
وقال: هذا الحديث صحيح وهو حديث عظيمFor now, this much is sufficient; besides them, the authentication by other Imams of Hadith can also be found. Regarding this hadith, Imam Ali ibn al-Madini, may Allah have mercy on him, states that Sulaiman ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Dimashqi did not hear it from Ubayd ibn Firooz.
Reference: (See Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi: 9/284)
The defect in this hadith can be divided into the following points:
1: The disagreement between Imam Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj, may Allah have mercy on him, and Imam Laith ibn Sa'd, may Allah have mercy on him.
2: The disagreement among the students of Imam Laith ibn Sa'd, may Allah have mercy on him.
Its details are as follows:
The Disagreement Between Imam Shu'bah bin al-Hajjaj (may Allah have mercy on him) and Imam Laith bin Saad (may Allah have mercy on him):
Imam Shu'bah bin al-Hajjaj (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates its chain of transmission saying:
سمعت سليمان بن عبد الرحمن قال سمعت عبيد بن فيروز قال قلت للبراء بن عازب
Reference: (Sunan Ibn Majah: 3144 with an authentic chain, Musnad Ahmad: 4/284, Hadith 18510, Musnad Ali bin al-Ja'd: 873, Musnad Abu Dawood al-Tayalisi: 311/2, Hadith 785, etc.)
From this authentic chain, it is absolutely clear that Sulaiman bin Abdur Rahman heard this narration from Ubaid bin Fayruz. When Imam Laith bin Saad (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates it, contrary to Imam Shu'bah (may Allah have mercy on him), he mentions Qasim Abu Abdur Rahman as the intermediary between Sulaiman bin Abdur Rahman and Ubaid bin Fayruz.
The Disagreement Among the Students of Laith bin Saad (may Allah have mercy on him):
One of the students of Imam Laith, may Allah have mercy on him, Uthman bin Umar, when narrating from Imam Laith, mentions the intermediary Qasim between Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman and Ubaid bin Fayrouz. For the authentication of this intermediary, see the following books:
Imam Ruyani, may Allah have mercy on him, while stating its chain, says:
نا محمد بن بشار نا عثمان بن عمر نا الليث عن سليمان بن عبد الرحمن عن القاسم مولى يزيد بن معاوية عن عبيد بن فيروز عن البراء
Reference: (Musnad al-Ruyani: 1/272, Hadith 204; Al-Tarikh al-Kabir by al-Bukhari: 1/6, Hadith 1383; Al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi: 9/274, etc.)
And the three students of Imam Laith bin Saad, may Allah have mercy on them, Abdullah bin Wahb al-Masri, Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi, and Yahya bin Abdullah bin Bukair, may Allah have mercy on them (etc.), do not mention Qasim as an intermediary.
The brief sequential authentication of their narrations is as follows:
1: Abdullah bin Wahb al-Masri:
Reference: (Sunan al-Nasa'i: 4371; Al-Sunan al-Kubra: 4/339, Hadith 4445; Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar: 4/168, Hadith 6187; Musnad al-Muwatta al-Jawhari, p. 79, Hadith 208)
2: Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi:
Reference: (Sahih Ibn Hibban, Al-Ihsan: 5919)
3: Yahya bin Abdullah bin Bukair:
Reference: (Al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi: 9/274)
From this authentication, it is understood that Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman heard the narration directly from Ubaid bin Fayrouz as well as through Qasim from Ubaid. Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, also seems inclined towards this view. Accordingly, in the biography of Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman, he states:
سمع عبيد بن فيروز والقاسم أبا عبد الرحمن
Reference: (Al-Tarikh al-Kabir: 4/23)
Meaning, Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman heard from Ubaid bin Fayrouz as well as from Qasim Abu Abdul Rahman.
Otherwise, Imam Shu’bah, may Allah have mercy on him, would be preferred over Imam Laith bin Saad, may Allah have mercy on him, because the status Imam Shu’bah holds in memorization, precision, and in the field of Rijal and ‘Ilal is higher, whereas Imam Laith, despite being trustworthy and precise, does not hold that rank. Moreover, the narration of the three students of Imam Laith bin Saad would certainly be preferred. Perhaps this is why Imam Ibn Abdul Barr, may Allah have mercy on him, states:
وشعبة موضعه من الإتقان والبحث موضعه وابن وهب أثبت فى الليث من عثمان بن عمر ولم يذكر ما ذكر عثمان بن عمر فاستدللنا بهذا أن عثمان بن عمر وهم فى ذلك والله أعلم
"Imam Shu’bah has a rank and status in the field of memorization and precision, and also in the discussion and scrutiny of Rijal and ‘Ilal. And Imam Abdullah bin Wahb is stronger in the narration attributed to Uthman bin Umar from Imam Laith bin Saad. And Ibn Wahb does not mention the intermediary that Uthman mentions. So from this, we can deduce that Uthman was mistaken in this narration. And Allah knows best."
Reference: (Al-Tamhid: 20/166-167)
Imam Abu Ahmad al-Hakim al-Kabir, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding the narration ”قاسم مولٰي خالد عن عبيد بن فيروز“ says: ولا أراه محفوظا "I do not consider this narration authentic."
Reference: (Al-Asami wal-Kuna: 4/351, Hadith 3524)
It is not correct for the objector to mention Imam Ali bin al-Madini, may Allah have mercy on him, and along with him Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, among those who consider this narration weak. Imam Ali bin al-Madini, may Allah have mercy on him, did not declare this hadith absolutely weak. What is clear from his words is only that among its chains, he considered the chain of Imam Shu’bah from Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman from Ubaid bin Fayrouz weaker compared to the chain of Imam Laith bin Saad from Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman from Qasim Abu Abdul Rahman from Ubaid bin Fayrouz. There is no absolute criticism of the narration but rather a preference of one chain over the other. He considered the narration with the chain of Imam Laith from Sulaiman from Qasim from Ubaid authentic and correct. So, based on this statement, to declare the narration absolutely weak is the objector’s own doubt and assumption; to our knowledge, nothing of this sort is proven from Imam Ali bin al-Madini. Allah alone knows where the objector saw Imam Bukhari’s criticism of this narration. As a compulsory response, if he means the Al-‘Ilal al-Kabir attributed to al-Tirmidhi, the text there is as follows:
كان على بن عبد الله يذهب إلى أن حديث عثمان بن عمر أصح قال محمد ما أرى هذا بشيء لأن عمرو بن الحارث ويزيد بن أبى حبيب رويا عن سليمان بن عبد الرحمن عن عبيد ابن فيروز عن البراء قال محمد وهذا عندنا أصح
"Imam Ali bin Abdullah al-Madini’s inclination was that the narration of Uthman bin Umar is more authentic. Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, says: I do not think this is correct because Amr bin al-Harith and Yazid bin Abi Habib both narrate this narration with the chain of Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman from Ubaid bin Fayrouz from al-Bara’. Imam Bukhari says: In our view, this narration is more authentic."
Reference: (Al-‘Ilal al-Kabir attributed to al-Tirmidhi: 446; also see Ma’rifat al-Sunan wal-Athar 18972)
The same text is narrated by Imam al-Bayhaqi with the words of بلغني عن أبى عيسى as follows:
محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري أنه كان يميل إلى تصحيح رواية شعبة ولا يرضى رواية عثمان بن عمر والله أعلم
Imam Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, inclined towards the narration of Imam Shu’bah, may Allah have mercy on him, and was not satisfied with the narration of Uthman bin Umar, may Allah have mercy on him. And Allah knows best.
Reference: (Al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi: 9/275)
This is true according to those who present statements without chains.
