Unsubstantiated Criticism and the Okara Culture

Author: Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai

Question:


Ameen Okaraavi writes:

"Nowadays, the conditions of narrators are based on books such as Taqreeb al-Tahzeeb, Tahzeeb al-Tahzeeb, Khulasat al-Tahzeeb, Tazkirat al-Huffaz, Mizan al-I'tidal, etc., and all these books are unsubstantiated. An eighth-century person is declaring a first-century person as trustworthy or weak, without any chain of narration spanning seven hundred years. Will you deny these books as well?"

[Majmoo'a Rasail Jadeed Edition 2/447, Idara Khuddam Ahnāf Lahore]

Question:

Are these books really unsubstantiated, and do eighth-century individuals critique first-century individuals without any chain of narration? Please clarify. May Allah bless your life. Ameen.

[Abu Jawad Sherzadah Hamdard, Dogadra, Dir Bala, 24th January 2007]

Answer:

Some statements in these famous, widespread, and established books are indeed without chains of narration, while some are with chains of narration. Here are a few examples of substantiated statements:

Ahmad bin Khalil bin Harb al-Qawmsi:

Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) writes:

"Abu Hatim attributed falsehood to him."

[Taqreeb al-Tahzeeb: 34]

Centuries before the birth of Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), Imam Abu Hatim al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Ahmad bin Khalil al-Qawmsi is a liar."

[Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'deel, Vol. 2, p. 50, No. 49]


Ahmad bin Ibrahim bin Khalid al-Mawsili:

Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) writes:

"Ibrahim bin Junaid said about Ibn Ma'in: Trustworthy and truthful."

[Tahzeeb al-Tahzeeb, Vol. 1, p. 9]

Centuries before the birth of Hafiz Ibn Hajar, the book Su'alaat Ibn Junaid recorded that Yahya bin Ma'in said about Harith al-Naqqal and Ahmad bin Ibrahim al-Mawsili:

"Both are trustworthy and truthful."

[Su'alaat Ibn Junaid: 114]

Khulasat Tahzeeb al-Kamal by Khazraji:

Khazraji (d. 923 AH) quotes Imam Yahya bin Ma'in (may Allah have mercy on him) saying:

"There is no harm in him."This is recorded with an authentic chain in Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'deel by Imam Yahya bin Ma'in (may Allah have mercy on him).[Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'deel, Vol. 2, p. 39, No. 1]

Hafiz Dhahabi's Tazkirat al-Huffaz:

At the beginning of his book, Hafiz Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions a narration summarizing that Sayyidina Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) compiled a collection of hadiths which he later burned.

[Tazkirat al-Huffaz, Vol. 1, p. 5, No. 1]

Hafiz Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted this narration from Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri with a complete chain and text, stating:

"This is not authentic."

[Tazkirat al-Huffaz, Vol. 1, p. 5]

Note:

Muhammad Zakariyya Tabligi Deobandi in his book Hikayat-e-Sahabah narrates the same without mentioning Hafiz Dhahabi's criticism.[Hikayat-e-Sahabah, p. 98, Eighth Chapter]

Hafiz Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted the chain and critiqued it, while Zakariyya presented it to the Urdu public without this critique!

Aban bin Ishaq al-Madani in Mizan al-I'tidal:

Hafiz Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) quotes Abu al-Fath al-Azdi's (a discredited narrator) critique and rejects it, saying that Ajli considered him trustworthy.[Mizan al-I'tidal, Vol. 1, p. 5, No. 1]

Ahmad al-Ajli's statement "Thiqah" is mentioned in Tarikh al-Ajli.

[Tarikh al-Ajli, p. 50, No. 12]

Note:

Due to a printing error in Mizan al-I'tidal, it is printed as "وثقه أحمد والعجلي" when the correct version is "وثقه أحمد العجلي". Also see:[Hashiya Tahzeeb al-Kamal, edited by Bashar Awad Maroof, Vol. 2, p. 6]

It becomes clear that Okaraavi's statement "all these books are unsubstantiated" is incorrect and rejected.

Important Note:

The statements and actions mentioned in these and other books should be used as evidence only after thorough verification. The established testimonies and the research of the majority of reliable scholars should be given preference.

Sometimes, criticism on a narrator is recorded in these books, but it is not substantiated by a reliable chain. For example, in Tahzeeb al-Kamal, Tahzeeb al-Tahzeeb, and Mizan al-I'tidal, the critique by Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) on Mu’ammal bin Ismail as "Munkar al-Hadith" is recorded, but this critique is not authentically proven from Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him). See:[Monthly Al-Hadith: 21, p. 19, and Ithbat al-Ta'dil in the Verification of Mu’ammal bin Ismail]

Unsubstantiated Criticisms:

It is extremely regrettable that the proponents of the Okaraavi culture continually fit these unsubstantiated criticisms on Mu’ammal bin Ismail and then claim, "all these books are unsubstantiated"! Is this not a great injustice?

(8th February 1427 AH)
 
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