Honorable readers! What kind of narrator was Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad al-Hashimi al-Kufi (d. 137 AH)? Let us observe:
➊ According to the majority of hadith scholars, he was weak (due to poor memory and frequent mistakes).
❀ Hafiz Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) writes:
”ضعیف ، كبر فتغير صار يتلقن وكان شيعيا“
“He is weak, and when he reached old age, his memory changed, he began to accept prompting, and he was Shi’a.”
➋ He was Shi’a.
❀ The Shi’a scholar Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei mentioned Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad in his book
and referred to his narrations in
and others.
➌ He was a mudallis (one who conceals defects in narration).
❀ Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned him among the third category of mudallis.
➍ In his later years, he suffered from confusion.
In this writing, we will mention some Hanafi scholars who have declared Yazid bin Abi Yazid Al-Kufi as weak:
◈ Kamal al-Din Muhammad bin Abdul Wahid, known as Ibn al-Humam Hanafi (d. 681 AH) writes:
وهو مضعف بيزيد بن أبي زياد
This narration is weak because of Yazid bin Abi Yazid.
◈ Jamal al-Din Abdullah bin Yusuf al-Zaili Hanafi (d. 762 AH) writes:
ویزید بن أبي زياد ضعيف
At another place he writes:
وهو معلول بيزيد بن أبي زياد
This narration is defective because of Yazid bin Abi Yazid.
◈ Alaa al-Din bin Ali al-Mardini, known as Ibn al-Turkamani Hanafi (d. 845 AH) writes:
قلت: يزيد مضعف حكى البيهقي تضعیفه عن ابن معین
I said: Yazid is a weak narrator, Imam Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) has transmitted his weakness from Imam Yahya bin Ma’in (may Allah have mercy on him).
He further writes:
وفيه يزيد بن أبي زياد متكلم فيه، قال البيهقي في باب الكسر بالماء ضعيف لا يحتج به
In this chain is Yazid bin Abi Yazid, there is speech about him, Imam Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in ”باب الكسر بالماء“: he is weak, it is not correct to take proof from him.
Imam Ahmad bin Husayn Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated a hadith transmitted from Yazid bin Abi Yazid in
and did not criticize him. Commenting on this, Ibn al-Turkamani Hanafi writes:
قلت: في سنده يزيد بن أبي زياد وليث بن أبي سليم فسكت عنهما وضعف يزيد في غير موضع من كتابه هذا
I said: In his chain are Yazid bin Abi Yazid and Laith bin Abi Sulaym, Imam Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) remained silent about them, although in many places in his book Yazid has been declared weak.
◈ Badruddin Mahmood bin Ahmad Ayni Hanafi (d. 855 AH) although tried to defend Yazid bin Abi Yazid at some places, writes in his book
:
قلت: يزيد بن أبي زياد ضعيف
At another place he writes:
“قلت: وفي إسناده يزيد بن أبي زياد وهو ضعيف . “
◈ Maulana Muhammad bin Tahir Patni Hanafi (d. 986 AH) wrote that in the introduction of Fath al-Bari it is stated:
هو مختلف فيه والجمهور على تضعيفه إلا أنه ليس بمتروك.
“This narrator is disputed, the majority of muhaddithin consider him weak, but this narrator is not abandoned.”
Benefit…….. Mufti Tariq Ameer Khan Sahib writes:
“The king of muhaddithin, Allama Muhammad bin Tahir Patni (d. 986 AH) wrote ”تذکرۃ الموضوعات“ and ”قانون الموضوعات‘‘ in this field, undoubtedly this collection of famous narrators serves as an encyclopedia.”
◈Abul Hasan Ali bin Sultan Muhammad, known as Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH), writes:
”وفي إسناده يزيد بن أبي زياد وهو سي الحفظ اختلط في آخر عمره وكان يقبل الفلوس“
“In its chain is Yazid bin Abi Yazid, who was weak in memorization; towards the end of his life, he suffered from confusion and would very quickly accept suggestions.”
◈Janab Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri Deobandi Sahib (d. 1352 AH) said:
’’یزید بن أبي زياد وهو موصوف بسوء الحفظ“
“Yazid bin Abi Yazid suffered from poor memorization.”
◈Abul Hasanat Muhammad Abdul Hai Lakhnawi Hanafi (d. 1304 AH) writes:
’’وفيه يزيد بن أبي زیاد مجروح .‘‘
“In this chain is Yazid bin Abi Yazid, who is a flawed narrator.”
◈On the margin of Sunan Abi Dawood, published under the correction of Sheikh al-Hind Mahmood Hasan Deobandi, it is written:
”ابن أبي زياد ذكر الإمام النووي أن هذا الحديث ضعيف لا يصح الاحتجاج به لأن يزيد بن أبي زياد مجمع على ضعفه لا سيما وقد خالف رواية الثقات .“
“Ibn Abi Ziyad, Imam Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned
that this hadith is weak, and it is not correct to use it as evidence, because there is consensus on the weakness of Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, especially when he narrated against the narration of trustworthy narrators.”
◈Janab Ashraf Ali Thanwi Deobandi (d. 1943) writes:
“And the narration of Abu Dawood (2/93), in which two garments and the shirt in which the Prophet ﷺ passed away are narrated, has been declared weak due to Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad.”
◈Janab Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri Deobandi (d. 1346 AH) writes, referring to Al-Takhlis by Ibn Hajar:
’’وفيه يزيد بن أبي زياد وهو ضعيف“
Benefit… Sarfaraz Safdar Deobandi Sahib writes:
“When an author cites someone in support and does not disagree with any part of it, then that is the author’s viewpoint.
◈ Muhammad Ayub Mazahiri Deobandi (d. 1407 AH) writes:
”ابن أبي زيـــــاد الهاشمي ضعيف“
◈ Janab Muhammad Ilyas Faisal Deobandi Sahib writes:
“Zaili says that in its chain is Yazid bin Abi Yazid, and he is weak; Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Taqreeb says he is weak, in old age his condition changed and he was Shia.”
◈ Mufti Taqi Usmani Deobandi Sahib writes:
“Its chain is weak due to Yazid bin Abi Yazid.”
◈Mr. Imdadullah Anwar, teacher at Jamia Qasim-ul-Uloom, Multan, while proving a narration related to wiping over socks weak, writes:
“The Muhaddith Zaili states that in its chain is Yazid bin Abi Yazid, and he is weak. Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says in Taqreeb that he is weak; in old age his condition changed and he was Shia.”
But the surprising thing is that Mr. Imdadullah Anwar, in defense of a weak narration related to abandoning raising the hands, has called the same narrator trustworthy in the same book.
Thus he writes:
“Although some Muhaddithin have spoken against Yazid bin Abi Yazid al-Kufi, yet he is trustworthy.”
هذا خبرهم عند الوفاق وذلك مخبرهم عند الخلاف.
