Sahih Muslim

He said: ‘Indeed we would take Ḥadīth and they would be taken on authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him. However if you take every difficult and docile [narration] then how far that is [from being upright]!

He said Bushayr ul-Adawī came to Ibn Abbās then he set about narrating to him, saying: ‘The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said…’, ‘the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said…’. Then it seemed that Ibn Abbās was not listening to his Ḥadīth and not reflecting on them, so [Bushayr] said: ‘Oh Ibn Abbās, why is it that I see you not listening to my Ḥadīth? I narrate to you on authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, however you are not listening’. Ibn Abbās said: ‘Indeed once upon a time we would listen to a man saying, ‘the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said…’ rushing towards him with our eyes and harkening towards him with our ears; then when the people took the difficult and the docile we no longer took from people except those whom we knew’.

He said: ‘I wrote to Ibn Abbās asking him to write something [pertaining to knowledge] for me and he withheld from me quite a bit, and said: ‘As [if he were] a sincere child, I will write for him something especially suited to his status withholding from him what would not benefit him’. [Ibn Abī Mulaykah] said: ‘So [Ibn Abbās] called for the judgment of Alī ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ [bin Abī Tālib which was a book with which Alī would pass verdicts in Kuffah], and he began to write from it [with respect to the request of Ibn Abī Mulaykah] and he came upon something [not appropriate to the station of Alī regarding the science of verdicts]. So [Ibn Abbās] said: ‘By Allah, Alī ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ ‌did not give judgment according to this unless he was astray’.’

He said: ‘A book containing judgements passed by 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was brought to Ibn 'Abbas. He erased all of them expect a few," and Sufyan bin 'Uyaynah gestured with his hand.

Who said: ‘When they narrated these things after Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, a man from the companions of Alī said: ‘May Allah curse them. Did they corrupt every [type of] knowledge!?’

He said ‘I heard al-Mughīrah saying: ‘There are no Ḥadīth on authority of Alī ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ ‌, may Allah be pleased with him, that are confirmed except from the companions of Abdullah bin Mas’ūd ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ.’

He said: "Indeed this knowledge is faith, so carefully consider from whom you take your faith".

That Which is Related to the Statements ‘The Chain of Narration is from the Religion’; ‘Transmissions are not Taken Except from Trustworthy Narrators’; and ‘Criticism of the Narrators With What is Permissible Regarding Them, Even Obligatory and That It is not the Prohibited Kind of Backbiting, Rather it is the Defense of the Noble Sharī’ah’

He said: "They would not ask about the chains of narration, and when the Fitnah occurred, they said: 'Name for us your men'. So Ahl us-Sunnah would be regarded, and their Hadith were then taken, and Ahl ul-Bi’dah would be regarded, and their Hadith were not taken".

He said: ‘I came across Tāwus ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ and said: ‘So-and-so narrated to me such-and-such’. Then he said: ‘If your companion is trustworthy, then take from him.’

He said, I said to Tāwus ‌رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ ‌"So-and-so narrated to me like this-and-that". He said: "If your companion is trustworthy, then take from him."

He said: "I met one hundred [transmitters] in al-Madīnah, each of whom were reliable. Narrations were not taken from one about who it was said, 'he is not from its people'."

He said, I heard Sa’d bin Ibrāhīm saying: ‘There is to be no narrating on authority of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah send blessings and peace upon him, except by trustworthy narrators (Thiqāt)’.

The chain of narration is from the Dīn, and were it not for the chain of narration whoever wished could say what he wanted’. Muhammad bin Abdullah said, al-Abbās bin Abī Rizmah narrated to me, he said I heard Abdullah [bin al-Mubārak] saying: ‘Between us and the people are ‘the legs’ (meaning the chain of narration, i.e. if a Ḥadīth was like a creature)’. Muhammad said, I heard Abā Ishāq Ibrāhīm bin Īsā at-Tālqānī say, I said to Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak: ‘Oh Abā Abd ir-Rahman! How is the Ḥadīth which goes ‘Indeed from al-Birr after al-Birr is that you pray for your parents after you pray for yourself and you fast for them both after you fast for yourself’? So [Ibn al-Mubārak] said: ‘Oh Abā Ishāq! On whose authority is this?’ I said to him: ‘This is a Ḥadīth from Shihāb bin Khirāsh’. [Ibn al-Mubārak] said: ‘[He is] trustworthy. On whose authority [did he transmit]?’ I said: ‘on authority of al-Hajjāj bin Dīnār’. [Ibn al-Mubārak] said: ‘[He is] trustworthy. On whose authority [did he transmit]?’ I said: ‘He [al-Hajjāj said] the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said…’ [Ibn al-Mubārak] said: ‘Oh Abā Ishāq! Indeed between al-Hajjāj bin Dīnār and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, is a wilderness in which the necks of the mounts are severed, however, there is no difference of opinion regarding charity [offered on behalf of one’s parents]’. Muhammad said, I heard Alī bin Shaqīq saying, I heard Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak saying in front of the people: ‘Abandon the Ḥadīth of Amr bin Thābit for indeed he would curse the Salaf [i.e., the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them]’.

He said: ‘I was sitting near al-Qāsim bin Ubayd Allah and Yahyā bin Sa’īd [bin Qays al-Madanī al-Qāḍī], when Yahyā said to al-Qāsim: ‘Oh Abā Muhammad! Indeed it is gravely harmful for the likes of you to be asked about something from the affair of this Dīn, and then knowledge of it is not found with you, and no relief [in the form of an answer]’ -or- ‘…knowledge and no articulation’. So al-Qāsim said [to Yahyā bin Sa’īd]: ‘Where did that come from?’ [Yahyā] said: ‘It is because you are the son of two Imāms of guidance- a descendent of Abu Bakr and Umar.’ [al-Qāsim] said to him: ‘More harmful than that- according to whoever reflects about Allah- is to speak without knowledge or to take [Ḥadīth] from someone who is not trustworthy’. [Abū Aqīl] said: ‘So [Yahyā bin Sa’īd] was quiet and did not respond to him’.

Unveiling Defects of the Transmitters of Ḥadīth and Relaters of Reports and the Statements of the A’immah Regarding That

‘By Allah, indeed it is a grave matter that the likes of you, a descendent of two Imāms of guidance – meaning Umar and Ibn Umar رضی ‌اللہ ‌عنہ is asked about a matter and you have no knowledge of it’. So [al-Qāsim] said: ‘By Allah, more grave than that according to Allah, and to whoever reflects about Allah, is to speak without knowledge or to report on authority of one who is not trustworthy’. [Ibn Uyaynah] said that Abū Aqīl Yahyā bin al-Mutawakkil witnessed them both when they said that.

‘I asked Sufyān ath-Thawrī , Shu’bah, Mālik, and Ibn Uyaynah about a man who is not reliable (Thabt) in Ḥadīth, and someone comes and asks me about him, and they said: ‘Inform [others] against him that he is not reliable’.’

Ubayd Allah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, he said, I heard an-Naḍr saying: ‘Ibn Awn was asked about the Ḥadīth of Shahr and he was standing at the threshold of the door, so [Ibn Awn] said: ‘Indeed they criticized Shahr, indeed they criticized Shahr’. Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him, said ‘He means- the tongues of men were busy criticizing him’.’

‘I had met Shahr then abandoned transmitting from him’.

‘Indeed Abbād bin Kathīr, about whose condition you are aware, when he related [narrations] he introduced a grave matter- do you believe that it should be said to the people ‘Do not take from him?’ Sufyān said: ‘Indeed!’ Abdullah [bin al-Mubārak] said: ‘So when I was in an assembly and Abbād was mentioned there, I praised him regarding his Dīn and said: ‘Do not take from him.’ Muhammad said, Abdullah bin Uthmān narrated to us, he said, my father said, Abdullah bin al-Mubārak said: ‘I ended up in an assembly of Shu’bah, and he said: ‘This is Abbād bin Kathīr so be warned against him.’

‘I was at his door and Sufyān was with [Muhammad bin Sa’īd], then when he came out I asked [Sufyān] about him. So he informed me that he was a liar.’