Introduction

Muhammad bin Abī Attāb narrated to me, he said Affān narrated to me, on authority of Muhammad bin Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān, on authority of his father, he said:

‘We do not see the righteous more false in anything than they are regarding Ḥadīth’. Ibn Abī Attāb said: ‘So Muhammad bin Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān and I met and I asked him about it and he said on authority of his father: ‘You will not see the people of good (Ahl ul-Khayr) more false in anything than they are regarding Ḥadīth.’ Muslim said: ‘He was saying that falsehood flows upon their tongues although they do not intend to lie’.

Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said Yazīd bin Hārūn narrated to us, he said Khalīfah bin Mūsā informed me, he said:

‘I entered upon Ghālib bin Ubaydullah so he began dictating to me ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me this’ and ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me that’. So he prepared to answer the call of nature and stood up, then I looked in his notebook and in it was ‘Abān narrated to me, on authority of Anas’ and ‘Abān on authority of so-and-so’. So I abandoned [listening to his Ḥadīth] and stood up [to leave]’. I heard al-Hasan bin Alī al-Hulwānī saying: ‘I saw in one of the books of Affān a Ḥadīth of Hishām Abīl-Miqdām meaning a Ḥadīth of Umar bin Abd il-Azīz. [In it was written] ‘Hishām said: ‘A man said to be Yahyā bin so-and-so narrated to me, on authority of Muhammad bin Ka’b…’ [Al-Hulwānī] said, I said to Affān: ‘They would say Hishām heard it [directly] from Muhammad bin Ka’b’. So [Affān] said: ‘Indeed Hishām was stricken [with accusations of lying] with regards to this Ḥadīth for he would say ‘Yahyā narrated to me on authority of Muhammad’, then he claimed afterwards that he heard it from Muhammad [directly]’.’

Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Quhzādh narrated to me, he said I heard Abd Allah bin Uthmān bin Jabalah saying, I said to Abd Allah bin al-Mubārak ‘Who is this man from whom you transmit the Ḥadīth of Abdullah bin Amr:

‘The day of Fitr is the day of prizes…’?’ [Abd Allah] said: ‘Sulaymān bin al-Hajjāj. Look at what I placed in your hands [of praise] about him’. Ibn Quhzādh said I heard Wahb bin Zam’ah mentioning about Sufyān bin Abd il-Mālik, he said, Abdullah –meaning Ibn al-Mubārak- said: ‘I saw Rawh bin Ghutayf, the companion of blood the amount of a Dirham , and I took a seat in one of his audiences. Then I began to become ashamed for my companions to see me sitting with him while his Ḥadīth are disapproved of.’

Ibn Quhzādh narrated to me, he said, I heard Wahb [bin Zam’ah] saying, on authority of Sufyān [bin Abd il-Mālik], on authority of Ibn al-Mubārak, he said:

‘Baqiyyah [bin al-Walīd] is truthful of tongue however he transmits [Ḥadīth] from those who approach [the Muhaddithīn, i.e. are trustworthy] and from those who turn their backs on [the Muhaddithīn, i.e. and are weak]’.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Mughīrah, on authority of ash-Sha’bī, he said:

‘al-Hārith al-A’war ul-Hamdānī narrated to me, and he is a liar’.

Abū Āmir Abdullah bin Barrād al-Ash’arī narrated to us, Abū Usāmah narrated to us, on authority of Mufaḍḍal, on authority of Mughīrah, he said I heard ash-Sha’bī saying:

‘al-Hārith al-A’war narrated to me,’ and he [ash-Sha’bī] was testifying that he was one of the liars’.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Mughīrah, on authority of Ibrāhīm [bin Yazīd an-Nakhā’ī], he said, Alqamah said:

‘I memorized the Qur’ān in two years’. Al-Hārith said: ‘The Qur’ān is easy; the revelation [i.e. the secret revelation to Alī in the belief of the Shī’ah] is more difficult ’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad- meaning Ibn Yūnus- narrated to us, Zā’idah narrated to us, on authority of al-A’mash, on authority of Ibrāhīm that al-Hārith said:

‘I studied the Qur’ān for three years and the revelation for two years’; or he said: ‘…the revelation in three years and the Qur’ān in two years

Hajjāj narrated to me, he said Ahmad- and he is Ibn Yūnus- narrated to me, Zā’idah narrated to us, on authority of Mansūr and al-Mughīrah, on authority of Ibrāhīm that al-Hārith was imputed.

Qutaybah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, Jarīr narrated to us, on authority of Hamzah az-Zayyāt, he said: ‘Murrah al-Hamdānī heard something from al-Hārith and said to him:

‘sit by the door’. [Hamzah] said: ‘So Murrah went inside and took his sword and al-Hārith sensed evil and left’.

Ubaydullah bin Sa’īd narrated to me, Abd ur-Rahman- meaning Ibn Mahdī- narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, on authority of Ibn Awn, he said, Ibrāhīm said to us:

‘Beware of al-Mughīrah bin Sa’īd and Abū Abd ar-Rahīm for they are both liars’.

Abū Kāmil al-Jahdarī narrated to us, Hammād- and he is Ibn Zayd- narrated to us, he said Āsim [bin Bahdalah] narrated to us, he said:

‘We would catch up with Abū Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulamī and at the time we were young men, so he would say to us: ‘Do not sit with story-tellers other than Abūl-Ahwas and beware of Shaqīq [Abū Abd ar-Rahīm]’. [Muslim] said: ‘This Shaqīq held the view of the Khawārij and is not Abū Wā’il [Shaqīq bin Salamah, the righteous Tabi’ī]’.

Abū Ghassān Muhammad bin Amr ar-Rāzī narrated to us, he said, I heard Jarīr رضی اللہ عنہ [bin Abd al-Hamīd bin Qurt aḍ-Ḍabbī] saying:

‘I met Jābir bin Yazīd al-Ju’fī and did not write [Ḥadīth] from him; he believed in ar-Raj’ah’ [A Rāfiḍī belief regarding Alī returning].

Al-Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, Yahyā bin Ādam narrated to us, Mis’ar narrated to us, he said:

‘Jābir bin Yazīd narrated to us before there took place what happened [i.e. before his false beliefs] ’.

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said:

‘The people would transmit from Jābir before there appeared what appeared, then when there appeared what appeared, the people imputed him in his Ḥadīth and some of the people abandoned him’. So it was said to [Sufyān]: ‘What appeared?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Belief in ar-Raj’ah’.

Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, Abū Yahyā al-Himmānī narrated to us, Qabīsah and his brother [Sufyān bin Uqbah] narrated to us, that they heard al-Jarrāh bin Malīh saying, I heard Jābir say: ‘I have 70,000 Ḥadīth all of which are on authority of Abū Ja’far on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’.

Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad bin Yūnus narrated to us, he said, I heard Zuhayr saying, Jābir said, or, I heard Jābir saying: ‘Indeed I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth that I have not narrated from at all’. [Zuhayr] said: ‘Then that day he related a Ḥadīth and said, ‘This is from the fifty thousand’.

Ibrāhīm bin Khālid al-Yashkurī narrated to me, he said, I heard Abūl-Walīd saying,

I heard Sallām bin Abī Mutī’ saying, I heard Jābir al-Ju’fī saying: ‘I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’.

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said, I heard a man ask Jābir about the verse: {Thus I will never depart from the land until my father permits me or Allah decides for me, and He is the best of Judges}[Yūsuf: 80]. Jābir said:

‘An interpretation has not come to me about these [verses]’. Sufyān said: ‘He lied’. We said to Sufyān: ‘What did he mean by this?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Indeed the Rāfiḍah say, ‘Alī is in the clouds and we will not emerge along with he who will emerge from his children [the Khalīfah] until a caller calls from the heaven, meaning Alī: ‘Ride out along with so-and-so [meaning the promised Mahdī]’. Jābir said, ‘that is an interpretation for these verses’, and he would lie as they were regarding the brothers of Yūsuf, peace be upon him’.

Salamah narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ‘I heard Jābir talking about something like 30,000 Ḥadīth [that] I did not regard as permissible to mention anything from, and that to me was like this and that [Ḥadīth].’ Muslim said:

I heard Abū Ghassān Muhammad bin Amr ar-Rāzī say, ‘I asked Jarīr bin Abd il-Hamīd: ‘Did you meet al-Hārith bin Hasīrah? He said: ‘Yes, [he is a] Shaykh of lengthy silence; he persisted in a grave matter.’