. IÚ IÛJ ':?Ü?I Iljj ,H c.,tÝ (cont.)

Here is a review of almost all of the different chains of this hadith, as alluded to in the above quotes.1 (At the outset, the reader must keep in mind that to use a particular chain for supporting evidence, it must be the case that the supporting chain or report is not what is termed "very weak". That is, if that chain contains liars or completely rejected narrators, it cannot be used as supporting evidence.) The Chain of al-Zuhri from Abu Salamah from Abu Huraira After recording this hadith, al-Tirmidhi stated, "This hadith is ghareeb.2 We do not know it from the hadith of Abu Salamah from Abu Huraira from the Prophet (peace be upon him) except through this chain." As stated above, the chain is al-Auzaai from Qurrah ibn Abdul Rahmaan from al-Zuhri from Abu Salamah from Abu Huraira. The problem with this chain surrounds Qurrah ibn Abdul Rahmaan. Ahmad said about his hadith, "Very rejected hadith." Yahya called him weak. Abu Haatim and al­ Nasaai stated that "he is not strong".3 Abu Zurah stated that hadith he related are rejected hadith. Abu Dawud said that there are objectionable aspects in his hadith.4 However, ibn Hajr called him honest with rejected reports. The important aspect to note about this chain is that Qurrah ibn Abdul Rahmaan claimed that al-Zuhri narrated it from Abu Salamah from Abu Huraira. Qurrah was not the only one who narrated it in this manner from al­ Zuhri. Abdul Razzaaq ibn Umar also narrated it in this fashion from al-Zuhri (as recorded in Tareekh Baghdaad and al-Uqaili's al-Dhuafa al-Kabeer). However, Abdul Razzaaq's narrations on the authority of al-Zuhri are rejected. Hence, that narration cannot be used as supporting evidence. Al-Baghdaadi, in Tareekh Baghdaad, also has another similar narration from al-Zuhri, but this goes through an unknown narrator. lbn Battah al-Akbari has this narration with the chain Baqiyyah ibn al­ Waleed on the authority of al-Zuhri from Abu Salamah from Abu Huraira. This 1 For the most part, this review is based on ibn Muhammad, pp. 100-109. The exact references for the quotes made will be found in that work. 2 What al-Tirmidhi means by ghareeb here is that, in this particular fashion, the hadith has only one source. 3 This is a common way of saying that he is weak. 4 These are the quotes that ibn Muhammad reproduced concerning Qurrah. Apparently he got them from al-Mizi. Here is another, more favorable, quote from al-Mizi: lbn Adi said, "I do not find him having very rejectionable hadith. I hope that there is no harm in him." Ibn Hibbaan included Qurrah in his book of trustworthy narratorsalthough ibn Hibbaan included many in that work who are not considered trustworthy by the other scholars. In his footnotes to al-Mizi, Bashaar Maroof adds the following quotes: Al-Daaraqutni said, "He is not strong." Yahya said, "There is no harm with him in my opinion." Y ahya ibn Maeen said, "He is lax when it comes to hearing hadith and in narration but he is not a liar." Al-Ajali said, "His hadith are to be recorded." See al-Mizi, vol. 23, pp. 581-584. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi is extremely problematic because Baqiyyah committed tadlees1 and in this narration he used a vague term (the word an) for how he received the hadith. What makes matters worse is that Baqiyyah also committed a form of tadlees known as tadlees al-taswiyah. This is where the person drops a weak narrator from further up in the chain to make the chain look stronger. Hence, in this case, Baqiyyah most likely simply dropped Qurrah from the chain between al­ Auzaai and al-Zuhri. Hence, this chain also cannot be used as supporting evidence. However, there are other chains of this hadith from Abu Huraira. These chains will be examined next. The Chain of Sulaiman ibn Yasaar on the authority of Abu Huraira Ibn Abu al-Dunya recorded this hadith in al-Samat with a chain that goes through Sulaiman ibn Yasaar from Abu Huraira. The problem with that chain is that it contains Abdullah ibn lbraaheem al-Madani. Abu Dawood, al­ Daaraqutni and al-Saaji all stated that his hadith are rejected. Al-Haakim said, "He narrated on the authority of weak narrators fabricated hadith that no one other than him narrated." lbn Hajr said, "Rejected, ibn Hibbaan has attributed fabrication to him." Hence, this chain is very weak and also cannot be used as supporting evidence. The Chain of Saeed ibn al-Musayyab on the authority of Abu Huraira In al-Tamheed, ibn Abdul Barr presents this hadith with a chain going back to Saeed from Abu Huraira. This chain contains Abdul Jabbar ibn Ahmad al-Samarqandi. Ibn Abdul Barr himself said about this narration, "Abdul J abbar made a mistake in it, and broke the chain up. There is no place for Saeed ibn al­ Musayyab in this hadith." A narration that is proven to be a mistake also cannot be used as supporting evidence.