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Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Masaabeeh al-Sunnah, al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi in Tareekh Baghdaad, al­ Dailami in al-Firdaus, ibn Battah in al-lbaanah and Abu al-Qaasim al­ Asbahaani in al-Hujjah. 1 It was also recorded by al-Hasan ibn Sufyaan in al­ Arbaeen, al-Salafi in al-Arbaeen al-Buldaaniyah, al-Harawi in Dhamm al­ Kalaam and ibn Asaakir in al-Arbaeen.2 All of those scholars have recorded this hadith through the chain of Nuaim ibn Hammaad al-Khuzaa'ee. In most cases, it was Nuaim from Abdul Wahaab ibn Abdul Majeed al-Thaqafi from Hishaam ibn Hasaan from Muhammad ibn Sireen from Uqbah ibn Aus from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As. Except for Nuaim, all of those narrators are definitely acceptable narrators.3 For the most part, the grading of this hadith is determined by how one views Nuaim ibn Hammaad. Among the scholars who discussed Nuaim ibn Hammaad, it seems that ibn Hajr gives him the highest evaluation. In Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb, ibn Hajr quotes most of what al-Mizi said about Nuaim in Tahdheeb al-Kamaal. Those quotes contain both favorable and unfavorable remarks. Then in his own discussion at the end, seemingly summarizing his views on Nuaim, ibn Hajr wrote, As for Nuaim, his righteousness and honesty is confirmed, but in his hadith are well-known gross errors. Al-Daaraqutni said about him, "Leader in the sunnah, lots of errors." Abu Ahmad al-Haakim said, "Perhaps he contradicts others in some of his hadith." It was already mentioned that ibn Adi followed up the mistakes he made, and that is the criterion for the statement concerning him [as to what hadith to accept and what to reject].4 Similarly, in Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb, which is basically a summary of his conclusions in Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb, ibn Hajr described Nuaim with the words, Honest, makes lots of mistakes; jurist, most knowledgeable on laws of inheritance ... Ibn Adi followed up the hadith in which he made errors and the rest of his hadith are sound. 5 In his introduction to his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, ibn Hajr once again wrote about Nuaim, The great scholar (haa.fidh); al-Bukhaari met him but did not record anything from him in his Sahih except in one or two 1 Cf., ibn Muhammad, p. 224. 2 Cf., Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani, footnotes to Amr ibn al-Aasim, Kitaab al-Sunnah (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islaami, 1985), vol. 1 , pp. 12-13. 3 However, there is also some question about Uqbah ibn Aus, as shall be noted later. 4 Ahmad ibn Hajr, Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb (Muassasat al-Risaalah), vol. 4, p. 236. 5 See ibn Hajr's statements in Maroof and al-Arnaoot, vol. 4, p. 2 1 . Hadith #41 : "None of You Truly Believes Until. .. " places, 1 and he recorded from him without stating the chains (mualaq) in other places. Muslim recorded from him in one place in the introduction to his work. The compilers of the Sunan works, save al-Nasaai, [also recorded from him]. Ahmad considered him trustworthy and said, "Nuaim was from the people of honesty, but he would be confused on some matters and would make errors concerning them." Al-Ajali called him trustworthy. Abu Haatim called him honest. Al-Nasaai called him weak. Abu Bishr al-Doolaabi stated that he had forged hadith. Ibn Adi commented on that, saying that al-Doolaabi was being extreme against him because [Nuaim] was extreme in his opposition to the scholars who used personal opinion (ahl al-ra'i). And that [ibn Adi's conclusion] is correct. And Allah knows best. 2 Finally, in Lisaan al-Meezaan, a work on criticized narrators, ibn Hajr only wrote the following related to Nuaim's status, "Ahmad, Yahya and al-Ajali considered him trustworthy."3 One sees that ibn Hajr was very consistent in all four of his works quoted above. However, when comparing what he wrote with what others wrote, one does get the feeling that he overlooked something or ignored some facts concerning Nuaim. For example, ibn Hajr's Lisaan al-Meezaan is an abridgment and critical edition of al-Dhahabi's Meezaan al-Itidaal. However, ibn Hajr deleted all of the following disparaging remarks concerning Nuaim that are found in al-Dhahabi's work: . . . One of the well-known leaders and scholars although he was weak (layin) in hadith ... Abu Dawood said, "Nuaim has about twenty hadith on the authority of the Prophet (peace be upon him) for which there is no source." Al-Nasaai said [about him], "He is weak." Al-Haafidh Abu Ali al-Naisaboori said, "I heard al-Nasaai mention Nuaim ibn Hammaad's virtues and his advancement in knowledge, understanding and the sunnah. I asked him about accepting his hadith and he said, 'The reports that he alone narrates when compared to the well-known leading scholars of hadith are many. He reached the point that one cannot use him as evidence."' ... Al-Azdi said, "Nuaim was one of the people who would fabricate hadith in order to strengthen the place of the sunnah as well as [fabricate] false attributions to defame al-Numan [Abu Hanifah]. All of those are lies."...