. J "" (cont.)

- "sins" ള'1 - "I certainly come to you," the first J is for emphasis •fa - "forgiveness" Takhreej This hadith, with this wording and chain, was only recorded by al­ Tirmidhi. He recorded it through the chain, "Abdullah ibn Ishaaq al-Jauhari al­ Basri narrated to us and said: Abu Aasim narrated to us and said: Katheer ibn Faaid said: Saeed ibn Ubaid narrated to us and said: I heard Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani say: Anas ibn Maalik narrated to us ... " lbn Rajah described this chain by saying, "There is no harm in it."1 This usually implies that the chain is acceptable. However, upon closer inspection that may not be exactly correct. The narrators in this chain are as follows: ( 1 ) Abdullah ibn Ishaaq al-Jauhari al-Basri: Abdullah was a trustworthy narrator. Abu Haatim called him shaikh, meaning his hadith are acceptable. lbn Hibbaan included him in his work on trustworthy narrators and 1 Ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 400. Hadith #42: "O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me . . . " stated that his hadith are sound or upright. 1 Ibn Hajr concluded that he is, thiqatun haa.fidh (trustworthy, scholar or preserver of hadith). Maroof and al­ Arnaoot disagree somewhat and call him, sadooq (honest).2 In any case, therefore, his hadith are at least of the level of hasan. (2) Abu Aasim al-Dhahhaak ibn Makhlad ibn al-Dhahhaak: Al­ Dhahaak was a very famous and well-known scholar of hadith. He was declared a trustworthy narrator by numerous scholars of hadith, including Yahya ibn Maeen, al-Ijli, al-Khaleeli and others.3 (3) Katheer ibn Faaid al-Basri: In both al-Kamaal and Tahdheeb, neither al-Mizi nor ibn Hajr mention anything regarding Katheer's status as a narrator.4 They mention that ibn Hibbaan has mentioned him in his book al­ Thiqaat, a collection of trustworthy narrators. However, it was the practice of ibn Hibbaan to include in that book narrators whose status are not really known as long as he knows of no one who has criticized such narrators. In other words, he gives them the benefit of the doubt and includes them among the trustworthy narrators. Hence, appearing in ibn Hibbaan's Thiqaat is not in itself sufficient to establish the trustworthiness or acceptability of a narrator. It was perhaps the influence of ibn Hibbaan's grading that led ibn Hajr, in Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb, to call Katheer maqbool ("acceptable"), meaning his hadith are acceptable if they are supported by others but not when he is alone in narrating something. In their critical edition of Taqreeb, Maroof and al­ Arnaoot are certainly correct when they disagree with ibn Hajr and state, instead, "He is majhool al-haal (it is known who he is but his status is not known) as only two narrators have ever narrated from him."5 (4) Saeed ibn Ubaid al-Hunaa'ee: Saeed was thought of highly by those scholars who discussed him. Abu Haatim called him a shaikh (meaning his hadith are acceptable). lbn Hibbaan also included him in al-Thiqaat, his book of trustworthy narrators.6 The well known critic of narrators, ibn Shaaheen called him trustworthy.7 lbn Hajr said, "There is no harm with him," which is a ranking just below the level of "trustworthy".8 Maroof and al-Arnaoot are in agreement with ibn Hajr's conclusion.9 (5) Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani: Bakr is unquestionably a completely trustworthy and acceptable narrator.10 (6) Anas ibn Maalik: He was a well-known Companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and unquestionably acceptable as a narrator of hadith. 1 Cf., ibn Hajr, Tahdheeb, vol. 2, pp. 302-303. 2 Maroof and al-Amaoot, vol. 2, p. 1 92. 3 See his entry in ibn Hajr, Tahdheeb, vol. 2, pp. 225-226; Maroofand al-Arnaoot, vol. 2, p. 1 49. 4 Al-Mizi, vol. 24, p. 144; ibn Hajr, Tahdheeb, vol. 3, p. 464. 5 Maroof and al-Amaoot, vol. 3, p. 194. 6 Cf., al-Mizi, vol. I 0, pp. 550-55 1 . 7 Umar ibn Shaaheen, Tareekh Asmaa al-Thiqaat (Kuwait: al-Daar al-Salafiyyah, 1 984), p. 97. 8 Iba Hajr, Taqreeb, vol. 2, p. 38. 9 Maroof and al-Amaoot, vol. 2, p. 38. 1 ° For more about Bakr, see ibn Hajr, Tahdheeb, vol. I, p. 244. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi The conclusion concerning that chain is that it is a weak chain due to the presence of a narrator who is termed, majhool al-haal. However, by acceptable supporting evidence, the hadith can be moved up to the level of hasan. Fortunately, in this case, there is such supporting evidence. Indeed, Ahmad and others have recorded hadith with virtually the same meaning as Anas' hadith. Those hadith have been narrated through various chains on the authority of the Companion Abu Dharr. For example, Ahmad has recorded the following hadith qudsi: I. ,,. 0 ,... ,,,., J ,,,., ,... ... ,,. J ,,,., ࢑t;I ':l) # pi їfaω f :wl 0୚ qe ࢎ ࢏ ࢐.J "Son of Adam, as long as you invoke Me and put your hope in Me, I forgive you with all that you have [of sins].