Narrators of Hatred — The Nāṣibīs al-Bukhārī Relied Upon

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Narrators of Hatred — The Nāṣibīs al-Bukhārī Relied Upon — Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār
Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār  ·  Islamic Scholarly Tradition

A Discussion in the Science of Rijāl and the Critique of the Canonical Collections

Majd al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾayyidī  ·  d. 1428 AH

Al-Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ rests in part on men whose hatred of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was open, declared, and in some cases expressed in the fabrication of ḥadīth. The author assembles the catalogue, drawing on Imam al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad’s critique and the admissions of al-Bukhārī’s own defenders.

I. The Framework

They validated transgressors and left aside those whose religion was sound

He (peace be upon him) said: I have seen fit to transmit here what Imam al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon him) presented in his study of what was transmitted from Imam al-Hādī (peace be upon him) regarding al-Bukhārī and Muslim. He mentioned that they extended blanket validation to all Companions and transmitted from their transgressors and the like — those from whom hatred of the household and open enmity toward them was well-known and manifest.

To the point that he said: And they did not transmit from those whose religion is considered sound except far less than they transmitted from those we have mentioned — through intermediaries who held the view that the Commander of the Faithful could be reviled, such as ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb1 and his forebears and their ilk — may God curse them.

And among those who openly declared their hatred of the Commander of the Faithful (may God be pleased with him) and brazenly fabricated lies against God and His Messenger ﷺ: ʿIkrima, the client of Ibn ʿAbbās.

I say: The discussion of ʿIkrima2 and others has already passed.

II. Ḥarīz ibn ʿUthmān al-Ḥimṣī

He killed my forefathers — and al-Bukhārī relied on his narration

He said: And they relied on the narration of many who were known for Nāṣibism, such as Ḥarīz ibn ʿUthmān al-Ḥimṣī3 — for al-Bukhārī relied on his narration.

I say: The discussion of this apostate hypocrite has been set out at length in the Sharḥ Nahj al-Balāgha.4

Al-Sayyid al-ʿAllāma Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl said in al-ʿAtb al-Jamīl5 — may God grant him the finest reward — after setting out some of his disgraceful deeds:

“I have endured the labour of this lengthy treatment as sincere counsel to God and His Messenger, so that whoever is earnest about his religion may beware of the conspiracies of the hypocrites, may scrutinise carefully, and may not be deceived by their saying of a narrator: ‘trustworthy,’ ‘reliable,’ ‘a man of the Sunnah’… For such lavish praise as this is dispensed by them wholesale to the dogs of the Fire, the wicked, the hypocrites, the fabricators who altered the religion.”

— Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, al-ʿAtb al-Jamīl (p. 131)

And from what has been cited above, you will recognise that Ḥarīz ibn ʿUthmān is a wicked hypocrite, a fabricator, a hater of ʿAlī (peace be upon him), who openly declared this and declared that he did not love him — indeed, he actively encouraged reviling him.

I say: They transmitted that he used to say: “I do not love him — he killed my forefathers” — meaning ʿAlī.

He said: And he invented ḥadīths to diminish him. Furthermore, he was a Sufyānī, a caller to that detested school. And his claim to have heard that slander from his tyrant al-Walīd, or the possibility of that being true, is an unacceptable excuse — even though devils reveal things to one another.

I say: This slander he alludes to is what they transmitted from him, that he said: What the people transmit from the Prophet ﷺ — that he said to ʿAlī: “You are to me as Hārūn was to Mūsā” — is true; but the hearer made a mistake.

I said: So what is it?

He said: It is rather: “You are to me as Qārūn was to Mūsā.”

I said: From whom do you transmit this?

He said: I heard al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik say it.

And other fabrications that he invented against God and His Messenger — so perish him and his Shaykh, his Imam, and his leader by the reins into the Fire. {The hypocrite men and women are of one another — they command what is reprehensible and forbid what is right…} [al-Tawba: 67].

And how astonishing is the state of the authors of the sound collections, and of their men whom they relied upon from among the masters of debauchery and outright disbelief! God suffices us and He is the best of guardians.

III. The Roll Call

Each named by Imam al-Qāsim — each relied upon by al-Bukhārī

Isḥāq ibn Yazīd al-ʿAdawī

Imam al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon him) said: And likewise Isḥāq ibn Yazīd al-ʿAdawī. I say: So it is in al-Farāʾid — though the well-known name is Ibn Suwayd. Ibn Ḥajar noted in the introduction to al-Fatḥ that al-ʿIjlī validated him, and said: he was hostile toward ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.6

Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr al-Wāsiṭī

Imam al-Qāsim (peace be upon him) said: And Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr al-Wāsiṭī.7 I say: He said in al-Fatḥ: Abū Khaythama said: he was hostile toward ʿAlī.

Bahz ibn Asad

Imam al-Qāsim (peace be upon him) said: And Bahz ibn Asad,8

ʿAbdullāh ibn Sālim al-Ashʿarī

and ʿAbdullāh ibn Sālim al-Ashʿarī,9

Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim

and Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim.

I say: He is among the well-known figures for their hatred of the Master of the Trustees, who openly declared it — as in the Sharḥ al-Nahj and elsewhere.10 The discussion of him has already been mentioned.11

Among the Imams of the progeny (peace be upon them) who impeached him and rejected his narration: Imam Māna-kadhīm,12 Prince al-Ḥusayn,13 and Imam al-Qāsim (peace be upon him) — as you see.

Al-Dhahabī claimed that the scholars were unanimously agreed on validating him.14 On this, one of them said: Look at how al-Dhahabī — when a man transmits what agrees with his school — exaggerates in validation and claims consensus recklessly.

And in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, from Ibn al-Madīnī, from al-Qaṭṭān, that he is of objectionable ḥadīth.15 And in the introduction to al-Fatḥ16 from Yaʿqūb ibn Abī Shayba, that some of their own companions said: he has objectionable ḥadīths, and that he was hostile toward ʿAlī — for this reason many of the early Kufan scholars avoided transmitting from him.

Muḥammad ibn Ziyād ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Miṣrī

Imam al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon him) said: And Muḥammad ibn Ziyād ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Miṣrī. I say: He is al-Alhānī al-Ḥimṣī in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb of Ibn Ḥajar. Al-Ḥākim said: His Nāṣibism became well-known, like that of Ḥarīz ibn ʿUthmān.17 Al-Dhahabī followed his customary approach with him and claimed that the scholars were unanimously agreed on validating him. He said:18 I am not aware of any adverse statement about him, other than the words of the Shīʿī al-Ḥākim.

Al-Walīd ibn Kathīr ibn Yaḥyā al-Madanī

Imam al-Qāsim (peace be upon him) said: And al-Walīd ibn Kathīr ibn Yaḥyā al-Madanī.19

These are the ones al-Bukhārī relied upon — despite the manifest enmity and hatred toward the Commander of the Faithful (may God be pleased with him) that was known of them all.

Editor’s Notes

The following footnotes are editorial additions accompanying the text and are not the author’s own words.

1. He is ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. For his biography see: Tahdhīb al-Kamāl of al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī (5/422); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (8/41); Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ of al-Dhahabī (6/13), Dār al-Fikr edition; and many others. Do not fail to consult al-Amālī al-Khamīsiyya of Imam al-Aʿẓam al-Murshad Billāh Yaḥyā ibn Imam al-Muwaffaq Billāh al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl (may God’s blessings be upon them) (1/153), with his chain to Abū ʿAbdullāh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Yazīd al-Khattlī al-Ḥāfiẓ, who said:
“I used to collect the ḥadīths of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather — and what he saw in his dreams — for they contain a lesson for those who take heed.”
2. See the first chapter in the first volume of Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār — may God Almighty make it of benefit.
3. See Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (2/91); and Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (2/220). Al-Mizzī and Ibn Ḥajar have mentioned in their two books some of the crimes and enormities of this rebel. The discussion of him in the first volume of Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār contains what is sufficient as a proclamation for the devout — refer to it, and God grant you success.
4. See Sharḥ Nahj al-Balāgha of al-ʿAllāma Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd (4/69), in his commentary on the words of the Trustee (may God’s blessings be upon him):
“Know that after me a man will appear among you with a wide gullet and a protruding belly — he eats what he finds and seeks what he cannot find. Kill him, and you shall never kill him. Know that he will command you to revile me and to disavow me. As for the reviling — revile me, for it is a purification for me and a salvation for you. As for the disavowal — do not disavow me, for I was born upon the natural constitution, and I preceded all others in faith and emigration.”
The distinguished commentator deposited in his commentary on these words of ʿAlī numerous discussions and transmissions of Muʿāwiya’s and his transgressing faction’s reviling of Imam ʿAlī (may God’s blessings be upon him), and he mentioned many of those who were hostile to the Commander of the Faithful — not to be missed by those who seek the truth.
5. Al-ʿAtb al-Jamīl (p. 131), edited by al-Sayyid al-Saqqāf, Dār al-Imām al-Nawawī edition.
6. See Hadī al-Sārī, the introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī (p. 550), Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition. It is noted there that he was validated by Ibn Maʿīn, al-Nasāʾī, and al-ʿIjlī — and then his hostility toward the distinguishing mark between faith and hypocrisy is mentioned. Ibn Ḥajar said in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (1/43):
“Isḥāq ibn Suwayd ibn Hubayra al-ʿAdawī al-Baṣrī: truthful, spoken against on account of Nāṣibism.”
He then indicated who transmitted from him: al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasāʾī.
7. See Hadī al-Sārī, the introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī (p. 561), Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition.
8. Hadī al-Sārī (p. 555).
9. Ibn Ḥajar said in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (1/288):
“ʿAbdullāh ibn Sālim al-Ashʿarī, Abū Yūsuf al-Ḥimṣī — trustworthy, accused of Nāṣibism.”
He indicated who transmitted from him: al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasāʾī. See also Hadī al-Sārī, the introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī (p. 580).
10. See Sharḥ Nahj al-Balāgha of al-ʿAllāma Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd (4/101).
11. In the second chapter of Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār.
12. Sharḥ al-Uṣūl al-Khamsa (p. 269), edited by Dr. ʿAbd al-Karīm ʿUthmān, Maktabat Wahba edition.
13. Yanābīʿ al-Naṣīḥa of Prince al-Ḥusayn (may God have mercy on him) (p. 133), Maktabat Badr edition.
14. Al-Dhahabī was besotted with praising this Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, as demonstrated by the variety of his expressions of commendation. Among them, his words in Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (3/392), no. 6908:
“Trustworthy, an authority — he nearly attained the rank of Companion. Ibn Maʿīn and the scholars validated him.”
He also said — and how ill-said it was:
“They unanimously relied on him as proof, and whoever speaks against him has harmed only himself. We ask God for well-being and freedom from caprice.”
Consider these words of his alongside his own transmission that this Qays was among those hostile toward ʿAlī (may God’s blessings be upon him).
15. Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb of Ibn Ḥajar (8/337).
16. Hadī al-Sārī, the introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī (p. 609), Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition.
17. Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb of Ibn Ḥajar (9/145).
18. Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (3/551), no. 7544.
19. See Hadī al-Sārī (p. 627). Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Taqrīb (2/649):
“Truthful, knowledgeable in the campaigns, accused of holding Khārijī views.”
See also his biography in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (11/130).
Source

Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār fī Jawāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Āthār (Radiant Lights in the Compendium of Sciences and Traditions), by Majd al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾayyidī (d. 1428 AH). Chapter: Narrators of Hatred — A Group of Nāṣibīs Whom al-Bukhārī Relied Upon. Citing the study of Imam al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon him).