Al-Hafiz answers...

Al-Hafiz answers: أحمد بن محمد بن حنبل بن هلال بن أسد الشيباني المروزي نزيل بغداد أبو عبد الله أحد الأئمة ثقة حافظ فقيه حجة Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal b. Hilal b. Asad al-Shaybani al-Maruzi, a Baghdad resident, Abu ‘Abd Allah: One of the Imams, thiqah (trustworthy) , hafiz , jurist, hujjah (an authority).[^6] Al-Hafiz also has these comments about the third narrator: محمد بن جعفر الهذلي البصري المعروف بغندر ثقة صحيح الكتاب إلا أن فيه غفلة Muhammad b.

Ja’far al-Hazali al-Basri, better known as Ghandar: Thiqah (trustworthy) , sahih al-kitab (i.e. ahadith from his books are sahih ) except that there was some negligence in him.[^7] Whatever negligence he had does not affect his ahadith from Shu’bah at all. He used to accurately record the latter’s reports. So, he narrated them from his books with perfect precision.

Al-Hafiz provides further information in this respect: وقال ابن مهدي كنا نستفيد من كتب غندر في شعبة وكان وكيع يسميه الصحيح الكتاب .وقال أبو حاتم عن محمد بن ابان البلخي قال ابن مهدي غندر أثبت في شعبة مني وقال ابن المبارك إذا اختلف الناس في حديث شعبة فكتاب غندر حكم بينهم وقال ابن أبي حاتم سألت أبي عن غندر فقال كان صدوقا وكان مؤدبا وفي حديث شعبة ثقة Ibn Mahdi said: “We used to benefit from the books of Ghandar on Shu’bah. Waki’ named him sahih al-kitab .” Abu Hatim narrated from Muhammad b.

Aban al-Balakhi that Ibn Mahdi said: “Ghandar is more accurate than me as far as Shu’bah is concerned.” Ibn al-Mubarak said, “ When the people disagree about the hadith of Shu’bah, the book of Ghandar used to judge between them .” Ibn Abi Hatim said: “I asked my father about Ghandar and he replied, ‘He was saduq (very truthful), and was a teacher and in the hadith of Shu’bah, he is thiqah (trustworthy) .’”[^8] The fourth narrator, Shu’bah, is a pillar of Sunni ahadith .

Al-Hafiz gives the catch-phrases about him: شعبة بن الحجاج بن الورد العتكي مولاهم أبو بسطام الواسطي ثم البصري ثقة حافظ متقن كان الثوري يقول هو أمير المؤمنين في الحديث Shu’bah b. al-Hajjaj b. al-Ward al-‘Atki, their freed slave, Abu Busṭam al-Wasiṭi, al-Basri: Thiqah (trustworthy) , hafiz , extremely precise .

Al-Thawri used to say: “ He was the amir al-muminin (the supreme leader) in al-Hadith .”[^9] Abu Ishaq al-Sabi’i is the fifth narrator, and al-Hafiz has this to say about him: عمرو بن عبد الله بن عبيد …. أبو إسحاق السبيعي بفتح المهملة وكسر الموحدة ثقة مكثر عابد من الثالثة اختلط بأخرة ‘Amr b. ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Ubayd ....