There may be a narrator regarded trustworthy by Abd...

There may be a narrator regarded trustworthy by Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi but deemed defamed by Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qattan, and vice verse. And it is known that these two were notable imams, being axis of criticism in naql, and from whom most of traditions were taken.

Abu ‘Isa al-Tirmidhi said: Some of men of hadith have commented against a group of venerable ulama’, charging them with weakness, before their being memorizers, while others deemed them reliable due to their venerated status and truthfulness, though they might have misconceived in some narrations. Then Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qattan spoke against Muhammad ibn ‘Amr, reporting from him afterwards.

Further, Ibn Abi Layla used to narrate something in one way, narrating it in another way another time without any isnad, as this was done out of his memory, due to the fact that most of the earlier men of knowledge were never writing down the traditions, and those who wrote down had done this only after hearing. 637 Following are some samples of their disagreement, 638 I cite just as examples not for the sake of restriction, since this task requires a separate full book.

1- Ahmad ibn Salih al-Misri, Abu Ja’far ibn al-Tabari, one of the learned pious leaders of hadith, having both knowledge of fiqh and of hadith. From him many traditions were reported by al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud, and he was deemed reliable by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Mu’in and Ali ibn al-Midyani and others. But al-Nasa’i had a had opinion of him, as once he mentioned him saying: He is neither a thiqah (trustworthy) nor reliable!

2- Ahmad ibn al-Miqdam ibn Sulayman al-‘Ijli, who was deemed trustworthy by Abu Hatam and al-Nasa’i. About him Abu Dawud said: I never report hadith from him since he used to teach the impudent how to jest. 3- Khalid ibn Mukhallad al-Qutwani al-Kufi, who was one of the eminent shaykhs of al-Bukhari, from whom he reported and from another narrator from him. Al-Ijli says: He is a thiqah in whom there is tashayyu’.

About him Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: He had (reported) some munkar (disapproved) traditions. From him al-Bukhari singly reported the hadith: “Whoever contracts the enmity of a friend of mine…etc.”, 639 which was considered by the traditionists as one of the odd traditions reported by al-Bukhari.