for it was also transmitted by:

al-Layth ibn Saʿd, from Rabiʿah ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said, “As for Abū al-Zinād, he is neither reliable nor acceptable.”

I say: The consensus has been sealed that Abū al-Zinād is in fact reliable and acceptable.

It has also been alleged that Mālik did not approve of Abū al-Zinād. This is unsound, for Mālik cites him extensively in the Muwattaʾ.

Ibn ʿUyaynah said: I asked al-Thawrī, “Have you ever sat with Abū al-Zinād?” He replied, “I saw no one in Medina who carried himself like a leader except him.”

Ibn ʿUyaynah also narrated: I was once seated with Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿd, so I said, “Abū al-Zinād has related to us.” He scooped up a handful of pebbles and pelted me with them.

I used to question Abū al-Zinād, and he was of pleasant disposition.

Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr reported: al-Layth told us: A man came to Rabiʿah and said, “I have been instructed to consult you on a matter, and to consult Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, and to consult Abū al-Zinād.” He replied, “Here is Yaḥyā. As for Abū al-Zinād, he is not reliable.”

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said: Mālik remarked, “Abū al-Zinād used to act as a scribe for those people—meaning the Umayyads—and for that reason I do not approve of him.”

Ibn ʿAdī then said: Abū al-Zinād is, just as Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn stated, reliable and a proof; I have not cited any of his narrations because they are all sound.

Abū Jaʿfar al-ʿUqaylī said, in the biography of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dhakwān: Miqdām ibn Dāwūd narrated to us, and Ḥārith ibn Miskīn together with Ibn Abī al-Ghamr likewise narrated, saying: Ibn al-Qāsim told us, “I asked Mālik about the one who reports the ḥadīth in which they say, ‘Indeed Allah created Adam in His image (1).’ He rejected it most vehemently and forbade anyone to relate it.”

It was then said, “Some people…"