Sufyān al-Thawrī said, “Al-Mīzān (the scale) ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān narrated to me,” and Sufyān moved his hand as though weighing something.
Ibn al-Mubārak remarked, “ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān is a scale.”
Abū Dāwūd said: I asked Aḥmad, “What is your view of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān?” He replied, “Reliable.” I said, “Does he make mistakes?” He answered, “Yes. He was among the most accurate memorizers in Kūfa, but he did elevate certain reports from ʿAṭāʾ.”
Yahyā ibn Maʿīn was asked about the hadith of ʿAṭāʾ, from Jābir, traced back to the Prophet ﷺ regarding pre-emption (shufʿa) (1). He said, “No one has narrated it except ʿAbd al-Malik, and people have found fault with him for it; nevertheless, ʿAbd al-Malik is reliable, truthful, and a narrator of his standing is not to be discarded.”
I said, “Shuʿbah criticised him on account of this hadith.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad transmitted from his father, who said, “This hadith is denounced (munkar)” (2). Muḥammad said—
(1) Recorded by Abu Dawud (no. 3518), al-Tirmidhi (no. 1369) and Ibn Majah (no. 2494) through the chain of transmission ʿAbd al-Malik b. Abi Sulayman – ʿAtaʾ – Jabir: the Prophet ﷺ said, “The neighbour has the strongest right to the shufʿa (pre-emption) of his neighbour; he should be waited for even if he is absent, provided that they share the same path.” The chain is strong. Al-Tirmidhi remarks: “hasan gharib; we know of no one who transmitted this hadith except ʿAbd al-Malik b. Abi Sulayman, and ʿAbd al-Malik is reliable and trustworthy according to the hadith scholars. We also know of no critic of him other than Shuʿba, and only in connection with this hadith.”
(2) Ibn al-Jawzi, in al-Tanqih (cited by al-Zaylaʿi, Nasb al-Raya, 4/174), refutes Shuʿba’s objection, declaring the report sound (sahih) and free of conflict with Jabir’s well-known narration: “Shufʿa applies to every property that cannot be divided; once the boundaries have been set, there is no shufʿa.” ʿAbd al-Malik’s version adds the condition “when their path is one,” while Jabir’s famous wording denies shufʿa only when the paths are distinct. Hence, if the two neighbours share utilities—such as a well, a roof or a pathway—the neighbour has priority in pre-emption, following ʿAbd al-Malik’s report. If they share none of these benefits, there is no shufʿa, in line with Jabir’s narration. Shuʿba’s criticism of ʿAbd al-Malik on this account does not undermine the latter’s reliability, for ʿAbd al-Malik is trustworthy, and Shuʿba, though a great memoriser, was not a jurist skilled at reconciling apparently conflicting traditions; later critics merely echoed his verdict.