Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “He is trustworthy; I have never heard anyone speak ill of him.”
al-Nasāʾī remarked, “There is nothing wrong with him.”
Abū Ḥātim said, “I do not find fault with any of his narrations.”
Ibn Maʿīn stated, “His ḥadith is not an authority,” and on another occasion, “He is not strong.”
Ibn ʿAdī commented, “I see nothing objectionable in his ḥadith.”
Abū Ḥātim also said, “His narrations are ṣāliḥ—that is, acceptable.”
ʿAbbās reported that Yaḥyā (Ibn Maʿīn) was asked about Suhayl and al-ʿAlāʾ, and he did not consider either of them strong.
ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd transmitted from Yaḥyā that he said, “Saʿīd al-Maqburī is more reliable than al-ʿAlāʾ; al-ʿAlāʾ is weak.”
The author says: “His ḥadith does not drop below the level of ḥasan (fair), though one should avoid what has been criticized in it.”
Zayd ibn Abī Unaysah narrated from him, from Nuʿaym al-Mujmir, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, traced back to the Prophet: “The believer’s izār (lower garment) should reach the middle of his shins.” (1)
Among the strangest things he reported—through his father, from Abū Hurayrah, traced back to the Prophet—is: “When the middle of Shaʿbān arrives, do not fast …” (2) and the remainder of the ḥadith.
al-ʿAlāʾ died in 138 AH.
(1) Its transmitters are reliable. Muslim relates it in his Sahih (2086) through Ibn Wahb – ʿUmar b. Muhammad – ʿAbd Allah b. Wāq – Ibn ʿUmar: “I passed by the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, while my izar was hanging low. He said, ‘ʿAbd Allah, raise your izar.’ I did so. He then said, ‘Higher,’ so I raised it further and have observed that ever since.” Some of the people asked, “To where?” He answered, “To the middle of the calves.”
Malik records in the Muwattaʾ, 2/914–915; Abu Dawud (4093) in “Dress,” chapter “The length of the izar”; and Ibn Majah (3573) via al-ʿAlaʾ b. ʿAbd al-Rahman, from his father, who said: “I asked Abu Saʿid al-Khudri about the izar. He said, ‘Let me give you sound knowledge: I heard the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, say, “A believer’s izar should reach the middle of his calves.”’”
(2) Reported by Abu Dawud (2337) and al-Tirmidhi (738); the chain is sound, as al-Tirmidhi notes. Imam Ahmad and others nevertheless questioned this report from al-ʿAlaʾ b. ʿAbd al-Rahman because another authentic hadith from ʿAʾisha states that the Prophet, ﷺ, used to fast almost all of Shaʿban. The two reports are not contradictory: al-ʿAlaʾ’s hadith concerns someone who begins fasting after mid-Shaʿban in preparation for Ramadan, whereas ʿAʾisha’s refers to one who continues a habitual fast. See Fath al-Bari, 4/186-187.