ʿAdi, or from his teacher’s teacher; even a reliable narrator can lapse (1).
Ḥanẓalah died in the year 151 AH.
140 – Saif ibn Sulayman al-Makki * (al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah)
One of the trustworthy transmitters; he was a freedman of Banu Makhzum.
He heard from: Mujahid, ʿAmr ibn Dinar, ʿAtaʾ, and Qays ibn Saʿd.
Those who reported from him include: Yahya al-Qattan, Abu ʿAsim, Ibn Numayr, Zayd ibn al-Hubab, Abu Nuʿaym, and others.
In his own right he is reliable, but Yahya ibn Maʿin accused him of espousing the Qadari doctrine.
Yahya also said: “He died in the year 151 AH.”
Ibn Saʿd said: “He died in the year 150 AH.”
Ibn ʿAdi was unduly exacting (2) when he listed him in al-Kamil, where he cited his narration from Qays ibn Saʿd, from
(1) This critical remark by the author—may Allah have mercy on him—attests to the breadth of his reading and his sharp discernment of hadith texts, even when their isnad appears sound. He offers many such insights, scattered throughout the biographical entries. Numerous hadith specialists have overlooked this dimension, although the Companions—especially Aisha—paid close attention to evaluating the matn and weakening any report that conflicted with the Quran, authentic prophetic practice, or sound reason rooted in the fundamentals and universals of Islam. Al-Zarkashi’s work Mustadrakat Aisha ‘ala al-Sahaba is a practical example of this kind of textual criticism, even when its narrators are upright and reliable.
(*) Principal sources for his biography: Khalifah, Tabaqat, p. 283; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir 4/171 and al-Tarikh al-Saghir 2/113; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Ta‘dil 4/274; Ibn Hibban, Mashahir ‘Ulama al-Amsar, p. 147; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 569; al-Dhahabi, Tadhhib al-Tahdhib 2/67/2 and Mizan al-I‘tidal 2/55; al-Fasi, al-‘Iqd al-Thamin 4/632; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 4/294 and Khulasat Tadhhib al-Kamal, p. 147.
(2) The author—may Allah have mercy on him—took Ibn ‘Adi to task in several places of his Mizan; a number of these instances are collected by Imam al-Lakhnawi in al-Raf‘ wa-l-Takmil (pp. 142-149); see there.