Yahya, on another occasion, say, “In my estimation he is unsound—he is not strong.”
Al-Maymuni reported: “I heard Yahya ibn Maʿin say, ‘Ibn Ishaq is weak.’ ”
Yet al-Mufaddal al-Ghalabi narrated from Ibn Maʿin: “He is reliable in hadith.”
Abu Zurʿah al-Nasri related from Yahya: “Trustworthy, but not an authoritative proof; the authoritative proofs are ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar, Malik…”—and he listed several others.
Yaʿqub al-Sadusi said, “I asked Yahya, ‘Do you harbor any doubt about his honesty?’ He replied, ‘No; he is truthful.’ ”
ʿAbbas ibn Muhammad narrated from Yahya: “Trustworthy, yet not a proof.”
Al-ʿIjli said: “A Medinan, trustworthy.”
Al-Nasaʾi and others said: “He is not strong.”
Abu Zurʿah said: “He is truthful.”
Abu Hatim said: “His hadith should be recorded.”
Al-Nufayli reported that ʿAbd Allah ibn Faʾid told them: “Whenever we sat with Ibn Ishaq and he embarked on a particular field of knowledge, he would devote the entire sitting to that subject.”
Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Muhamili said: “Al-ʿAbbas ibn Yazid al-Bahrani narrated to us; Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us: I heard Shuʿbah say, ‘Muhammad ibn Ishaq is the Commander of the Faithful in hadith.’ ”
Ahmad al-Abbar said: “Ismaʿil ibn ʿUbayd al-Harrani narrated to us; Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, from Shuʿbah: ‘If anyone were to be singled out for leadership in hadith, it would be Ibn Ishaq.’ ”
Ibn Saʿd said: “He was trustworthy, though some criticized him. Long ago he left Medina, then traveled to al-Jazirah, Kufah, Rayy, and Baghdad, where he remained until he died in the year 151 AH.”
Abu Saʿid ibn Yunus said: “Ibn Ishaq came to Alexandria in the year 115 AH.”
He transmitted from a number of scholars in Egypt, among them: ʿUbayd Allah ibn al-Mughirah, and Yazid ibn—