With this same chain, reaching Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj narrated to us; Ibn Idrīs transmitted it with the same wording. Mālik exclaimed, “A charlatan from among the charlatans says such a thing?! We have banished him from Medina.”
Harūn ibn Maʿrūf said: I heard Abū Muʿāwiyah say, “Ibn Isḥāq was the most retentive of people. Whenever someone had five or more hadiths, he would bring them and deposit them with Ibn Isḥāq, saying, ‘Commit them to memory for me; if I forget them, you will have preserved them on my behalf.’ ”
The ḥāfiẓ Ibn Idrīs said: “How can Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq not be reliable? He heard directly from al-Aʿraj, then he reports from Abū al-Zinād from him, and thereafter from Ibn Abī al-Zinād from his father from him!”
Ibn al-Madīnī said: “His honesty is evident in his narrations. At times he says, ‘Abū al-Zinād told me,’ and at other times, ‘Abū al-Zinād mentioned.’ He also says, ‘Sufyān ibn Saʿīd narrated to me, from Sālim Abū al-Naḍr—who is among the most prolific transmitters—from Abū al-Naḍr.’ And he says, ‘al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār narrated to me, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, regarding an advance and a sale (1),’ and he is among the foremost transmitters from ʿAmr.”
“I have found for him only two objectionable reports:
- The report of Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar about drowsiness on Friday;
- The report of al-Zuhrī from ʿUrwah, from Zayd ibn Khālid: ‘Whoever touches his private part (2).’ ”
Al-Haytham ibn Khalaf said: Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; Abū Dāwūd narrated to us; someone who had heard Hishām ibn ʿUrwah told me that when Hishām was informed, “Ibn Isḥāq has narrated such-and-such from Fāṭimah,” he replied, “The wretch has lied.”
Ibn al-Madīnī related: Sufyān said, “I saw Ibn Isḥāq in the Mosque of al-Khayf, and I was ashamed for anyone to see me with him. He said, ‘I am lying in wait for Ibn Khuṣayfah, hoping to ask him about…’”