Al-‘Uqaylī relates: Khadir ibn Dāwūd narrated to me; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us:

I said to Abū ‘Abd Allāh, “What is your view of Ibn Isḥāq?”

He replied, “He is extremely prone to tadlīs (concealing intermediaries).”

I asked, “If he explicitly says, ‘He informed me’ or ‘He narrated to me,’ may he then be deemed reliable?”

He answered, “He does say, ‘He informed me,’ yet he still contradicts (others).”

Someone asked Abū ‘Abd Allāh, “Did Yaḥyā ibn Sa‘īd transmit from him?”

He said, “No,” disapproving of the claim. Then he added, “Yaḥyā ibn Sa‘īd would never belittle anyone older than Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq.”

Bundār said: I heard Mu‘ādh say, “I saw Ibn Isḥāq wearing a thin, perfumed waist-cloth, and his testicles were showing.”

Bundār also said: I heard Ibn Abī ‘Adī remark, “Ibn Isḥāq used to entertain himself with cockfights.”

Al-Haytham ibn ‘Adī and al-Madā’inī said, “(His lineage is) Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār, and Khiyār was the client (mawlā) of Qays ibn Makhramah.”

Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraqutnī stated, “Ibn Isḥāq is not to be cited as proof.”

Al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī al-Ḥulwānī said: I heard Yazīd ibn Hārūn declare, “Were authority in my hands, I would appoint Ibn Isḥāq over the ḥadīth scholars.”

‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Qudāmah the jurist informed us in his book; ‘Umar ibn Muḥammad informed us; Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us; Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad informed us; Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Shāfi‘ī informed us; Muḥammad ibn Ribḥ ibn Sulaymān al-Bazzāz narrated to us; Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq informed us, from Sa‘īd al-Maqburī, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Abī Qatādah, from his father, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out to us for the noon—or perhaps the afternoon—prayer; Yazīd was unsure. He was carrying Umāmah, daughter of Abū al-‘Āṣ. Whenever he wished to bow, he would set her down and then bow; when he stood, he would pick her up again. He continued doing so until he completed his prayer.” (1)

This is the loftiest chain that has reached us from