Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī relates on the authority of Wakīʿ, who said, “Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī narrated hadith to us, and he was thoroughly reliable.”

Ibn Maʿīn said, “Whenever Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān heard a report from Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī, he felt no need to hear it from anyone else.”

Abū Ḥātim, quoting Abū Ghassān al-Tustarī, said, “I heard Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī say, ‘Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī was the Commander of the Believers (in hadith).’ ”

Abū Ḥātim also remarked, “I never saw Abū Nuʿaym urge people to study with anyone except Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī.”

He further said, “I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about al-Awzāʿī (1) and al-Dastuwāʾī, ‘Which of them is more accurate in narrating from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr?’ He replied, ‘Al-Dastuwāʾī. Do not bother asking anyone else about him. I do not think people transmit from anyone more precise than he is—someone equal to him perhaps, but more precise, no.’ ”

Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad reported that his father said, “The scholar with the greatest number of narrations from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr in Baṣrah is Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī.”

ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said, “He is reliable.”

Abū Ḥātim added, “I asked ʿAlī, ‘Who is the most reliable among those who transmit from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr?’ He answered, ‘Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī, then Ḥusayn al-Muʿallim, al-Awzāʿī, and Ḥajjāj al-Ṣawwāf (2); and I believe he also mentioned ʿAlī ibn al-Mubārak. So whenever you encounter the chain ‘from Hishām, from Yaḥyā,’ do not look for an alternative.’ ”

Al-ʿIjli said, “Hishām was a Basran, trustworthy, and firmly grounded in hadith. He was the most prolific transmitter from three scholars: Qatādah, Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaym, and Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr. He affirmed the doctrine of qadar (predestination) but did not call others to it.”

Ibn Saʿd stated, “Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī, the client of Banū Sadūs, was trustworthy, precise in hadith, and a definitive authority—except that he espoused the view of qadar.”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said, “I asked my father and Abū Zurʿah, ‘Whom do you prefer from…’ ” (sentence continues).