Al-Bukhārī remarked, “In their view he is lenient.” ʿAbbās transmitted from Yaḥyā that the latter said, “His retention is poor,” and on another occasion, “He is weak.”

Ibn Ḥibbān said: “He narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr and Qays ibn Ṭalq, while Ibn al-Mubārak and Wakīʿ reported from him. He errs frequently and slips badly—indeed, his mistakes became excessive.”

He died in 160 AH.

Abū Yaʿlā related to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Abān narrated to us; ʿAnbasah ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid narrated to us; Ayyūb ibn ʿUtbah narrated to us, from Yaḥyā, from Abū Qilābah, from al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘When one of you goes to sleep intending to rise for night prayer, let him place a handful of earth beside him. When he awakens, let him take it in his right hand and then cast it to his left.’” Ibn Ḥibbān commented, “This report is baseless.”

Al-Ḥasan ibn Sufyān informed us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us; ʿAfīf ibn Sālim narrated to us, from Ayyūb ibn ʿUtbah, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās:

An Ethiopian man asked, “You have been favored over us, O Messenger of Allah, with outward beauty. If I believe in you, will I be with you?” He replied, “Yes—by Him in Whose hand is my soul, the radiant whiteness of a black man will be seen in Paradise from a distance of a thousand years…” He continued the ḥadīth until he said: “The Ethiopian wept until he died, and I actually saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ lowering him into his grave with his own hands.” Ibn Ḥibbān declared, “This too is baseless.”

And in al-Jaʿdiyyāt, through my chain to al-Baghawī, ʿAbbās told me: “I heard Yaḥyā say, ‘Ayyūb ibn ʿUtbah is not strong.’”