as well as ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā, Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām, Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr, Ādam ibn Abī Iyyās, Asad ibn Mūsā, Saʿd ibn Ḥafṣ al-Dakhm, Abū Nuʿaym, Muḥammad ibn Sābiq, ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, and a great many others.

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “His ḥadith are very close (to sound).”

Al-Athram relates: “I asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh, ‘Is Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī (1) held in higher regard by you than Shaybān?’ He answered, ‘Hishām ranks higher—Hishām was a ḥāfiẓ, whereas Shaybān relied on his written compilation.’

Someone asked, ‘And Ḥarb ibn Shaddād (2)?’ He replied, ‘He is acceptable, yet Shaybān is the highest of these in my view. Shaybān possessed a sound book; he narrated from numerous authorities, so his reports are good.’

Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad reported from his father: “Shaybān is reliable (thabt) with respect to all the shaykhs.”

Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī said: “In the narrations of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, Shaybān is more accurate than al-Awzāʿī.”

ʿAbbās transmitted from Yaḥyā: “Regarding Qatādah, Shaybān is dearer to me than Maʿmar.”

ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd said: “I asked Yaḥyā, ‘What do you think of Shaybān’s reports from al-Aʿmash?’ He replied, ‘He is trustworthy in every respect.’”

Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah said: “Shaybān was an authority on variant readings and Qurʾānic recitation, well-known for that; Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn regarded him as reliable (4).”

Abū Ḥātim commented: “His ḥadith are good, acceptable; his reports are to be recorded.”

Ibn Saʿd, Aḥmad al-ʿIjlī, and al-Nasāʾī said: “Reliable.”

Ibn Khirāsh said: “Truthful.”