Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban al-Busti said, “Some of our colleagues used to maintain:
‘The audition of anyone who heard from Ibn Luhayʿah before his notebooks were burned—such as the four ʿAbādilah: Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibn Wahb, al-Muqriʾ, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Maslamah al-Qaʿnabi—is sound, whereas the audition of whoever heard from him after the fire is of no value whatsoever.’

Ibn Luhayʿah was one of those who committed ḥadith to writing, amassed knowledge, and travelled extensively in its pursuit.

Shakkar (1) narrated to me: Yusuf ibn Muslim narrated to us, from Bishr ibn al-Mundhir, who said:
‘Ibn Luhayʿah was nicknamed Abū Kharīṭah. He used to keep a small scroll hanging from his neck and would tour the districts of Egypt. Whenever a group of people arrived, he would circulate among them; and when he spotted an elder he would ask, “Whom have you met, and from whom have you written?” If he found anything with him, he would copy it down. For that reason he was called Abū Kharīṭah.’ (2)

Ibn Hibban further said, “I scrutinised the reports of Ibn Luhayʿah as transmitted by both his early and later pupils. I found the narrations of the later pupils rife with confusion, containing much that has no basis in the transmissions of the earlier ones. Upon analysis I realised that he used to practise tadlīs: omitting weak transmitters and attributing what they reported to narrators he deemed reliable, thereby saddling himself with those fabricated traditions.” (3)