Mālik also spoke against him because he had transmitted the Book of the Seven Jurists from his father, remarking, “Where were we when this was around?” (1)
Al-Khaṭīb said, “He left Medina and settled in Baghdad.” (2)
Those who narrated from him include al-Walīd ibn Muslim, Ibn Wahb, and Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī.
Ibn al-Madīnī observed, “What he related in Medina is sound, whereas what he narrated in Baghdad was spoiled by the Baghdadis.”
Al-Fallās declared, “There is weakness in him.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad transmitted from his father, who said of him, “He is such-and-such,” thereby rating him with some leniency.
Sulaymān ibn Ayyūb al-Baṣrī recounted: I heard Ibn Maʿīn say, “I am truly astonished that anyone should count Fulayḥ and Ibn Abī al-Zinād among the scholars of ḥadīth.”
Ibn Ḥibbān said, “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was known to singlehandedly report maklūbāt (3) — inverted narrations — against what the reliable transmitters relate. That resulted from his poor retention and the frequency of his mistakes; consequently, it is impermissible to adduce his reports as proof.”
(1) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 10, p. 230; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 1, p. 248.
The “seven jurists” of Medina, already mentioned, are: Said b. al-Musayyab, Urwa b. al-Zubayr, al-Qasim b. Muhammad, Kharija b. Zayd, Abu Bakr b. Abd al-Rahman b. al-Harith b. Hisham, Sulayman b. Yasar, and Ubayd Allah b. Abd Allah b. Masud, all of whom issued legal opinions in the city.
A mnemonic verse runs:
“If someone asks, ‘Who are the seven oceans of knowledge, whose narrations never stray from true learning?’
then answer: ‘Ubayd Allah, Urwa, Qasim, Said, Abu Bakr, Sulayman, and Kharija.’”
(2) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 10, p. 228.
(3) Al-muqallabat (inverted reports) are hadiths in which the transmitter has unintentionally or deliberately swapped one element for another, either in the chain of transmission or in the wording of the text.
a) Chain inversion: replacing one narrator with another of similar standing—whether to create an unusual isnad or through simple error—or substituting an entirely different isnad for the original.
b) Textual inversion: inserting one word in place of another within the hadith itself.
Such manipulation is forbidden unless done briefly for the purpose of examination.
For examples, see al-Baaith al-Hathith, pp. 87, 89, ed. Ahmad Shakir.