95 – Sufyan ibn Habib, Abu Muhammad al-Bazzar * (4)
A ḥadith master of proven reliability; Abu Muhammad, a Basran cloth-merchant.
He heard narrations from ʿAsim al-Ahwal, Sulayman al-Taymi, Khalid al-Hadhdhaʾ, Hajjaj ibn Abi ʿUthman, and others.
From him narrated Abu Hafs al-Fallas, al-Hasan ibn Qazaʿa, Humayd ibn Masʿadah, Nasr ibn ʿAli, and a number of others.
Abu Yahya Saʿiqah said: I heard ʿAli say, “None of our companions who pursued hadith, applied himself to it, memorised it and remained constant in it—persisting without interruption—except three men: Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Qattan, Sufyan ibn Habib, and Yazid ibn Zurayʿ. These men never abandoned it, nor were they distracted from it, until they themselves began to transmit.”
Abu Hatim al-Razi said: “Sufyan ibn Habib is trustworthy, the most knowledgeable of people regarding the hadith of Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah.”
Khalifah stated that he died in 183 AH, while others said 186 AH.
96 – Sufyan ibn Musa al-Basri ** (M)