He also said on another occasion: “I came to him in Wāsiṭ, looked through many athlāth (notebooks arranged in thirds), and extracted two hundred aṭrāf (individual narrational fragments) from them. I then went to him, and he proceeded to relate a report from Mughīrah, from Ibrāhīm, about tamattuʿ (combining ʿumrah with ḥajj).

I said to him, ‘This report from Mughīrah is nothing but Ḥammād’s personal view.’

He asked, ‘Who told you that?’

I answered, ‘Jarīr.’

He retorted, ‘That mere youngster! I once saw him dozing—he could not understand what was being said to him.’

A little later another issue arose, so I said, ‘Others disagree with you on this.’

He asked, ‘Who?’

I said, ‘Abū ʿAwānah.’

He shouted, ‘That slave!’

Something else came up and I again said, ‘They differ with you about this.’

He asked, ‘Who?’

I said, ‘Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm.’

He said, ‘And who is that?’

I replied, ‘Ibn ʿUlayyah.’

He said, ‘I have never once seen that man seeking hadith; and regarding Shuʿbah—poor fellow! I used to speak to Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ on his behalf, and Khālid would then narrate to him.’

This entire account was transmitted by ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Madīnī from his father (1).

Ṣāliḥ Jazrah said: “In my view, ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim was not one who lied, but he was prone to error. His memory was weak and he made many mistakes: he would elevate weak reports to the Prophet and invert them, whereas the rest of his narrations are sound and orderly.” (2)

ʿAlī ibn Shuʿayb reported: “I was present with Yazīd ibn Hārūn while people were questioning him—indeed I even heard So-and-so among them—and they asked, ‘And what about ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim?’

He replied, ‘I heard from him.’

They said, ‘Was he ever disparaged, or was anything said against him in those days?’

He answered, ‘God forbid! His study circle was opposite that of Hushaym, but he did not sit with them. He wrote without accompanying them, and error found its way into his notebooks.’ (3)

Muḥammad ibn al-Minhāl, from Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ, said: “I met ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim, and he supplied me with several reports from Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ. I then went to Khālid and asked him about them, and he denied every one of them.”