3 – Ibn al-Kalbī, Abū al-Mundhir Hishām ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib*
The erudite scholar, historian, and unrivaled genealogist, Abū al-Mundhir Hishām—son of the celebrated narrator Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib ibn Bishr al-Kalbī, a Kufan and a Shiʿite—was, like his father, one of the narrators whose reports have been abandoned.
He transmitted extensively from his father, and also from Mujālid, Abū Mikhnaf Lūṭ, and a number of others.
Among those who narrated from him were his son al-ʿAbbās, Muḥammad ibn Saʿd, Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ, Ibn Abī al-Sarī al-ʿAsqalānī, and Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām al-ʿIjlī.
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “He was nothing more than a teller of stories and a genealogist; I never imagined anyone would transmit ḥadith from him.” (1)
Al-Dāraquṭnī and others stated: “His ḥadith is abandoned.” (2)
(*) Khalifa’s Classes, p. 167; Khalifa’s History, p. 423; al-Uqayli, The Weak Narrators, fol. 428; Ibn ‘Adi, al-Kamil, fol. 821; The Fihrist, p. 108; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, History of Baghdad 14/45; al-Sam‘ani, al-Ansab 10/454–455; Nuzhat al-alba, p. 59; Yaqut, Dictionary of Scholars 19/287; Ibn Khallikan, Obituaries of the Notables 6/82, 84; al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-i‘tidal 4/304–305; al-Dhahabi, al-‘Ibar 1/746; Ibn Hajar, al-Mughni fi al-du‘afa 2/711; Ibn al-Furat, ‘Uyun al-tawarikh 7/fol. 215; al-Yafi‘i, Mir’at al-jinan 2/29; Ibn Khaldun, al-‘Ibar 2/262; Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-mizan 6/196–197; Nur al-qabasa, p. 291.
(1) Ahmad, al-‘Ilal, p. 219; History of Baghdad 4/46; Yaqut, Dictionary of Scholars 19/287 (which reads “siyar” instead of “samar”); Mizan al-i‘tidal 4/304; Lisan al-mizan 6/196; al-Uqayli, The Weak Narrators, fol. 428; Ibn ‘Adi, al-Kamil, fol. 281, where he comments: “As Ahmad said, Hisham b. al-Kalbi is mostly concerned with reports, evening tales, and genealogy; I know of nothing musnad transmitted by him.”
I add: Historians such as Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabari, and Yaqut al-Hamawi often quote from him a great deal of material on history, genealogy, curiosities, and rarities; yet they sometimes sift what they transmit, reject part of it, and accuse him of fabrication and invention.
(2) Dictionary of Scholars 19/287; Mizan al-i‘tidal 4/304; Lisan al-mizan 6/196, which states: “Yahya b. Ma‘in said, ‘He is not trustworthy, and hadith should not be taken from someone like him.’” Abu Hatim said, “I prefer him to his father.”
I (Ibn Hajar) add: al-Asma‘i accused him; he is listed among the weak narrators by al-Uqayli, Ibn al-Jarud, Ibn al-Sakan, and others.