Abu Talib transmitted from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who said:
“He adhered to Malik’s legal reasoning, issued fatwas for the people of Medina, and was not a hadith man—his contribution in that field was narrow.” (1)

Yahya ibn Maʿin said: “Reliable.” (2)

Al-Bukhari said: “Some of his reports you recognize, and some you reject.” (3)

Abu Hatim said: “His memorization is soft, but his written book is sounder.” (4)

Al-Nasaʾi said: “There is no harm in him.” (5)

Ibn ʿAdi said: “He narrated singularities from Malik.” (6)(7)

Ibn Saʿd said: “He kept the company of Malik with great persistence,” and then added: “He is inferior to Maʿn.” He continued: “He died in the month of Ramadan, in the year 206 AH.” (8)

I say: This is the correct date of his death; anything else is the result of error and textual corruption.

Imam Abu Ahmad ibn ʿAdi erred in his biographical entry for him in a way that cannot be accepted, for he cited only a single hadith, giving its chain to ʿAbd al-Wahhab ibn Bukht al-Makki, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Nafiʿ, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwa, from his father … and then mentioned the hadith.

After that he said (9): “When someone like ʿAbd al-Wahhab narrates from ʿAbd Allah …”