Wakiʿ, from Quraysh (1).
Al-Athram narrated: I asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “What is your view of Ibn al-Himmanī?” He replied, “It is not just one person, or two, or three, or even four who report things about him.” He then added, “The case against him is far more serious than that…,” and he launched a harsh attack on him with respect to ḥadīth.
I mentioned him to Abū ʿAbd Allāh on another occasion, and he said, “There is no longer any standard by which Ibn al-Himmanī can be measured; that matter is truly grave”—or words to that effect—and I saw that he was exceedingly angry with him (2).
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said: I said to my father, “It has reached me that Ibn al-Himmanī has narrated—from Sharīk, from Hishām, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah—that the Prophet ﷺ used to enjoy looking at pigeons; people rejected this from him, so he withdrew the isnād and stopped attributing it to the Prophet.” My father replied, “That is a lie. The only one we have ever known for this report is Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlwān (3); they say he fabricated it in the name of Hishām (4).”
Al-Bukhārī said: Aḥmad and ʿAlī both spoke critically of Yaḥyā al-Himmanī (5). And he added:
(1) Tārīkh Baghdād 14/173 and Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, fol. 1507. This ḥadīth about fingernails is reported by Aḥmad (5/417) through Wakīʿ, and by al-Ṭabarānī (no. 4086) through Abū l-Walīd al-Ṭayālisī, both chains going back to Quraysh b. Ḥayyān, from Abū Wāṣil Sulaymān b. Farūkh who said: “I met Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, shook his hand, and he noticed that my nails were long. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, ‘One of you seeks news from the heavens while leaving his nails like the claws of birds, where major impurity, filth, and grime accumulate.’” Aḥmad observed that the wording “I saw Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī” was a slip of the tongue on Wakīʿ’s part; the correct name is “al-ʿAtakī.” Ibn Ḥibbān judged Abū Wāṣil trustworthy. Ibn Abī Ḥātim states in al-Jarḥ wa-l-Taʿdīl (4/135) that he narrated from Abū Ayyūb al-ʿAtakī and from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and that Quraysh and Abū Muʿāwiya narrated from him; the remaining transmitters are reliable. Al-Haythamī cites the report in al-Majmaʿ (5/167-168) and comments: “Aḥmad and al-Ṭabarānī relate it in abridged form; their chains are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ collections except for Abū Wāṣil, and he is trustworthy.”
(2) Tārīkh Baghdād 14/173-174; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, fol. 1507.
(3) The author lists him in al-Mīzān (1/42): Yaḥyā (b. Maʿīn) said, “A liar.” ʿAlī (b. al-Madīnī) said, “Extremely weak.” Abū Ḥātim, al-Nasāʾī, and al-Dāraquṭnī judged him “abandoned.” Ibn Ḥibbān adds: “He fabricated ḥadīth for Hishām and others; it is impermissible to record his narrations except for the sake of astonishment.” Ibn al-Qayyim includes this report in al-Manār al-Munīf, p. 106, among the bath-house reports of which none is authentic.
(4) al-Ḍuʿafāʾ by al-ʿUqaylī, fol. 443; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, fol. 1507.
(5) al-Tārīkh al-Ṣaghīr 2/357; al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī 4/fol. 843.