Ṣāliḥ Jazara and other critics judged him trustworthy. He was born in 160 AH.
Al-Baghawī said: “I was informed that my grandfather Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ—may Allah have mercy on him—used to say, ‘For roughly forty years I have completed a full recitation every three days.’ ”
Al-Baghawī also said: “My grandfather died in Shawwāl, 244 AH.”
ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Abū Bakr ibn al-Zāghūnī narrated to us; Naṣr al-Zaynabī, Abū Ṭāhir al-Mukhlis, narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh al-Baghawī narrated to us; my grandfather narrated to me; Hushaym narrated to us; Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn narrated to me, from al-Zuhrī—if I did not actually hear it directly from al-Zuhrī—on the authority of Anas, who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When supper is served and the prayer is established, begin with the supper.” (1)
128 – Hātim al-Aṣamm ibn ʿUnwān ibn Yūsuf al-Balkhī (2)
The ascetic, exemplar, and devout scholar, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Hātim ibn ʿUnwān ibn Yūsuf
(1) Sufyan ibn Husayn is considered trustworthy by unanimous agreement, except in the reports he transmits from al-Zuhri. The hadith itself is authentic. Al-Bukhari recorded it (2/134, Book of Congregational Prayer, chapter: “When food is served and the iqama is given”) through al-Layth from Uqayl, and Muslim recorded it through Sufyan ibn Uyayna; both chains go back to al-Zuhri, from Anas ibn Malik, who quotes the Prophet ﷺ as saying: “When supper is ready and the iqama has been pronounced for prayer, start with the supper.” Al-Bukhari and Muslim also narrated the same wording on the authority of Ibn Umar and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with them.
(*) References: Ibn Abi Hatim, Jarh wa-Ta‘dil 3:260; Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya 8:73, 83; al-Khattib, Tarikh Baghdad 8:241, 245; al-Sam‘ani, al-Ansab 1:294-295; Ibn al-Athir, al-Lubab 1:57; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A‘yan 2:26, 28; al-Dhahabi, al-Ibar 1:424; al-Yafi‘i, Mirat al-Jinan 2:118; al-Sulami, Tabaqat al-Awliya 178, 181; Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira 2:290-291; Ibn al-‘Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab 2:87-88; al-Sulami, Tabaqat al-Sufiyya 91, 97; al-Qushayri, al-Risala al-Qushayriyya 20; al-Sha‘rani, Tabaqat al-Sha‘rani 1:93.
(2) He was reportedly nicknamed al-Asamm (“the Deaf”) because a woman once asked him a question and unintentionally emitted a sound of flatulence. Embarrassed, she fell silent, so he told her: “Raise your voice,” pretending not to have heard so that her embarrassment would subside; the epithet “the Deaf” then attached itself to him. See Tabaqat al-Awliya 178 and al-Nujum al-Zahira 2:291.