al-Rāzī – and the number of ḥadith reported by Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd was growing by the day.

Abū Isḥāq al-Jawzajānī said, “He is not reliable.”

Abū Ḥātim related, “I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say, ‘Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd came to us in Baghdad. We took from him the book of Yaʿqūb al-Qummī, divided its folios among ourselves – Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was with us – and we read it aloud. We noticed nothing but good in him, so what is it that you find fault with?’

“I replied, ‘Something would appear in his copy and he would say, “That is not how it is,” then pick up the pen and alter it.’

“He remarked, ‘A wretched habit indeed.’ ”

Al-Nasāʾī said, “He is not trustworthy.”

Al-ʿUqaylī said, “Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf narrated to me, ‘Abū Zurʿah and Muḥammad ibn Muslim wrote down a great many ḥadith from Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd, but later abandoned transmitting from him.’ ”

I say: Ibn Jarīr (al-Ṭabarī) quotes him profusely in his works, and some of his narrations have reached us with an elevated chain; yet the heart is not at ease with what he relates – Allah knows best. He never travelled to Syria, though al-Khaṭīb’s History mentions him.

Shaykh ʿImād al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn Badrān in Nablus and Abū al-Faḍl Yūsuf ibn Aḥmad in Damascus informed us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir told us; Saʿīd ibn Aḥmad told us; ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Bundār told us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mukhliṣ narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us; Salamah – meaning Ibn al-Faḍl – narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Mulaykah narrated, “I heard al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad say: al-Sāʾib narrated to me, saying:

‘Saʿd said to me, “My nephew, have you read the Qurʾān?”

I replied, “Yes.”

He said, “Recite the Qurʾān with a melodious voice, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘Recite the Qurʾān with a melodious voice; he is not one of us who does not recite it melodiously.’ ”’