110 – Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Ḥajjāj, Abū Muḥammad, son of Abū Yaʿqūb the poet al-Thaqafī (M, D)
A Baghdadi ḥāfiẓ. His father’s by-name was Liqwah; he had been one of the students and companions of Abū Nuwās.
Ḥajjāj grew up in Baghdad and applied himself to the pursuit of knowledge.
He took down ḥadith from Abū al-Naḍr, Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm, Abū Dāwūd, Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad, al-ʿIqdī, Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī, ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Tannūrī, and many others.
Those who narrated from him include Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Baqī ibn Makhlad, Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī, Mūsā ibn Hārūn, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim, and al-Maḥāmilī.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim said, “Reliable, a ḥāfiẓ.” (1)
Abū Dāwūd said, “He is better than a hundred men the like of al-Ramādī.” (2)
Ṣāliḥ Jazrah said, “I heard Ḥajjāj ibn al-Shāʿir say: ‘My mother gathered for me…’”
(*) Al-Jarh wa al-Taʿdil 3:168; Tarikh Baghdad 8:240–241; Tabaqat al-Hanabila 1:148–149; al-Ansab 3:134; Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 239; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib 1:124/1; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 2:549–550; al-Ibar 2:19; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:209–210; Tabaqat al-Huffaz, p. 244; Khulasat Tadhhib al-Kamal, p. 73; Shadharat al-Dhahab 2:139; al-Muntazam 5:20.
(1) See Al-Jarh wa al-Taʿdil 3:168—where Abu Hatim himself attests to his reliability—as well as Tarikh Baghdad 8:241; Tabaqat al-Hanabila 1:148; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 2:549; and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:210.
(2) The report is found in Tarikh Baghdad 8:241; Tabaqat al-Hanabila 1:149; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 2:549; and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:210. Al-Khatib comments: “He was trustworthy, intelligent, and a meticulous memorizer,” a judgment echoed by Ibn Abi Yaʿla in Tabaqat al-Hanabila. Ibn al-Ghallabi adds that when Yahya ibn Maʿin was asked about Hajjaj ibn al-Shaʿir, he spat in disdain.