Mubashshir related to us; Muhammad ibn Ḥarb al-Nashāʾī then related to us; Isḥāq al-Azraq related to us, from Hishām ibn Ḥassān, from al-Ḥasan, from Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—in a marfūʿ report:
“Whoever speaks Arabic is an Arab, and whoever finds two of his own [ancestors] in Islam is an Arab.”
Such is the wording given. I am inclined, however, to think that the correct phrasing is: “and whoever finds both his parents [in Islam].”
Accordingly—if this ḥadīth is authentic—Arab identity with respect to language is attached solely to the tongue, whereas lineage is deemed Arab when a person has both parents within the Arab Islamic polity. Abū Ḥanīfah might cite this statement as evidence that one who lacks two parents who were Muslims—or who were free—
(1) In MS A and in the printed edition the name appears as “Ibn Bishr,” but the correct reading is Ibn Mubashir, as in the other copies. See the next biographical entry.
(2) ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mubashir, Abu al-Hasan al-Wasiti, a hadith scholar who died in 324 AH/936 CE. See: Shadharat al-Dhahab, 2/345.
(3) The printed edition correctly has “al-Nasha’i,” whereas the remaining manuscripts read “al-Nasa’i,” evidently a scribal slip. The narrator is Muhammad ibn Harb ibn Hurman al-Nasha’i al-Wasiti, Abu ‘Abd Allah. Abu Hatim judged him “reliable,” and Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani said he was “trustworthy.” His reports are found in al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud. He died in 255 AH/869 CE. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 9/108–109, no. 147.
(4) Ishaq ibn Yusuf ibn Mirdas al-Makhzumi al-Wasiti, known as al-Azraq, a trustworthy and reliable transmitter found in all six canonical collections. Born 117 AH/735 CE; died 195 AH/810 CE. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/257, no. 486.
(5) MS Aṭ reads: Ibnan; MSS J and D read: Aban.
(6) I have not located this person.
(7) MSS J and D read: “of Abu Hanifah,” while MS Ṭ reads: “according to the opinion of Abu Hanifah.”
(8) The printed edition reads: ‘ala an (“whereas”).