Some scholars, including Ibn Hajar and others, criticized it, and Ibn al-Salah censured it among his musnads because it is arranged by chapters. The editor of Sunan al-Darimi, Sayyid Abdullah Hashim, argued that calling it al-Sunan is more appropriate than al-Musnad, stating: “It became known among the hadith preservers as al-Musnad, contrary to their convention that a musnad be arranged according to the Companions’ names, as Imam Ahmad did in his Musnad. Since this work is organized by fiqh chapters, calling it al-Sunan is preferable. Calling it al-Musnad is not impermissible, but it is fitting to call it al-Sunan, as many have done and as we have done.” Al-Suyuti remarked: “The Musnad of al-Darimi is not truly a musnad; rather, it is arranged by fiqh chapters, and some hadith scholars have even called it al-Sahih.” Al-Sakhawi added: “It is conceivable—though unlikely—that Ibn al-Salah meant the Musnad mentioned by al-Khatib in his Tasaneef, Fath al-Mughith (vol. 1, p. 86).” I say: this conjecture, remote though it is, would hold only if al-Khatib had referenced both a Musnad and a Sunan, whereas he mentions only the Musnad. He (may Allah have mercy on him) included in his Sunan several hadiths on divine attributes; see Sunan al-Darimi 1/286, Book of Salaah, chapter “God Descends to the Lowest Heaven,” hadiths 1486, 1493; 2/233, Book of Softening the Hearts, chapter on the Hour and the Lord’s descent, hadiths 2802, 2803; chapter “Can We See God Almighty?” hadith 2804. See also: al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil (Ibn Abi Hatim), 2/2/99; Tarikh Baghdad (al-Baghdadi), 10/29–32; Ulum al-Hadith (Ibn al-Salah), p. 34; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (al-Dhahabi), 2/534; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (Ibn Hajar), 5/294–299; Shudhur al-Dhahab (Ibn Imad), 2/130; al-A‘lam (al-Zarkali), 4/230; Geschichte der arabischen Literatur (Brockelmann), 3/199; Geschichte des arabischen Erbes (Szekin), 1/1/219–220. (1) He is Abu Muhammad ‘Abd ibn Humayd ibn Nasr al-Kasi, nisba from Kassa—a town near Samarkand. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others transmitted from him. He died in 249 AH. Among his works: