The author said:

Abū al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Uqda also said: “Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Amr narrated to us (1): Sulaymān ibn ‘Abbād informed us (2): I heard Bashshār ibn Darrā‘ say: Abū Hanīfa (3) met Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘mān (4) and asked him, ‘From whom did you narrate the hadith about the return of the sun?’ He replied, ‘From someone other than the one from whom you narrated “Sāriya, to the mountain!”’”

The author said: “All these are indications of the hadith’s authenticity.”

I say:

This shows that the leading scholars did not believe this hadith, for none of the leading scholars of the Muslims narrated it. Here is Abū Hanīfa, one of the renowned imams, who cannot be suspected of bias against ‘Alī: he was from Kufa, the home of the Shī‘a, had met members of the Shī‘a, and had heard as much about ‘Alī’s merits as Allah willed. He loved ‘Alī and was loyal to him. Yet he challenged Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘mān over this hadith (5). Abū Hanīfa was more learned and more knowledgeable in jurisprudence than al-Tahāwī and others like him. Ibn al-Nu‘mān did not give him a sound answer, but merely said: “From someone other than the one from whom you narrated the report: ‘Sāriya, to the mountain!’”

He should therefore be asked: “Suppose that report is false: what is there in its being false that would indicate