to examine their two narrations closely. How could that be, when, in Sufyān’s biographical entry, he cited Shuʿbah as saying: “Sufyān has a better memory than I do”? A number of hadith masters—including Abū Ḥātim, Abū Zurʿah, Ibn Maʿīn, Ṣāliḥ Jazrah, and others—stated this decisively. Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān said: “No one is dearer to me than Shuʿbah, and none is his equal in my estimation; yet when Sufyān differs with him, I follow Sufyān’s view.” See al-Siyar (7/237).

Here are some remarks concerning errors:

First: Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, cited the hadith in Ighāthat al-Lahfān with the wording: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to instruct his Companions, when they entered the morning, to say: ‘We have entered the morning…’”

When al-Haddām cited it in his annotations to the work (2/239), providing a brief source analysis to explain the aforementioned disagreement in its chain of transmission between Sufyān and Shuʿbah, he concluded by saying: “What appears to be the case is that Shuʿbah’s narration is closer to what is correct, and its chain of transmission is authentic.”

I say: This is open to objections:

First: He did not explain to the readers the basis for his conclusion. This is the way of one who is incapable or ignorant—and he does this frequently.

Second: His conclusion is invalid, since he adopted the approach of preferring one narration over another. It contradicts Shuʿbah’s own statement, as well as the statements of the hadith masters who came after him and, in accordance with his testimony, affirmed that when the two differ, Sufyān’s narration is weightier than his, as mentioned above. This is one of the many proofs that he stubbornly persists in his own view, opposes his leading authorities, and pays them no heed whatsoever.