the statements of the authors of the biographical-classification works concerning him: Ibn ‘Asākir narrated from Ibn Sa‘d that he listed him in the second rank among the Successors of Syria. Abu Zur‘ah al-Dimashqī stated that he mentioned him in the rank immediately following the Prophet’s Companions—the highest rank. Ya‘qūb al-Fasawī said likewise in al-Ma‘rifah (2/333). Ahmad adduced this hadith as evidence that it is impermissible to rebel against the rulers, stating that it had come through more than one route, as al-Khallāl narrated from him in al-Sunnah (1–3/129, ed. al-Zahrānī).

In sum, the man is exceedingly reckless in declaring authentic hadiths weak, without relying on scholarly principles. On many occasions, he clings to some less weighty opinions in weakening them, as he did when declaring defective the hadith of Abu Qatadah attributed to the Prophet (no. 957): “Fasting on the day of ‘Arafah expiates the preceding year and the coming year,” on the grounds that the narrator from Abu Qatadah—‘Abd Allah ibn Ma‘bad al-Zimmanī—was not known to have heard from Abu Qatadah. Yet he was a trustworthy Successor, and contemporaneity is sufficient to establish continuity of transmission; nor was he accused of concealment in transmission. I do not know whether he is ignorant of this or deliberately disregards it!

He likewise disregarded the supporting reports that confirm its authenticity. I have traced it, along with its supporting reports, in Irwā’ al-Ghalīl (4/108–110). Indeed, his deliberate disregard and excessiveness in weakening authentic hadiths reached the point that he declared weak the hadith of al-‘Irbāḍ ibn Sāriyah: “I counsel you to fear Allah ...” the hadith, which includes: “You must adhere to my sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs; hold fast to it with your molar teeth ...” He says (p. 79):

“Al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Hibbān, and al-Hākim authenticated it, while Ibn al-Qaṭṭān declared it weak because the status of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Amr al-Sulamī is unknown—and I incline to his view!”