Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (7/262)

Silsilat al-Ahadith al-SahihahNasir al-Din al-Albani

and Ibn ʿAdi related some of the comments that had been made both criticizing and endorsing him. He then cited several hadiths of his, this being one of them, and said:

“He has sound hadiths besides those I have mentioned, and I have found nothing objectionable in his narrations that exceeds the bounds, whether in its chain of transmission or its text. However, he is counted among the Shiʿites of Kufa. In my view, his hadith is sound, and he is truthful.”

The third route: Zuhayr said: Abu Ishaq narrated to us from al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah, who said—while fearing that the Harurites might attack him by night—that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dug the trench while fearing that Abu Sufyan might attack him by night: “If you are attacked at night…” the hadith.

Al-Nasa’i recorded it—as mentioned above—citing a contrary narration in the first route and giving preference to this narration of Zuhayr.

It appears to me—and Allah knows best—that this variation in its chain of transmission originated with Abu Ishaq himself. He had become confused in his later years and practised concealment in transmission. At times, he narrated it with a connected chain by mentioning the Companion without naming him; at other times, he named him; at times, he narrated it as a mursal report; at other times, he placed al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah between himself and the Companion; and at times, he concealed this.

What is beyond doubt to me is that the first route is correct, because it is narrated by Sufyan—al-Thawri—who, firstly, was the most accurate of those who differed in their narrations from Abu Ishaq; secondly, he narrated from him before his confusion; and, in the narrations of ʿAbd al-Razzaq and al-Hakim as well, he explicitly stated that he heard it from al-Muhallab. Thus, we are safeguarded against the problems caused by his concealment in transmission and confusion. Thirdly, Maʿmar corroborated him in this. Perhaps this is why al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir stated decisively in his Exegesis (4/69), after al-Thawri’s narration:

“This is an authentic chain of transmission.”

وقد حكى ابن عدي بعض ما قيل فيه من التضعيف والتوثيق، ثم ساق له أحاديث هذا أحدها، ثم قال: " له أحاديث صالحة غير ما ذكرت، ولم أجد له شيئاً منكراً مجاوزاً الحد؛ لا إسناداً ولا متناً " إلا أنه يعد في شيعة الكوفة، وهو عندي مستقيم الحديث صدوق ". الوجه الثالث: قال زهير: حدثنا أبو إسحاق عن المهلب بن أبي صفرة قال - وهو يخاف أن تبيته الحرورية -: إن رسول الله ﷺ حفر الخندق، وهو يخاف أن يبيته أبو سفيان: "إن بيتم.. " الحديث. أخرجه النسائي- كما تقدم- مع ذكر مخالف له في الوجه الأول، وترجيح رواية النسائي هذه عن زهير. ويبدو لي- والله أعلم- أن هذا الاختلاف في إسناده إنما هو من أبي إسحاق نفسه؛ فإنه كان مختلطاً يدلس، فكان تارة يسنده بذكر الصحابي فيه ولا يسميه؛ وتارة يسميه، وتارة يرسله، وتارة يذكر المهلب بن أبي صفرة بينه وبين الصحابي، وتارة يدلسه. وان مما لا شك فيه عندي؛ أن الوجه الأول هو الصواب؛ لأنه من رواية سفيان ـ وهو الثوري-، وهو أحفظ المختلفين على أبي إسحاق من جهة؛ ثم إنه روى عنه قبل اختلاطه من جهة ثانية، وصرح بسماعه من المهلب في رواية عبد الرزاق والحاكم أيضاً، فأمنا بذلك شر تدليسه واختلاطه، وتابعه معمر على ذلك من جهة ثالثة. ولعله لذلك جزم الحافظ ابن كثير بقوله في "التفسير" (٤/٦٩) عقب رواية الثوري: "وهذا إسناد صحيح ".