- Al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad al-Shaʿrānī—the grandfather of Ismāʿīl—was one of the shaykhs of Ibn Khuzaymah and other hadith masters. Ibn Abī Ḥātim said (1) in his book (3/2/69):
“I wrote from him in Rayy, and they spoke about him.”
I say: This is an ambiguous, unexplained criticism and therefore does not harm him, since it is possible that they spoke about him because of a doctrinal affiliation he held. This is apparently the case, for al-Dhahabī said immediately thereafter in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (13/318):
“Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Akhram said: ‘Truthful, but extreme in Shiism.’ Al-Ḥākim said: ‘I have not seen any disagreement among the leading scholars who heard from him concerning his trustworthiness and truthfulness—may Allah be pleased with him. He was a man of letters, a jurist, learned, and devout …’ Masʿūd al-Sijzī said: ‘I asked al-Ḥākim about al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad, and he replied: “Trustworthy and dependable; no substantiated criticism was made of his hadith.”’”
I say: Moreover, he has been corroborated, as I shall explain.
- Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad al-Shaʿrānī: al-Samʿānī included his biographical notice under al-Shaʿrānī (3/433) and said:
“Al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allāh said: ‘He heard a great deal from his grandfather and his father, and he was among those who strove diligently in worship. I sought Allah’s guidance concerning including him in al-Ṣaḥīḥ, and the choice fell in favour of that. Much could be said about him.’”
Al-Dhahabī cited an abridged version of this in Tārīkh al-Islām (25/373–374), adding:
“Al-Ḥākim narrated from him and said: ‘I had no hesitation about any aspect of his case except his narration from ʿUmayr ibn”