A Rule for Identifying the Intended Companion When "Abdullah" Is Used Without Qualification

The Shaykh : Then he narrates with a sound chain as well, from Abdullah, who is also our aforementioned companion, Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them). I say this because there are many Abdullas around whom many of the sound Prophetic hadiths revolve. This is one of them: Abdullah ibn Abbas. We have Abdullah ibn Umar, we have Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, we have Abdullah ibn Abbas, we have Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, and we have many others who are not as famous as these. It is necessary to specify who Abdullah is in the chain of narration so that we are clear about the attribution of the hadith. If it is said that al-Bukhari narrated in *Al-Adab al-Mufrad* from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud in the previous hadith: al-Bukhari narrated from Abdullah. Who is Abdullah? We say it is Ibn Mas'ud. Here it says he narrated with his chain from Abdullah, who said: "The worst of the characteristics of a believer is foul language." Who is Abdullah? Again, it is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. It may come up, near or far, that we say this is Abdullah ibn Umar or someone else. This is known from the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators), specifically the biographies of the men of hadith. There is no harm in reminding you of this, even though most of the women present do not care about this science related to hadith. The previous hadith was narrated from Abdullah by Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid and his son Amr, because he narrated it with the chain from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid from his father, meaning Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid from Abdullah. The one who narrates from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud is Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid, this Kufi, who is famous for narrating from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and not so famous for narrating from the other Abdullas. As for our current hadith, it is narrated from him by Abu al-Aws from Abdullah. Similarly, Abu al-Aws is a Kufi who frequently narrates from Abdullah. By these indications, we discover the identity of the Companion through whom the hadith was narrated. So, Abdullah here is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him).