Discussion of the status of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Then, here is a hadithical point that must be discussed, even if it takes a little time for me. He says: "Abu Dawud narrated it from the narration of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash and was silent." Usually, he indicates by such wording that there is a discussion regarding the man who appears in the chain of the hadith, such as Isma'il ibn 'Iyash here. In my opinion, mentioning this caution as a general principle is good; that is, that there is a man in this hadith about whom there is a discussion. However, if the person being discussed has two biographical entries, in one he is described as trustworthy, and in the other as not trustworthy; in one case his hadith is valid, and in the other his hadith is weak. Isma'il ibn 'Iyash, who is in the chain of this hadith, is of this type of narrator. Therefore, I would have preferred the author either to mention what he stated about Isma'il ibn 'Iyash being in this hadith, because the result is that the hadith is valid, or, if he must mention it as he did, to accompany it with the following detail, even briefly: Isma'il ibn 'Iyash is a Shami and has two conditions, as we mentioned. So, when he narrates from the Shami narrators, his hadith is valid, and when he narrates from non-Shami narrators, such as the Hijazis, Egyptians, Yemenis, and so on, his hadith is weak.
Therefore, it is a necessity of this science that a person knows the biography of every narrator among the narrators, lest he have two conditions like this man; in one condition he is trustworthy and his hadith is valid, and in another he is weak, and his hadith is valid.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Be patient.
When Isma'il ibn 'Iyash was residing in his land, he naturally had the time and care to verify, memorize, and perfect the hadith, which was evident in his Shami hadiths. The scholars of hadith who settled the hadiths of the narrators did not find any denounced hadith in the hadiths of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash that he narrates from his Shami teachers. On the contrary, when they studied his other hadiths that he narrates from non-Shami teachers, such as the Hijazis, Egyptians, and others, as we mentioned, they found many defects in them. So, there—for example—he would elevate a mawquf report and connect a munqati' report, and so on, among the many errors that became clear to the imams of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil.
They finally concluded by describing Isma'il ibn 'Iyash briefly, as al-Bukhari and Yahya ibn Ma'in and others say: "Isma'il ibn 'Iyash has valid hadith from the Shami narrators." There are many examples of this, where a narrator has two conditions; sometimes his hadith is valid, and sometimes his hadith is weak. For example, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, but he has another defect other than this one. The defect of Isma'il is that he did not include the hadiths of his non-Shami teachers, unlike the hadiths of the non-Shami narrators. As for 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, he has another defect: confusion (ikhtilat) overtook him. This is a type of weakness of intellect and memory that sometimes reaches the level of senility when this change becomes severe. Since the science of hadith has a connection to narrating from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it was a mercy from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to His believing servants, fulfilling His previous covenant:[Al-Hijr 15:9] He guided the scholars of hadith to a very precise study of the narrators of hadith, without parallel in the history of the entire world since Allah created Adam until this hour. This is a distinction and virtue that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) granted specifically to the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
From this precision is the previous example of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash, and from it is the following example of 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib. He became confused in the last part of his life, so he added to the hadith and subtracted from it, elevated and stopped, and so on. So the scholars of hadith said: "'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib has weak hadith, except when Sufyan al-Thawri, Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj, Hammad ibn Zayd, and the like of these old, memorizing imams who met him and took hadith from 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib before his confusion narrated from him. Their precision in the biographies of the narrators, like this biographer or the students who took from him, distinguishes who narrated from him in a state of confusion and who narrated from him before his confusion. So, if it is said about a hadith that it contains 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib and the author or speaker is silent, that does not mean he is providing knowledge to the people. Rather, he should have said: "And in it is 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, and so-and-so narrated from him, and he reported from him after his confusion; so the hadith is weak." Or: "And in it is so-and-so, and he reported from him before his confusion; so the hadith becomes valid."
Likewise, there are many, and very many, examples. I wanted to remind you of some of them first, so that we know how it was established that Isma'il ibn 'Iyash narrated this hadith from a Shami teacher, and so that you know secondly and take pride in the knowledge that Allah has bestowed upon you, which does not exist in any land of the world.
And I will suffice with this much, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Therefore, it is a necessity of this science that a person knows the biography of every narrator among the narrators, lest he have two conditions like this man; in one condition he is trustworthy and his hadith is valid, and in another he is weak, and his hadith is valid.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Be patient.
When Isma'il ibn 'Iyash was residing in his land, he naturally had the time and care to verify, memorize, and perfect the hadith, which was evident in his Shami hadiths. The scholars of hadith who settled the hadiths of the narrators did not find any denounced hadith in the hadiths of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash that he narrates from his Shami teachers. On the contrary, when they studied his other hadiths that he narrates from non-Shami teachers, such as the Hijazis, Egyptians, and others, as we mentioned, they found many defects in them. So, there—for example—he would elevate a mawquf report and connect a munqati' report, and so on, among the many errors that became clear to the imams of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil.
They finally concluded by describing Isma'il ibn 'Iyash briefly, as al-Bukhari and Yahya ibn Ma'in and others say: "Isma'il ibn 'Iyash has valid hadith from the Shami narrators." There are many examples of this, where a narrator has two conditions; sometimes his hadith is valid, and sometimes his hadith is weak. For example, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, but he has another defect other than this one. The defect of Isma'il is that he did not include the hadiths of his non-Shami teachers, unlike the hadiths of the non-Shami narrators. As for 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, he has another defect: confusion (ikhtilat) overtook him. This is a type of weakness of intellect and memory that sometimes reaches the level of senility when this change becomes severe. Since the science of hadith has a connection to narrating from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it was a mercy from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to His believing servants, fulfilling His previous covenant:
Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَFrom this precision is the previous example of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash, and from it is the following example of 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib. He became confused in the last part of his life, so he added to the hadith and subtracted from it, elevated and stopped, and so on. So the scholars of hadith said: "'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib has weak hadith, except when Sufyan al-Thawri, Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj, Hammad ibn Zayd, and the like of these old, memorizing imams who met him and took hadith from 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib before his confusion narrated from him. Their precision in the biographies of the narrators, like this biographer or the students who took from him, distinguishes who narrated from him in a state of confusion and who narrated from him before his confusion. So, if it is said about a hadith that it contains 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib and the author or speaker is silent, that does not mean he is providing knowledge to the people. Rather, he should have said: "And in it is 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, and so-and-so narrated from him, and he reported from him after his confusion; so the hadith is weak." Or: "And in it is so-and-so, and he reported from him before his confusion; so the hadith becomes valid."
Likewise, there are many, and very many, examples. I wanted to remind you of some of them first, so that we know how it was established that Isma'il ibn 'Iyash narrated this hadith from a Shami teacher, and so that you know secondly and take pride in the knowledge that Allah has bestowed upon you, which does not exist in any land of the world.
And I will suffice with this much, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.