Discussion of 'Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud.

The Shaykh : ... The narrators of hadith and the scholars of tajwid (the rules of Qur'anic recitation) among the renowned reciters include 'Asim ibn Bahdalah and 'Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud. This man is one of the famous imams of recitation, and he is trustworthy in his knowledge. However, in hadith, when he narrated most of it from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his hadith does not reach the highest level of authenticity; rather, they place his hadith in the middle rank, that is, the rank of a good (hasan) hadith. Consequently, his focus on the science of recitation does not diminish his focus on the care taken in preserving hadith. It became apparent to the scholars of hadith that this man has two characteristics, or it can be said, two personalities: in recitation, he is at the very peak, but in hadith, he is in the middle; because it appeared in some of his hadiths that he narrates things containing some deviation or anomaly.
I mention on this occasion that a hadith passed in some of the Sunan collections, narrated through the route of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, who said: "We took the pre-dawn meal (suhur) with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Ramadan until the one who spoke would say, 'There is nothing left but that the sun rises.'" This hadith is narrated by this 'Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud. Some of the memorizers spoke about his narration of this matter, stating that it contradicts the noble verse which says: . So how can he say, "We took suhur until there was nothing left but that the sun rises"? This implies a great and very great delay after the time of Fajr (dawn) has entered. So some of the memorizers spoke about this 'Asim, saying: This hadith is one of the things for which he is criticized, and that it is contrary to the noble verse. It is possible to explain his hadith by saying... another hadith, which is in reality a very important hadith from a practical standpoint and for strengthening [the ruling], and it was narrated by Abu Dawud in his "Sunan" and Imam Ahmad in his "Musnad" from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This hadith contains some leniency that cannot be derived from the previous verse, which said: . As for the hadith, it says: Even if it becomes clear to you the white thread of dawn from the black thread, and one of you has not yet relieved himself from his suhur, he should complete his suhur. This hadith can be used to explain 'Asim's hadith, but 'Asim's hadith contains exaggeration; to the point that the sun is almost about to rise. Therefore, some scholars fear that he did not master the precise preservation of this hadith, because he was occupied with mastering his knowledge of the Qur'an, which he received from his sheikhs from the Messenger (peace be upon him).
This is what can be mentioned on this occasion.