Discussion of the status of Isma'il ibn 'Ulayyah.
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The Shaykh : Then, here is a hadithical benefit that must be discussed, even if it takes a little time for me. It is narrated by Abu Dawud from the narration of Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah, and he [the author] was silent. This is a custom where such wording indicates that the man who appears in the chain of narration, like Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah here, has a specific status. In my opinion, mentioning this caution as a general principle is good; that is, there is a man in this hadith who has a specific status. However, if the person being discussed has a status that amounts to having two biographies, where in one he is considered trustworthy and in the other he is not, then in one case his hadith is valid and in the other it is weak. Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah, 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 mentioned about Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah being in this hadith, since 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 'Uyaynah is a Shami and has two conditions, as we mentioned. So, when he narrates from the Shamis, his hadith is valid, and when he narrates from non-Shamis, 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, lest he have two conditions like this man, where in one case 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 'Uyaynah was residing in his homeland, he naturally had the time and care to verify, memorize, and perfect the hadiths, which was reflected in his Shami hadiths. The scholars of hadith who examined the hadiths of narrators did not find any denounced hadith in the hadiths of Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah that he narrates from his Shami sheikhs. On the contrary, when they studied his other hadiths, which he narrates from non-Shami sheikhs, such as the Hijazis and Egyptians, as we mentioned, they found much defect in them. For example, there 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 (the critique and vindication of narrators).
They finally concluded by describing Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah with a brief statement, as al-Bukhari and ... Ibn Ma'in and others said: "Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah has valid hadith from the Shamis." There are many examples of this, where a narrator has two conditions: sometimes his hadith is valid and sometimes it is weak, for example, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib. But he has another defect different from this one. The defect of Isma'il is that he did not include the hadiths of his non-Shami sheikhs, unlike the hadiths of the non-Shamis. As for 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, he has another defect: confusion (ikhtilat) overtook him, which is a type of weakness of intellect and memory that sometimes reaches the level of senility if this change becomes severe. Since the science of hadith had no relation to the narration from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it was a mercy from Allah the Exalted to His believing servants, fulfilling His previous promise,[Al-Hijr 15:9] that He guided the scholars of hadith to a very precise study of the narrators of hadith, without parallel in history, in the entire world since Allah created Adam until this hour. This is a distinction and virtue that Allah the Exalted granted specifically to the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
From this precision comes the previous example of Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah and 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, subtracted from it, elevated it, and stopped it, and so on. The scholars of hadith said: "The hadith of 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib is weak, except when it is narrated from him by Sufyan al-Thawri, Sa'd ibn Hujaj, 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." Their precision in the biographies of narrators reached the point where this scholar who writes the biography ... of the others from him, distinguishes between 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, "It contains 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, and so-and-so narrated from him and reported from him after his confusion, so the hadith is weak," or "It contains so-and-so, and he reported from him before his confusion, so the hadith becomes valid." There are many, many examples. I wanted to remind you of some of them first, so that we know how the narration of this hadith was established, that Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah narrated it from a Shami sheikh, and secondly, so that you know and take pride in the knowledge Allah has bestowed upon you, which does not exist in any land of the world. I suffice with this amount, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Therefore, it is a necessity of this science that a person knows the biography of every narrator, lest he have two conditions like this man, where in one case 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 'Uyaynah was residing in his homeland, he naturally had the time and care to verify, memorize, and perfect the hadiths, which was reflected in his Shami hadiths. The scholars of hadith who examined the hadiths of narrators did not find any denounced hadith in the hadiths of Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah that he narrates from his Shami sheikhs. On the contrary, when they studied his other hadiths, which he narrates from non-Shami sheikhs, such as the Hijazis and Egyptians, as we mentioned, they found much defect in them. For example, there 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 (the critique and vindication of narrators).
They finally concluded by describing Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah with a brief statement, as al-Bukhari and ... Ibn Ma'in and others said: "Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah has valid hadith from the Shamis." There are many examples of this, where a narrator has two conditions: sometimes his hadith is valid and sometimes it is weak, for example, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib. But he has another defect different from this one. The defect of Isma'il is that he did not include the hadiths of his non-Shami sheikhs, unlike the hadiths of the non-Shamis. As for 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, he has another defect: confusion (ikhtilat) overtook him, which is a type of weakness of intellect and memory that sometimes reaches the level of senility if this change becomes severe. Since the science of hadith had no relation to the narration from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it was a mercy from Allah the Exalted to His believing servants, fulfilling His previous promise,
Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.
إنا نحن نزلنا الذكر وإنا له لحافظونFrom this precision comes the previous example of Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah and 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, subtracted from it, elevated it, and stopped it, and so on. The scholars of hadith said: "The hadith of 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib is weak, except when it is narrated from him by Sufyan al-Thawri, Sa'd ibn Hujaj, 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." Their precision in the biographies of narrators reached the point where this scholar who writes the biography ... of the others from him, distinguishes between 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, "It contains 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, and so-and-so narrated from him and reported from him after his confusion, so the hadith is weak," or "It contains so-and-so, and he reported from him before his confusion, so the hadith becomes valid." There are many, many examples. I wanted to remind you of some of them first, so that we know how the narration of this hadith was established, that Isma'il ibn 'Uyaynah narrated it from a Shami sheikh, and secondly, so that you know and take pride in the knowledge Allah has bestowed upon you, which does not exist in any land of the world. I suffice with this amount, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.