What is the ruling on some of the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) in terms of their moderation, strictness, or leniency, such as (al-Bayhaqi, Muslimah ibn al-Qasim, Ibn Khalafun, etc.)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Please.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. As for the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) whose strictness, leniency, or moderation is well known, praise be to Allah, I do not ask about them. I am only asking about some of the scholars who speak about narrators, either criticizing or vindicating them, regarding what is known about their standing in terms of moderation, balance, or strictness. For example, al-Bayhaqi. I will mention them to you first, and then I will go back to them one by one, or I will mention them.
The Shaykh : No, one by one.
The questioner : All right, like al-Bayhaqi, do you know whether he is moderate, strict, or lenient?
The Shaykh : We know of him only that he is moderate.
The questioner : Moderate.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : So if he singles out a narrator for being reliable or weak, it is accepted.
The Shaykh : It is accepted, yes.
The questioner : May Allah will it, Muslimah ibn al-Qasim.
The Shaykh : The same applies.
The questioner : Ibn Khalafun.
The Shaykh : I do not know about him.
The questioner : All right, Ibn Sa'd, the author of the biographical dictionaries.
The Shaykh : He has some leniency in him.
The questioner : Abu Nu'aym.
The Shaykh : I have nothing in my mind about Abu Nu'aym.
The questioner : Al-Khatib.
The Shaykh : Moderate.
The questioner : Al-Bazzar.
The Shaykh : Lenient.
The questioner : Abu Ahmad al-Hakimi.
The Shaykh : He is not well known to us; we do not know about him.
The questioner : Ibn Qani', 'Abd al-Baqi.
The Shaykh : Ibn al-Qani' is himself a subject of some criticism; I do not recall anything specific about him.
The questioner : Al-Dhahabi's certification of reliability; sometimes he mentions in al-Kashif that he certifies a man as reliable, even if no one else has spoken about him except the word of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, for example.
The Shaykh : I have no idea.
The questioner : Among the early scholars, except that al-Dhahabi wrote a biography for him saying he is trustworthy, yes. But as for being moderate, is there anything else where al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi explicitly says "trustworthy"? However, in some places he says "trustworthy, yes." And the words of Ibn Hibban, the certification of Ibn Hibban by saying "reliable," and so on, we took this from our Shaykh from the books.The Shaykh : And these books, praise be to Allah, we took them from the books.The Shaykh : Because often they speak of Ibn Hibban's certification of reliability, but the reality is that he explicitly says "trustworthy" regarding the hadith. So his case is accepted from him, and no one preceded him in this.
The Shaykh : I have no idea.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Of course, you are speaking now about Ibn Qani'.
The questioner : No, about al-Dhahabi. The point that passed in your speech about Ibn Qani' was that he himself is a subject of some criticism.
The Shaykh : Once we are done with Ibn Qani'.
The questioner : You mentioned about Ibn Qani'.
The Shaykh : I mentioned, I mean.
The questioner : This last statement was about al-Dhahabi, al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi.
The Shaykh : Yes, of course. If we do not trust al-Dhahabi's certification of reliability, then whom do we trust?
The questioner : It is accepted.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : May Allah will it, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. As for the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) whose strictness, leniency, or moderation is well known, praise be to Allah, I do not ask about them. I am only asking about some of the scholars who speak about narrators, either criticizing or vindicating them, regarding what is known about their standing in terms of moderation, balance, or strictness. For example, al-Bayhaqi. I will mention them to you first, and then I will go back to them one by one, or I will mention them.
The Shaykh : No, one by one.
The questioner : All right, like al-Bayhaqi, do you know whether he is moderate, strict, or lenient?
The Shaykh : We know of him only that he is moderate.
The questioner : Moderate.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : So if he singles out a narrator for being reliable or weak, it is accepted.
The Shaykh : It is accepted, yes.
The questioner : May Allah will it, Muslimah ibn al-Qasim.
The Shaykh : The same applies.
The questioner : Ibn Khalafun.
The Shaykh : I do not know about him.
The questioner : All right, Ibn Sa'd, the author of the biographical dictionaries.
The Shaykh : He has some leniency in him.
The questioner : Abu Nu'aym.
The Shaykh : I have nothing in my mind about Abu Nu'aym.
The questioner : Al-Khatib.
The Shaykh : Moderate.
The questioner : Al-Bazzar.
The Shaykh : Lenient.
The questioner : Abu Ahmad al-Hakimi.
The Shaykh : He is not well known to us; we do not know about him.
The questioner : Ibn Qani', 'Abd al-Baqi.
The Shaykh : Ibn al-Qani' is himself a subject of some criticism; I do not recall anything specific about him.
The questioner : Al-Dhahabi's certification of reliability; sometimes he mentions in al-Kashif that he certifies a man as reliable, even if no one else has spoken about him except the word of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, for example.
The Shaykh : I have no idea.
The questioner : Among the early scholars, except that al-Dhahabi wrote a biography for him saying he is trustworthy, yes. But as for being moderate, is there anything else where al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi explicitly says "trustworthy"? However, in some places he says "trustworthy, yes." And the words of Ibn Hibban, the certification of Ibn Hibban by saying "reliable," and so on, we took this from our Shaykh from the books.The Shaykh : And these books, praise be to Allah, we took them from the books.The Shaykh : Because often they speak of Ibn Hibban's certification of reliability, but the reality is that he explicitly says "trustworthy" regarding the hadith. So his case is accepted from him, and no one preceded him in this.
The Shaykh : I have no idea.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Of course, you are speaking now about Ibn Qani'.
The questioner : No, about al-Dhahabi. The point that passed in your speech about Ibn Qani' was that he himself is a subject of some criticism.
The Shaykh : Once we are done with Ibn Qani'.
The questioner : You mentioned about Ibn Qani'.
The Shaykh : I mentioned, I mean.
The questioner : This last statement was about al-Dhahabi, al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi.
The Shaykh : Yes, of course. If we do not trust al-Dhahabi's certification of reliability, then whom do we trust?
The questioner : It is accepted.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : May Allah will it, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.