The Words of the Hadith Scholars Regarding Hammad ibn Salimah
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The Shaykh : Some scholars have spoken regarding the memorization of Hammad ibn Salimah. Al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement and made it a defect in the chain of narration of this hadith. However, he overlooked—or I do not know whether I should say he overlooked or he feigned to overlook—the fact that those who spoke regarding the memorization and precision of Hammad ibn Salimah did not reject his hadith absolutely; rather, they placed his hadith in the rank of a hasan (good) hadith.
The student : Yes, it is subtle. We are still...
The Shaykh : Listen to me so we can see... the chain of narration...
The student : Yes, in the name of Allah, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
The Shaykh : I think it is on the... record. The sound should not be faint in the recording.
The student : Faint. Yes, it is medium. Keep it medium...
The Shaykh : As for Hammad ibn Salimah, those who spoke about him did not reject his hadith; rather, they placed it below the rank of a sahih (authentic) hadith, which is the rank that befits him, for he is an imam among the imams of the Muslims.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But as I said earlier, the scholars of hadith are known to us as those who are not deterred by the blame of any blamer when speaking about the narrators of hadith, in order to preserve the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from any error, addition, or omission. Therefore, they would critique the great imams if they were imams in the Sunnah or in jurisprudence. This is the example before us now.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Hammad ibn Salimah was spoken about by some, and as I mentioned earlier, al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement... regarding the authenticity of this hadith. But I repeat the previous point: I do not know whether he overlooked or feigned to overlook another very important fact, which is that those who spoke about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salimah and lowered his hadith from the rank of sahih to the rank of hasan are the same ones who said that the hadith of Hammad ibn Salimah from Thabit al-Bunani is a sahih hadith. The meaning of their statement is that Hammad ibn Salimah has two characteristics: the first, which is the majority, is that when he narrates from anyone other than Thabit al-Bunani, his hadith is hasan. A hasan hadith is usually, among hadith scholars, a candidate to become sahih through a supporting chain or a corroborating narration, or it may be a candidate to be lowered from the rank of hasan to the rank of weak due to contradiction with something more authentic.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But when he narrates from Thabit, the hadith is sahih and serves as proof. This hadith, whose authenticity al-Suyuti criticized and which al-Ghazali of this time rejected... very much, is from the narration of Hammad ibn Salimah from Thabit. Therefore, it is a sahih hadith by the consensus of all scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) who spoke about Hammad, for those who spoke about him only spoke about his narration from anyone other than Thabit, whereas his narration from Thabit is sahih.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what we say, and in summary we say:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The hadith of Hammad ibn Salimah, if it is from anyone other than Thabit, is hasan; but since it is from Thabit, it is sahih. Thirdly, we say:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : In addition to it being from Thabit, it has a corroborating narration in the Sunan, in some of the Sunan, in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). Therefore, because the hadith is from the narration of Hammad, and his hadith from anyone other than Thabit is hasan:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it is from Thabit:
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : It is a sahih, established hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it has a corroborating narration, it is more authentic than a sahih hadith. Therefore, there is no room from the perspective of hadith science to criticize the authenticity of this hadith. And this is what I am now recalling, or perhaps I am now reciting, which is in fact a summary of what I wrote long ago in some of my books and writings regarding this hadith.
The student : Yes, it is subtle. We are still...
The Shaykh : Listen to me so we can see... the chain of narration...
The student : Yes, in the name of Allah, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
The Shaykh : I think it is on the... record. The sound should not be faint in the recording.
The student : Faint. Yes, it is medium. Keep it medium...
The Shaykh : As for Hammad ibn Salimah, those who spoke about him did not reject his hadith; rather, they placed it below the rank of a sahih (authentic) hadith, which is the rank that befits him, for he is an imam among the imams of the Muslims.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But as I said earlier, the scholars of hadith are known to us as those who are not deterred by the blame of any blamer when speaking about the narrators of hadith, in order to preserve the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from any error, addition, or omission. Therefore, they would critique the great imams if they were imams in the Sunnah or in jurisprudence. This is the example before us now.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Hammad ibn Salimah was spoken about by some, and as I mentioned earlier, al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement... regarding the authenticity of this hadith. But I repeat the previous point: I do not know whether he overlooked or feigned to overlook another very important fact, which is that those who spoke about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salimah and lowered his hadith from the rank of sahih to the rank of hasan are the same ones who said that the hadith of Hammad ibn Salimah from Thabit al-Bunani is a sahih hadith. The meaning of their statement is that Hammad ibn Salimah has two characteristics: the first, which is the majority, is that when he narrates from anyone other than Thabit al-Bunani, his hadith is hasan. A hasan hadith is usually, among hadith scholars, a candidate to become sahih through a supporting chain or a corroborating narration, or it may be a candidate to be lowered from the rank of hasan to the rank of weak due to contradiction with something more authentic.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But when he narrates from Thabit, the hadith is sahih and serves as proof. This hadith, whose authenticity al-Suyuti criticized and which al-Ghazali of this time rejected... very much, is from the narration of Hammad ibn Salimah from Thabit. Therefore, it is a sahih hadith by the consensus of all scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) who spoke about Hammad, for those who spoke about him only spoke about his narration from anyone other than Thabit, whereas his narration from Thabit is sahih.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what we say, and in summary we say:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The hadith of Hammad ibn Salimah, if it is from anyone other than Thabit, is hasan; but since it is from Thabit, it is sahih. Thirdly, we say:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : In addition to it being from Thabit, it has a corroborating narration in the Sunan, in some of the Sunan, in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). Therefore, because the hadith is from the narration of Hammad, and his hadith from anyone other than Thabit is hasan:
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it is from Thabit:
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : It is a sahih, established hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it has a corroborating narration, it is more authentic than a sahih hadith. Therefore, there is no room from the perspective of hadith science to criticize the authenticity of this hadith. And this is what I am now recalling, or perhaps I am now reciting, which is in fact a summary of what I wrote long ago in some of my books and writings regarding this hadith.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.