[poispanna]

Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (132 - 189), who was one of the foremost pupils of Imam Abu Hanifah, and an undisputed power in fiqh (jurispudence) and lughah (language), was also a (memoriser of a significant number) of hadith as previously mentioned by al-Daraqutni and as is obvious from his works on hadith like his Muwatta', Kitab al-Athar and Kitab al-Hujjah, which have been in print. His stability in hadith was sent from 'Ali ibn al-Madini (d. 235) and al-Daraqutni (d. 385 ): 1. 'Ali ibn al-Madini Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrates: ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Maliki advised us: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman al-Saffar noted to us: Muhammad ibn ‘Imran ibn Musa al-Sayrafi narrated to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Madini narrated to us from his father: “I asked him about Asad ibn ‘Amr, al-Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lu’lu’i and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and he weakened Asad and al-Hasan ibn Ziyad, and said ‘Muhammad ibn al-Hasan is trusted (saduq ).’” Tarikh Baghdad (Bashshar ‘Awwad edward. 2:572) Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Maliki (350 - 437 H) is saduq (Tarikh Baghdad 13:584 ); ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Muhammad al-Saffar (d. 382) is thiqah (Tarikh Baghdad 11:225-6 ); Muhammad ibn ‘Imran ibn Musa al-Sayrafi (d. 315) is thiqah based on Daraqutni (Tarikh Baghdad 4:226). ‘Ali ibn al-Madini was a rigid (mutashaddid) critic of narrators and wasn't partial to the Hanafi Imams, which means this statement from him clearly supports the view that Imam Muhammad is reliable in hadith. 2. Al-Daraqutni Imam al-Zayla'i wrote in his Nasb al-Rayah (Muhammad ‘Awwamah edward. 1:408-9) while discussing the hadiths towards people who advocate raising the fingers before and after ruku: “Al-Daraqutni mentioned in Ghara’ib Malik: ‘Malik didn't mention [in his narration from Ibn ‘Umar] in al-Muwatta’ increasing [the hands] before ruku', and he described it in [his narrations] beyond al-Muwatta’. Thirty it was narrated by individuals from the trustworthy memorisers ( al-thiqat al-huffaz ). From their store are: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mahdi, Ibn Wahb and others.’” Al-Daraqutni describes Muhammad ibn al-Hasan as a hafiz on par with such owners of hadith as Yahya al-Qattan, Ibn al-Mubarak and Ibn al-Mahdi. Al-Barqani (who's thiqah based on al-Khatib) read in his Su'alat (concerns) from al-Daraqutni that he mentioned about Muhammad ibn al-Hasan "according in my experience, he doesn't deserve rejection" (' indi la yastahiqq al-tark). Ergo, it's proven that Ibn al-Madini and al-Daraqutni thought Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani was reliable or dependable in the narration of hadith. ----------------------------------- Al-Khatib narrated: Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Khallal narrated to me: ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr al-Hariri described to us that Abu l-Qasim ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Kas al-Nakha‘i narrated to them: ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas al-Tayalisi narrated to us: ‘Abbas al-Duri narrated to us: I noticed Yahya ibn Ma‘in say: “I wrote al-Jami‘ al-Saghir from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.” Tarikh Baghdad (2:566) The narrators in this string are thiqat. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali Abu Muhammad al-Khallal (352 – 439) is thiqah according to al-Khatib (Tarikh Baghdad 8:454 ); ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr ibn Sahl Abu l-Husayn al-Hariri (292 - 380) is thiqah according to al-‘Atiqi (Tarikh Baghdad 13:470 ); ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Abu l-Qasim al-Nakha‘i referred to as “Ibn Kas” (d. 324), a, and a of al-Daraqutni and Ibn Shahin, is thiqah based on al-Khatib (Tarikh Baghdad 13:540 ); ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Ubayd Allah Abu Muhammad al-Tayalisi (d. 308) is thiqah based on al-Khatib (Tarikh Baghdad 11:219-20 ); ‘Abbas ibn Muhammad ibn Hatim al-Duri (185 – 271) is just a narrator of the Four (Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah) and is thiqah as previously mentioned in al-Taqrib. Yahya ibn Ma'in who had been over thirty when Imam Muhammad died narrated al-Jam'i al-Saghir on fiqh from him. For this reason the narration from him as described in al-Du'afa by al-'Uqayli that Imam Muhammad was a (kadhdhab), though having an genuine chain, its matn is uncertain as it's most unlikely that Ibn Ma'in might narrate from some one he thought to be a liar as stated by al-Kawthari in Ta'nib al-Khatib. The narrations from Abu Yusuf and Malik saying they thought Imam Muhammad a as narrated by al-Khatib have stores which are poor or manufactured. There are different narrations from Ibn Ma'in showing he thought Imam Muhammad was poor in hadith, but such criticism from competitors are refused. Nevertheless, it's authentically documented from Ahmad ibn Hanbal and al-Nasa'i they thought Imam Muhammad was poor in hadith. Their crticism (jarh) nevertheless is unclear (mubham) and inexplicable (ghayr mufassar) and consequently won't get priority over that which was stated by al-Madini and al-Daraqutni. More over, it's well-known Imam Ahmad was biased against Abu Hanifah and his friends as previously mentioned by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (al-Intiqa, g. Therefore his critique of them won't be approved, 179) and as is obvious from his claims about them. Al-Nasa'i is also considered to be rigid in his critique of narrators, therefore his assessment against a is suspect while his assessment towards a narrator is reliable. Imam al-Dhahabi after mentioning al-Nasa'i's worsening of Imam Muhammad, he explained "he was from the seas of information and powerful in his narrations from Malik." (Lisan al-Mizan 7:61) Imam Muhammad said: “I stood at the doorway of Malik for three and some years and I noticed seven-hundred hadiths straight from him.” Narrated by having an genuine chain in Tarikh Bagdad (2:562) from al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Tanajiri (351 – 439) who is thiqah, from the renowned Ibn Shahin (297 – 385) who is thiqah from ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ib Ziyad (d. 324) who is thiqah from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam (182 – 268) who is thiqah (as previously mentioned in al-Taqrib) from Imam al-Shafi‘i from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. While he spent three years with Malik, Imam Muhammad spent over five years with Abu Hanifah, and even longer with Imam Abu Yusuf, meaning based on al-Dhahabi, his narrations from their store also needs to be powerful. Based on al-Madini's and al-Daraqutni's unequivocal statements meant for Imam Muhammad's stability in narrating hadith, and the uncertain character of the statements of these who criticised him like Ahmad and al-Nasa'i, and based on the maxims of narrator-criticism, Imam Muhammad is possibly saduq (trusted) or thiqah (reliable) in the narration of hadith, specially when he narrates from Abu Yusuf, Abu Hanifah or Malik.