That Which is Related to the Statements ‘The Chain of Narration is from the Religion’; ‘Transmissions are not Taken Except from Trustworthy Narrators’; and ‘Criticism of the Narrators With What is Permissible Regarding Them, Even Obligatory and That It is not the Prohibited Kind of Backbiting, Rather it is the Defense of the Noble Sharī’ah’

Hasan bin ur-Rabī’ narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, on authority of Ayyūb and Hishām [bin Hassān], on authority of Muhammad [bin Sīrīn] ; and Fuḍayl [bin Īyāḍ] narrated to us on authority of Hishām [bin Hassān]; he said Mukhlad bin Husayn narrated to us, on authority of Hishām [bin Hassān], on authority of Muhammad bin Sīrīn , that he said:
‘Indeed this knowledge is faith, so carefully consider from whom you take your faith’.

حَدَّثَنَا حَسَنُ بْنُ الرَّبِيعِ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، وَهِشَامٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَحَدَّثَنَا فُضَيْلٌ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، قَالَ وَحَدَّثَنَا مَخْلَدُ بْنُ حُسَيْنٍ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، قَالَ إِنَّ هَذَا الْعِلْمَ دِينٌ فَانْظُرُوا عَمَّنْ تَأْخُذُونَ دِينَكُمْ .

Abū Ja’far Muhammad bin us-Sabbāh narrated to us, Ismā’īl bin Zakariyyā’ narrated to us, on authority of Āsim il-Ahwal, on authority of Ibn Sīrīn that he said:
‘They would not ask about the chains of narration, and when the Fitnah occurred, they said: ‘Name for us your men’. So Ahl us-Sunnah would be regarded, and their Ḥadīth were then taken, and Ahl ul-Bi’dah would be regarded, and their Ḥadīth were not taken’.

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ، مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ زَكَرِيَّاءَ، عَنْ عَاصِمٍ الأَحْوَلِ، عَنِ ابْنِ سِيرِينَ، قَالَ لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَسْأَلُونَ عَنِ الإِسْنَادِ، فَلَمَّا وَقَعَتِ الْفِتْنَةُ قَالُوا سَمُّوا لَنَا رِجَالَكُمْ فَيُنْظَرُ إِلَى أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ فَيُؤْخَذُ حَدِيثُهُمْ وَيُنْظَرُ إِلَى أَهْلِ الْبِدَعِ فَلاَ يُؤْخَذُ حَدِيثُهُمْ .

Ishāq bin Ibrāhīm al-Hanthalī narrated to us, Īsā, and he is Ibn Yūnus, informed us, al-Awzā’ī narrated to us, on authority of Sulyamān bin Mūsā, he said:
‘I came across Tāwus and said: ‘So-and-so narrated to me such-and-such’. Then he said: ‘If your companion is trustworthy, then take from him.’

حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْحَنْظَلِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا عِيسَى، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ يُونُسَ - حَدَّثَنَا الأَوْزَاعِيُّ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ مُوسَى، قَالَ لَقِيتُ طَاوُسًا فَقُلْتُ حَدَّثَنِي فُلاَنٌ، كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ . قَالَ إِنْ كَانَ صَاحِبُكَ مَلِيًّا فَخُذْ عَنْهُ .

Abd Allah bin Abd ir-Rahman ad-Dārimī narrated to us, Marwān, meaning Ibn Muhammad ad-Dimashqī informed us, Sa’īd bin Abd il-Azīz narrated to us, on authority of Sulaymān bin Mūsā, he said, I said to Tāwus:
‘So-and-so narrated to me like this-and-that’. He said: ‘If your companion is trustworthy, then take from him.’

وَحَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الدَّارِمِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَرْوَانُ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ الدِّمَشْقِيَّ - حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ مُوسَى، قَالَ قُلْتُ لِطَاوُسٍ إِنَّ فُلاَنًا حَدَّثَنِي بِكَذَا، وَكَذَا، . قَالَ إِنْ كَانَ صَاحِبُكَ مَلِيًّا فَخُذْ عَنْهُ .

Nasr bin Alī al-Jahdhamī narrated to us, al-Asma’ī narrated to us, on authority of Ibn Abī-Zinād, on authority of his father, he said:
‘I met one hundred [transmitters] in al-Madīnah, each of whom were reliable. Narrations were not taken from one about who it was said, ‘he is not from its people’.’

حَدَّثَنَا نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ الْجَهْضَمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَصْمَعِيُّ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ أَدْرَكْتُ بِالْمَدِينَةِ مِائَةً كُلُّهُمْ مَأْمُونٌ . مَا يُؤْخَذُ عَنْهُمُ الْحَدِيثُ يُقَالُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ .

Muhammad bin Abī Umar al-Makkī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us; and Abū Bakr bin Khallād al-Bāhilī narrated to us – and the wording is his, he said, I heard Sufyān bin Uyaynah, on authority of Mis’ar, he said, I heard Sa’d bin Ibrāhīm saying:
‘There is to be no narrating on authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ except by trustworthy narrators (Thiqāt)’.

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ الْمَكِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، ح وَحَدَّثَنِي أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ خَلاَّدٍ الْبَاهِلِيُّ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ - قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سُفْيَانَ بْنَ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ مِسْعَرٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سَعْدَ بْنَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، يَقُولُ لاَ يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِلاَّ الثِّقَاتُ .