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حدثنى يحيى بن عبدالحميد قال حدثنا شريك عن الركين عن القاسم بن حسان عن زيد بن ثابت قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم انى تارك فيكم ما ان تمسكتم به لن تضلوا كتاب الله و عترتى اهل بيتى وانهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض
Yahya ibn ‘Abdul Hamid — Sharik — al Rukayn — al Qasim ibn Hassan — from Zaid ibn Thabit that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
I am leaving amongst you that which if you hold onto you will never go astray; the Book of Allah and my ‘itrah, who are my Ahlul Bayt; and they will never separate until they meet me at the Pond (al Kawthar).[1]
This chain contains two such individuals whose positions are questionable. The first is Yahya ibn ‘Abdul Hamid and the second one is his mentor, Sharik ibn ‘Abdullah. The details regarding Sharik have already passed under the narration of Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah. There is no need to repeat them here. However, the details regarding Yahya are necessary to mention, which we have presented hereunder. Those who are balanced and fair-minded will be able to judge for themselves whether or not the narrations of such people are worthy of acceptance.
1. Al Dhahabi writes in Mizan al I’tidal:
يحيى بن عبدالحميد الحمانى الكوفى روى عن شريك….اما احمد فقال كان يكذب جهارا وقال النسائى ضعيف…قال محمد بن عبد الله ابن الحمانى كذاب…قال ابن عدى احاديثه احاديث مناكير…انه شيعى بغيض, قال زياد بن ايوب سمعت يحيى ابن العمانى يقول كان معاوية على غير ماة الاسلام قال زياد كذب عدو الله
Yahya ibn ‘Abdul Hamid al Himmani al Kufi, he narrated from Sharik… Imam Ahmed said, “He would lie openly.” Imam Nasa’i said, “He is da’if.” Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah said, “Ibn al Himmani is a blatant liar.” Ibn ‘Adi said, “His narrations are munkar (rejected)… He is a prejudiced extremist Shia.” Ziyad ibn Ayub said, “I heard Yahya ibn Sa’id al Himmani saying, ‘Muawiyah was following a religion other than Islam.’ Ziyad then said, “The enemy of Allah has spoken a lie.”[2]
2. Ibn Hajar writes in Tahdhib:
يحيى بن عبدالحميد…ما زلنا نعرفه انه يسرق الاحاديث…قال لنا عبدان قال ابن نمير الحمانى كذاب قال محمد بن عبد الرحيم البزار كنا اذا قعدنا الى الحمانى تبين لنا منه البلايا قال ابو الشيخ الاصفهانى عن زياد بن ايوب الطوسى سمعت يحيى بن عبدالحميد يقول كان معاوية على غير ملة الاسلام قال كذب عدو الله…قال الزهلى ما استحل الرواية عنه وقال النسائى ضعيف
Yahya ibn ‘Abdul Hamid: We have always known him to be one who is sariq al hadith[3]. Abdan said to us, “Ibn Numair said, ‘Al Himmani is a great liar.’” Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Rahim al Bazzar said, “When we would sit in the company of al Himmani, it would become obvious to us that he was talking absolute nonsense.” Abu al Sheikh al Isfahani narrates from Ziyad ibn Ayub al Tusi, “I heard Yahya ibn Sa’id al Himmani saying, ‘Muawiyah was following a religion other than Islam.’ Ziyad said, ‘The enemy of Allah has spoken a lie.’” Al Zuhali said, “I do not regard it permissible to narrate from him.” Al Nasa’i said, “(He is) da’if.”[4]
1. It is mentioned in Jami’ al Ruwat
يحيى بن عبدالحميد الحمانى…له كتاب عنه محمد بن ايوب بن يحيى
2. It is mentioned in Tanqih al Maqal
قال ابو عمرو الكشى .. يحيى بن عبدالحميد الحمانى فى كتابه المؤلف فى اثبات امامة امير المؤمنين عليه السلام
In other words, the mentioned Himmani has authored a book establishing proof for the Imamah of ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Abu ‘Amr al Kashshi has also clearly mentioned this.[5]
In the book Mulakhas al Maqal fi Tahqiq Ahwal al Rijal (category 5, the chapter of ‘ي’) he is listed amongst the non-criticised narrators (of the Shia). Similarly he was included amongst the Shia narrators in Rijal al Najjashi as well as in al Fahrist of al Tusi.
[1] Musnad ‘Abd ibn Humaid pg. 43
[2] Mizan al I’tidal vol. 2 pg. 295-296
[3] Refers to one who fabricates isnad for his own narrations.
[4] Tahdhib vol. 11 pg. 245-246
[5] Jami’ al Ruwat vol. 2 pg. 330, Tanqih al Maqal vol. 3 pg. 318