Musnad al-Bazzar

Sunan al-Kubra of Imam Nasa’i
October 1, 2015
Jami` al-Tirmidhi
October 1, 2015
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Table of Contents
  1. Musnad al Bazzar
    1. The First Narration
      1. Salih ibn Musa Talhi according to the Ahlus Sunnah
      2. Salih ibn Musa Talhi according to the Shia
    2. The Second Narration
      1. ‘Ali ibn Thabit according to the Ahlus Sunnah
      2. ‘Ali ibn Thabit according to the Shia
      3. Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman
      4. Al Harith al A’war according to the Ahlus Sunnah
      5. Al Harith al A’war according to the Shia
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Musnad al Bazzar

The First Narration

 

حدثنا احمد بن منصور ثنا داود بن عمرو ثنا صالح بن موسى بن عبدالله حدثنى عبدالعزيز بن رفيع عن ابى صالح عن ابى هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم انى  قد خلفت فيكم اثنين لن تضلوا بعدهما ابدا كتاب الله  و نسبى و لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض قال الشيخ لا نعلمه يروى عن ابى هريرة الا بهذا الاسناد و صالح لين الحديث

Ahmed ibn Mansur — Dawood ibn ‘Amr — Salih ibn Musa ibn ‘Abdullah — ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ibn Rafi’ — Abu Salih — from Abu Hurairah that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

Indeed I have left behind two such things that after which you will never go astray, the Book of Allah and my progeny. The two of them will never separate until they meet me at the pond.

Sheikh says, “We do not know of this narration from Abu Hurairah except through this chain, and Abu Salih is not very particular about his narrations.”[1]

 

We wish to bring to the attention of the learned that Musnad al Bazzar is from the rarest books of our times. After much effort, we managed to lay our hands on a hand written copy from the libraries of Pir Janda and Heydrabad – Dakkan. It is from these books that we have quoted the isnad. The first chain has been presented above, and the second chain will appear after discussing the narrators of the first narration. An individual by the name of Salih ibn Musa ibn ‘Abdullah Talhi appears in this chain. According to our understanding this narration is a one of the products of his ‘incredible kindness’. Now examine his status as discussed in the books of rijal.

 

Salih ibn Musa Talhi according to the Ahlus Sunnah

1. Abu Hatim al Razi writes in Kitab al Jarh wa al Ta’dil:

 

صالح بن موسى بن عبدالله بن اسحاق الطلحى…ضعيف الحديث منكر الحديث جدا كثير المناكير عن الثقات

Salih ibn Musa ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Ishaq al Talhi: His narrations are da’if, extremely Munkar, and he narrates many Munkar narrations from reliable narrators.[2]

 

2. Ibn Hajar writes:

 

صالح طلحى كوفى…قال ابن معين ليس بشيئ وقال ايضا صالح و اسحاق ابنا موسى ليس بشيئ ولا يكتب حديثهما…قال النسائى لا يكتب حديثه ضعيف وقال فى موضع اخر متروك الحديث…قال ابو نعيم متروك يروى المناكير

Salih Talhi Kufi: Ibn Ma’in says, “He is a non-entity.” He also stated, “Salih and Ishaq, the two sons of Musa, both are non-entities. There narrations are not to be written.” Al Nasa’i said, “His narrations are not to be written, he is da’if.” He states at another juncture, “He is suspected of forgery.” Abu Nuaim said, “He is suspected of forgery, he narrates many Munkar narrations.”[3]

 

Salih ibn Musa Talhi according to the Shia

1. Al Ardabili and al Tafrishi both write:

صالح بن موسى الطلحى الكوفى (ق) (مح)  [4]

عده الشيخ اياه فى رجاله من صادق عليه السلام[5]

The summary of these references is that Sheikh al Tusi has mentioned him amongst the companions of Imam Jafar al Sadiq rahimahu Llah. Muhammad Mirza Istarabadi has also mentioned him in his compilation of narrators.

The readers should be aware that we are not the only ones to criticise this narration. This narration has also been criticised in the book Majma’ al Zawa’id of al Haythami (vol. 9 pg. 163) in the following words:

 

رواه البزار و فيه صالح بن موسى الطلحى وهو ضعيف

Al Bazzar has narrated this and in the chain, there is of Salih ibn Musa al Talhi who is da’if.

 

The author himself, Muhaddith Bazzar, himself states at the end of the narration that Salih is not very particular about his narrations.

 

The Second Narration

 

حدثنا الحسين بن على بن جعفر ثنا على بن ثابت ثنا سعاد بن سليمان عن ابى اسحاق عن الحارث عن على قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم انى مقبوض وانى قد تركت فيكم الثقلين يعنى كتاب الله و اهل بيتى و انكم لن تضلوا بعدهما و انه لن تقوم حتى يبتغى اصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم كما يبتغى الضالة فلا توجد-الحديث ضعيف

Al Hussain ibn ‘Ali ibn Jafar — ‘Ali ibn Thabit — Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman — Abu Ishaq — al Harith — from ‘Ali that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

I will soon be taken away, and indeed I have left amongst you al Thaqalayn, i.e. the Book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt. Indeed you will not go astray after them. The final hour will not arrive until the Companions of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam are searched for just as a lost item is searched for, but they will not be found.

This narration is da’if.[6]

 

This narration of Musnad Bazzar contains three Shia narrators. We will reproduce their profiles from the books on narrators to convince our readers. They are, ‘Ali ibn Thabit, Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman, and al Harith al A’war. We will mention their details in the same sequence.

 

‘Ali ibn Thabit according to the Ahlus Sunnah

1. Al Dhahabi writes:

على بن ثابت الدحان… صدوق لكنه شيعى معروف

‘Ali ibn Thabit al Dahhan: He is truthful, but he is also a well-known Shia.’[7]  

 

‘Ali ibn Thabit according to the Shia

1. It is stated in Jami’ al Ruwat:

 على بن ثابت (ين) (مح)[8]

 

2. In Tanqih al Maqal:

عده الشيخ فى رجاله من اصحاب السجاد عليه السلام[9]

The summary of these references is that Sheikh al Tusi has listed him amongst the companions of Imam Zayn al Abidin and Muhammad Istarabadi also listed him in his book of Shia narrators. This is the crux of these Shia references.

 

Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman

1. Ibn Hajar writes in Taqrib:

سعاد بن سليمان الجعفى …صدوق يخطئ وكان شيعيا

Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman: Truthful, but would commit errors in narration and he was a Shia.[10]

 

2. In Tahdhib:

سعاد بن سليمان قال ابو حاتم كان من عنق الشيعة وليس بقوى فى الحديث.

Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman: Abu Hatim says, “He was from the pioneers of the Shia and he is unreliable in hadith.[11]

 

3. Al Dhahabi says:

سعاد بن سليمان الجعفى الكوفى قال ابو حاتم شيعى ليس بقوى

Sa’ad ibn Sulaiman al Ju’fi al Kufi: Abu Hatim said, “He is a Shia and he is unreliable in hadith.” [12]

 

Al Harith al A’war according to the Ahlus Sunnah

1. Tahdhib al Tahdhib:

 

الحارث الاعور بن عبدالله الهمدانى الخارفى الكوفى…عن الشعبى انه كان كذابا…قال ابو زرعة لا يحتج به و قال ابو حاتم ليس بقوى ولا ممن يحتج به …قال ابن حبان كان الحارث غاليا فى التشيع واهيا فى الحديث مات خمس و ستون

Al Harith al A’war ibn ‘Abdullah al Hamdani al Kharifi al Kufi: Sha’bi said, “He is a flagrant liar” Abu Zur’ah said, “He cannot be cited as proof.” Abu Hatim said, “He is unreliable and he cannot be cited as proof.” Ibn Hibban said, “Al Harith was an extremist Shia and his narrations are unreliable.” He died in the year 65 A.H.[13]

 

2. Mizan al I’tidal:

 

الاعور قال ابن المدينى كذاب …قال ابن معين صعيف…كان ابن سيرين يرى ان عامة ما يرويه عن على باطل …قال ابن حبان كان الحارث الاعور غاليا فى التشيع واهيا فى الحديث

Al A’war: Ibn al Madini said, “He is a flagrant liar.” Ibn Ma’in said, “He is da’if.” Ibn Sirin was of the opinion that all his narrations from ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu were baseless. Ibn Hibban said, “Al Harith was an extremist Shia and his narrations are unreliable.”[14]

 

Al Harith al A’war according to the Shia

1. Al Ardabili in Jami’ al Ruwat:

الحارث الاعور بن عبدالله الهمدانى هو من الاولياء من اصحاب امير المؤمنين عليه السلام

Al Harith al A’war ibn ‘Abdullah al Hamdani: He is from the Auliya’ of the companions of Amir al Mu’minin ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu.[15]

 

2. ‘Abdullah al Mamaqani writes:

اقول انه لا ينبغى الريب فى دثامة الرجل و تقواه

I say, “It is inappropriate to doubt the man’s integrity and piety.”[16]

 

Whilst terminating the discussion on the narration of Bazzar, we wish to draw the attention of the readers to one more point; this narration has been criticised by the author, Muhaddith al Bazzar, himself who stated, “This narration is da’if.” ‘Allamah al Haythami has described this narration in the ninth volume of his book Majma’ al Zawa’id in the following manner:

 

رواه البزار و فيه الحارث الاعور وهو ضعيف

Narrated by al Bazzar and in the chain is al Harith al A’war and he is da’if.

 

Now would justice allow us to have any doubt regarding the acceptance of this narration after these details?

 

NEXT⇒ Sunan al-Kubra of Imam Nasa’i

[1]  Musnad al Bazzar, the hand written copy available at PirJanda library.

[2]  Kitab al Jarh wa al Ta’dil vol. 2 pg. 415, Dakkan Print.

[3]  Tahdhib vol. 4 pg. 404, 405

[4]  Jami’ al Ruwat vol. 1 pg. 408, Rijal Tafrishi pg. 171

[5]  Tanqih al Maqal vol. 2 pg. 94

[6]  Musnad al Bazzar

[7]  Mizan al I’tidal vol. 2 pg. 219

[8]  Jami’ al Ruwat vol. 1 pg. 506

[9]  Tanqih al Maqal vol. 2 pg. 271

[10]  Taqrib pg. 180

[11]  Tahdhib vol. 3 pg. 462

[12]  Mizan vol. 1 pg. 371

[13]  Tahdhib vol. 2 pg. 145-146

[14]  Mizan al I’tidal vol. 1 pg. 302

[15]  Jami’ al Ruwat vol. 1 pg. 171

[16]  Tanqih al Maqal vol. 1 pg. 445.