The Isnad of Abu Musa al-Madini

The Isnad of Abu Musa al Madini

His full name is Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Ahmed ibn ‘Umar al Asfahani (d. 581 A.H).

‘Abaqat states (vol. 1 pg. 267), Abu Musa al Madini, quotes the narration of Thaqalayn in Tatimmah Ma’rifat al Sahabah from Ibn ‘Uqdah and comments:

انه غريب جدا

It is an extremely Gharib (solitary) narration.

We do not have a copy of Tatimmah Ma’rifat al Sahabah of Abu Musa al Madini. However we have learnt from ‘Abaqat that he quotes it from Ibn ‘Uqdah, who is an extremist Shia. We have already explained the position of Ibn ‘Uqdah, which you may refer to. You will be convinced that he was a Shia. He was accepted by both parties to be a Shia, and he was also a radical Shia.
This narration has been classified “extremely solitary,” according to the research of Abu Musa al Madini, which means that some of the narrators were the only people of that era to narrate it. Thus, far from being mutawatir in word and meaning, this hadith is actually Gharib. The boldness of the author of ‘Abaqat at this juncture is worthy of note. He quotes such people who themselves say that the narration is Gharib in order to prove that it is Mutawatir. This highlights his desperation to lengthen his list of references.

Note:-

1. Imam al Tirmidhi declared the narration of Thaqalayn to be Gharib (vol. 2 pg. 220).

2. Imam al Bukhari quotes Imam Ahmed in his book, al Tarikh al Saghir (pg. 126):

قال احمد فى حديث عبد الملك عن عطية عن ابى سعيد قال النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم تركت فيكم الثقلين احاديث الكوفيين هذا مناكير

Ahmed said regarding the hadith of ‘Abdul Malik from ‘Attiyah from Abu Sa’id that Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “I have left amongst you al Thaqalayn,”… these narrations of the Kufis are all Munkar.

3. After quoting this hadith from al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasa’i in his al Bidayah wa al Nihayah, Ibn Kathir commented that Imam al Nasa’i was the only person to narrate it in this manner.

4. Molana ‘Abdul ‘Ali Lucknowi clearly states in his commentary of Musallam al Thubut whilst explaining the hadith of Thaqalayn:

ورد هذا الحديث من راو واحد بالفاظ شتى ولا يدرى الفاظ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ما هى؟ ثم انه خبر الواحد لا يستطيع معارضة القاطع

This hadith has been narrated by one narrator with many different wordings, making it difficult to ascertain the exact words of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Above that it is Khabr al Wahid, therefore it cannot contradict a clear-cut proof.

Understand the claim of our ‘friends’ in light of statements of the leading ‘ulama’ of the ummah. They are worlds apart. Tawatur is totally out of the question. This narration cannot even be considered Mashur. It is a Khabr al Wahid which has been classified as ‘Gharib Jiddan’. Above that, many ‘ulama’ considered it da’if and unreliable. Refer to the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah which was quoted at the end of the discussion regarding the narration of al-Tirmidhi. Imam al Bukhari considered it Munkar and did not add it to his compilation.

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