A Puzzle of Asma' Al Rijal.
The Golden age of Islamic scholarship had its dawn in the early Fatimid Era and ended with the fall of Ottoman Caliphate. The Al Saud have not even aspired to maintain the set standards let alone improving them. The Golden age had seen many eminent scholars, some of them so great that their works are unmatched and irreplaceable till date. Some of these opuses were compilation of early periods- rare and unique works which required careful duplication. Although the scholars were very careful, manual duplication always led to some errors- probably due to the poor condition of the original script. This article discusses one such duplication error in the works of Ibn Kathir (Al Bidaya Wa'n Nihaya) and also aims to expose a Yazeedi apologist who has very cunningly tried to confuse the masses by exploiting it. We intend to make this article, an example of his treachery and inform the Muslims about the rising Fitna Al Yazeedi.
The narration in discussion is found in one of the books of Abu'l Faraj Ibn Jawzi (d.597 H) namely, " الرد علي المتعصب العنيد المانع من ذم يزيد." meaning " Refuting the bigot adamant who forbids from criticism of Yazeed". He quotes a narration on Pg 58 as:
The rijal of this narration are trustworthy (dealt later). This was a most valuable risala'h which exposed the crimes committed by Yazeed, but unfortunately didn't draw much attention of the public. In mid 8th century Hijri, Ibn Kathir decided to reproduce some of the narrations of this risalah in his opus "Al Bidaya Wa'l Nihaya" in the section of the year 61-65 H. During this process, he committed an error and recorded this narration as
Here, Ibn Kathir has recorded the name of the narrator as "Muslimah" instead of "Salamah" in his work.
To prove that this was a scribbling mistake by Ibn Kathir (d.774 H), we will quote some of the narrations from the books of Ibn Abi Dunya, where he has quoted from "Salamah >> Al Humaydi," and not "Muslimah". Some of them are:
This can be found on Vol 20, Pg 98. This unquestionably proves that "Salamah bin Shabib" and "Muslimah bin Shabib" are the same person in discussion.
Imam Dhahabi in his work, "العبر في خبر من غبر ويليه ذيول العبر" (Book on the lessons taken from the narrations of Death), Vol 1, Pg 354 has named "Muslimah bin Shabib" under the chapter of those who died in 247 H. He names him as "Muslimah bin Shabib, Abu Abdul Rahman Al Nishapuri, passed away in the month of Ramazan, in Makkah. He narrated from Greatest of Imam's, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal." If we see the biography of Salamah bin Shabib, which is of course, narrated in many books of Asma Al Rijal, we will find that his full name was also "Abu Abdul Rahman Al Nisaburi and he died in the month of Ramadan in 246-247 H in Makkah. He also narrated from Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal. [Refer Tadhib Al Kamal, Al Mizzi, Vol 11, Pg 288].
The narration in discussion is found in one of the books of Abu'l Faraj Ibn Jawzi (d.597 H) namely, " الرد علي المتعصب العنيد المانع من ذم يزيد." meaning " Refuting the bigot adamant who forbids from criticism of Yazeed". He quotes a narration on Pg 58 as:
قال ابن ابي الدنيا وثنا سلمة بن شبيب قال ثنا الحميدي عن سفيان قال سالم بن حفصة يقول قال الحسن جعل يزيد بن معاوية يظعن بالقضيب موضع في رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم واذلاه
Ibn Abi Dunya (d. 281 H) recorded from Salamah bin Shabib (d.247 H) from Al Humaydi from Sufyan from Salim bin Abi Hafsa from Hasan Al Basri saying: "Yazeed bin Muawiya was prodding (poked) with a stick on that place (lips of Hussain علية سلام) which was kissed by Allah's Messenger Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم, How shameful!
The rijal of this narration are trustworthy (dealt later). This was a most valuable risala'h which exposed the crimes committed by Yazeed, but unfortunately didn't draw much attention of the public. In mid 8th century Hijri, Ibn Kathir decided to reproduce some of the narrations of this risalah in his opus "Al Bidaya Wa'l Nihaya" in the section of the year 61-65 H. During this process, he committed an error and recorded this narration as
قال ابن ابي الدنيا وثنا مسلمة بن شبيب قال ثنا الحميدي عن سفيان قال سالم بن حفصة يقول قال الحسن جعل يزيد بن معاوية يظعن بالقضيب موضع في رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم واذلاه
Here, Ibn Kathir has recorded the name of the narrator as "Muslimah" instead of "Salamah" in his work.
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| Al Raddu Ala Mutasab Al Nae'ed Al Manaa min Zam Yazeed, Pg 58. |
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| Al Bidaya Wa Nihaya, Vol 8, Pg 192 |
To prove that this was a scribbling mistake by Ibn Kathir (d.774 H), we will quote some of the narrations from the books of Ibn Abi Dunya, where he has quoted from "Salamah >> Al Humaydi," and not "Muslimah". Some of them are:
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، ثنا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مَسْلَمَةَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ، يَقُولُ
(Pg 98, Narration 172-الهم والحزن)
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، قَالَ: سُئِلَ ابْنُ شُبْرُمَةَ عَنْ مسْأَلَةٍ، فَأَفْتَى فِيهَا فَلَمْ يُصِبْ
(Pg 148, Narration 90 -الإشراف في منازل الأشراف لابن أبي الدنيا)
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مَسْلَمَةَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ، يَقُولُ
(Pg 137, Narration 311-الزهد لابن أبي الدنيا)
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، ثنا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مَسْلَمَةَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ، يَقُولُ
(Pg 76, Narration 81-الفرج بعد الشده لابن ابي الدنيا)
Additionally, there are 99 chains of different narrations cited by Ibn Abi Dunya in his various books which has Salamah bin Shabib as one of the narrators. Some of them are:
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، ذَكَرَ سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، ذَكَرَ سَهْلُ بْنُ عَاصِمٍ، عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ، قَالَ
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ الْعَلَاءِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا صَالِحٌ الشَّنِّيُّ، مِنْ عَبْدِ الْقَيْسِ عَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ
(Narrated from Abu Dawud Al Tayalisi, Pg 148, Narration 91 -الإشراف في منازل الأشراف لابن أبي الدنيا)
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، أَنَّهُ حَدَّثَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ، قَالَ: ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ النَّضْرِ الْحَارِثِيُّ، قَالَ
(Narrated from Abdullah Ibn Mubarak (d.181 H) -Pg 175, Narration no 388-الزهد لابن أبي الدنيا)
حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، حَدَّثَنَا مَعْمَرٌ، عَنْ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ
(Narrated from Abdul Razzaq (d.211H), The Muhaddith-Pg 310, Narration no 344-الصمت لابن أبي الدنيا)
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| Ilham Wa'l Huzn, Pg 98. |
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| Zuhd Ibn Abi Dunya, Pg 137. |
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| Zuhd Ibn Abi Dunya, Pg 175. |
The above examples undoubtedly proves that the name of the narrator from which Ibn Abi Dunya used to narrate is "Salamah" which was recorded wrongly as "Muslimah" by Ibn Kathir. This mistake was wielded as an opportunity by the Salafi/Yazeedi apologist Kifayat ullah Sanabali لعنه الله عليه, who argued in his disastrous book "Yazeed par ilzamat ka ilmi Jaiza", that there is no narrator by the name "Muslimah bin Shabib" and he is "Majhool". Hence they have declared this narration as a "Fabrication". Unfortunately for them, there are many other scholars who have noted this mistake and have explained it, making it clear. We will now quote some of the scholars who have recognized "Muslimah".
One of the famous salafi scholar of recent times, Abdul Razzaq bin Abdul Muhsin Al Badr in his book , "زيادة الإيمان ونقصانه وحكم الاستثناء فيه" i.e "Increase and Decrease in the Faith and the Exceptions," has graded a Hadith having "Muslimah bin Shabib" narrating from Abdal Razzaq Al Sinani (d.211 H) in the chain as "Sahih", meaning, All the narrators are trustworthy. We also know that "Salamah bin Shabib" used to narrate from Abdal Razzaq. This can be found in the takhreej of 27th narration, dealing with the different definitions of Iman provided by the scholars, Pg 145.
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| Ziyadah Al Iman Wa Nukhsana wa Hukm Astashna Fih, Pg 145. |
Ibn Kathir himself in his another work "جامع المسانيد والسنن الهادي لأقوم سنن", Vol 7, Pg 467, Narration no 9539 has cited a hadith from Majmu'a Al kabir of Tabrani (d.360H) with a chain
رواه الطبراني، من حديث مسلمة بن شبيب، عن عبد الرزاق، عن ثور، عن خالد بن معدان، عن معاذ: ((لعن الله الملوك الأربعة جمداً، ومشرحاً، ومحوساً، وابضعاً واختهم العمردة) .
But when we see the original narration of Tabrani, the actual chain of narration is
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْعَبَّاسِ الْأَصْبَهَانِيُّ، ثنا سَلَمَةُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ، ثنا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، أَخْبَرَنِي ثَوْرُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ مَعْدَانَ، عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ، قَالَ: كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي دَارِنَا يَعْرِضُ الْخَيْلَ، قَالَ: فَدَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ عُيَيْنَةُ بْنُ حُصَيْنٍ فَقَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
This can be found on Vol 20, Pg 98. This unquestionably proves that "Salamah bin Shabib" and "Muslimah bin Shabib" are the same person in discussion.
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| Jami Al Masaneed, Vol 7, Pg 467. |
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| Majm'ua Al Kabir, Vol 20, Pg 98. |
Imam Dhahabi in his work, "العبر في خبر من غبر ويليه ذيول العبر" (Book on the lessons taken from the narrations of Death), Vol 1, Pg 354 has named "Muslimah bin Shabib" under the chapter of those who died in 247 H. He names him as "Muslimah bin Shabib, Abu Abdul Rahman Al Nishapuri, passed away in the month of Ramazan, in Makkah. He narrated from Greatest of Imam's, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal." If we see the biography of Salamah bin Shabib, which is of course, narrated in many books of Asma Al Rijal, we will find that his full name was also "Abu Abdul Rahman Al Nisaburi and he died in the month of Ramadan in 246-247 H in Makkah. He also narrated from Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal. [Refer Tadhib Al Kamal, Al Mizzi, Vol 11, Pg 288].
Hafiz Al Suyuti (d.911 H) in his book, "Tabaqat Al Huffaz", Vol 1, Pg 243, Narrator no 540, mentions the full name of Muslimah bin Shabib as "Muslimah bin Shabib Al Nishapuri Abu Abdul Rahman Al Hajari Al Masmami." He also mentions that he was a resident of Makkah and passed away in the year 247 H. The biographical data of Muslimah, provided by Al Suyuti is exactly the same as that of "Salamah" provided by many other scholars of Rijal. Hence it is undoubtedly proven that both the names are of a same person.
Finally, we will enlighten our readers about Salamah bin Shabib Al Nisaburi. The following details are taken from various books of Asma Al Rijal:
⇒ He is mentioned in the Tarikh Kabir of Al Bukhari, Vol 4, Pg 85, Narrator no 2054.
⇒ Abu Hatim Al Razi mentions him in his book, "Al Jarah wal Tadeel", Vol 4, Pg 164, Narrator no 722. He said, "Abu Zurah heard his father saying that he (Salamah) is truthful."
⇒ Ibn Hibban (d.343H) has mentioned him in his Thiqat, Vol 8, Pg 287-288.
⇒ He is also a Rijal (narrator) in Sahih Muslim. He is also one of the Shaykh's of Imam Abu Dawud Al Sijistani.
⇒ Al Mizzi mentions him in his magnificeint "Al Kamal fi Asma Al Rijal, Vol 11, Pg 286". He further says, "Ahmed Al Marwazi said, He is a man of Sunnah wal Jamah and a man of Hadith (Muhaddith)"[Also See Tarikh Dimishq]. He also quotes Hafiz Abu Nuaym who said that he (Salamah) is "Thiqa" (Trustworthy).[See Akhbar Isbahan, Vol 1, Pg 336].
⇒ Al Dhahabi has mentioned him in his magnum opus, "Siyar Al Alam Al Nubala, Vol 12, Pg 256." He starts to describe him as, " Al Hafiz Al Imam Al Thiqa (trustworthy)". He further states that scholars like Muslim, Abu Zuhrah, Abu Hatim, Abdullah bin Hanbal etc used to narrate from him. Al Nasa'i said, "There is nothing wrong in him." He is also mentioned in other works of Al Dhahabi namely, "Tadhkirat Al Huffaz, Vol 2, Pg 543 and Al Kashf, Vol 1, Narrator no 2054."
⇒ Ibn Hajr graded him "Thiqa" (Trustworthy) in his Taqreeb, Single vol Ed, Pg 400, Narrator no 2507.
⇛ CONCLUSION: The original narrator of hadith from Ibn Abi Dunya is " Salamah bin Shabib Al Nisaburi." Ibn Kathir erred during the duplication of this narration. Both the names (Salamah and Muslimah) refers to the same person. Hence the narration is Sahih that Yazeed لعنه الله عليه poked the blessed lips of Imam Hussain علية سلام with a stick.
"To all the scholars of the right path mentioned in this article, May Allah be pleased with them."
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| Al Abr, Al Dhahabi, Vol 1, Pg 354. |
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| Tabaqat Al Huffaz, Al Suyuti, Vol 1, Pg 243. |
Finally, we will enlighten our readers about Salamah bin Shabib Al Nisaburi. The following details are taken from various books of Asma Al Rijal:
⇒ He is mentioned in the Tarikh Kabir of Al Bukhari, Vol 4, Pg 85, Narrator no 2054.
⇒ Abu Hatim Al Razi mentions him in his book, "Al Jarah wal Tadeel", Vol 4, Pg 164, Narrator no 722. He said, "Abu Zurah heard his father saying that he (Salamah) is truthful."
⇒ Ibn Hibban (d.343H) has mentioned him in his Thiqat, Vol 8, Pg 287-288.
⇒ He is also a Rijal (narrator) in Sahih Muslim. He is also one of the Shaykh's of Imam Abu Dawud Al Sijistani.
⇒ Al Mizzi mentions him in his magnificeint "Al Kamal fi Asma Al Rijal, Vol 11, Pg 286". He further says, "Ahmed Al Marwazi said, He is a man of Sunnah wal Jamah and a man of Hadith (Muhaddith)"[Also See Tarikh Dimishq]. He also quotes Hafiz Abu Nuaym who said that he (Salamah) is "Thiqa" (Trustworthy).[See Akhbar Isbahan, Vol 1, Pg 336].
⇒ Al Dhahabi has mentioned him in his magnum opus, "Siyar Al Alam Al Nubala, Vol 12, Pg 256." He starts to describe him as, " Al Hafiz Al Imam Al Thiqa (trustworthy)". He further states that scholars like Muslim, Abu Zuhrah, Abu Hatim, Abdullah bin Hanbal etc used to narrate from him. Al Nasa'i said, "There is nothing wrong in him." He is also mentioned in other works of Al Dhahabi namely, "Tadhkirat Al Huffaz, Vol 2, Pg 543 and Al Kashf, Vol 1, Narrator no 2054."
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| Siyar Al Alam An Nubala, Vol 12, Pg 256. |
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| Tadheeb Al Kamal, Vol 11, Pg 286. |
⇒ Ibn Hajr graded him "Thiqa" (Trustworthy) in his Taqreeb, Single vol Ed, Pg 400, Narrator no 2507.
⇛ CONCLUSION: The original narrator of hadith from Ibn Abi Dunya is " Salamah bin Shabib Al Nisaburi." Ibn Kathir erred during the duplication of this narration. Both the names (Salamah and Muslimah) refers to the same person. Hence the narration is Sahih that Yazeed لعنه الله عليه poked the blessed lips of Imam Hussain علية سلام with a stick.
"To all the scholars of the right path mentioned in this article, May Allah be pleased with them."
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