# Are the Sahih Muslim reports about Jesus's return reliable?

*More Muslim chains: memory loss, a narrator who does not exist, a major mudallis*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/37/
- Date: 2021-03-02 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #204 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (2:54:10–3:00:24)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=10450s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/

**Topics:** Narrator criticism; Hadith collections and their history; The second coming of Jesus

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Further Sahih Muslim chains contain a narrator with memory loss, an unidentifiable narrator who could not have met Abu Hurayra, Ibn Jurayj, whom he calls a major mudallis, and Abu al-Zubayr.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says one narrator from Abu Hurayra in a Sahih Muslim chain for the return transmits no other hadith and is a ghost who does not exist.

**Evidence, his words at 2:56:02:** “he doesn't transmit any other hadith and what's shocking is he doesn't exist this guy is a is a ghost right there are the attacks that transmit from abu hurairah” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=10562s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth continues with Sahih Muslim. One variant has a narrator who is generally reliable but whom al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud avoided as not scrupulous, and a report claimed as heard from al-Layth that al-Bukhari says was got totally wrong, with al-Zuhri and Yunus ibn Yazid recurring. Another chain contains a Sa'id [?] who, the scholars say, suffered severe memory loss and possibly dementia years before his death. He then describes a narrator from Abu Hurayra who transmits no other hadith and whom he calls a ghost: the critics disagree whether the men of that name are one, two or three, al-Dhahabi says nobody knows anything about him, his home is given as Basra, Makkah or Madinah, and the man said to be his master died in 146 AH, some ninety years after Abu Hurayra (d. 57 AH), so he could never have seen Abu Hurayra, and a book on all narrators of that name omits him. In a further Muslim chain he points to Ibn Jurayj, whom he calls a major mudallis: Imam Malik said he would pass anything off as hadith, al-Dhahabi that he must be taken with more than a pinch of salt, Ibn Uyayna [?] that he transmitted from a book while pretending to have heard, and Ahmad that some of his hadith were fabrications; and after him Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim and others did not consider reliable.

## Sources and names cited

- Sahih Muslim
- al-Bukhari
- Abu Dawud
- al-Layth ibn Sa'd
- al-Zuhri
- Yunus ibn Yazid al-Ayli
- Abu Hurayra
- Ali ibn al-Madini
- al-Dhahabi
- Ibn Jurayj
- Imam Malik
- Sufyan ibn Uyayna [?]
- Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
- Abu al-Zubayr
- Abu Hatim al-Razi
- tadlis (mudallis)

## Transcript (machine tier, 2:54:10–3:00:24)

[2:54:09] even though he is generally reliable however imam bukhari and abu dhabi avoided him because they felt he wasn't actually scrupulous they avoid they do not transmit anything from him that alone is a question mark then there is also a narration in kitab hajj from ibn rumah where he says from leith and if not ever say that we heard from laith and yet bukhari mentions that they got that totally wrong then you've got zuri in the same chain going through the same issues are repeated now here you've got this again yuna sibna yazid again

[2:54:49] harmala again this is another hadith in sahih muslim same problems this is in bukhari same problem again zohari suffered in this chain in sahih muslim it's quite interesting because you've got here

[2:55:21] let me see you've got in this chain you've also got said who the scholars have have also said about him all of these people say his memory uh you know years before his death he he suffered huge memory loss and possibly dementia and this is why he becomes unreliable and he's in this chain then you've got something very fascinating here you've got this person called atta

[2:56:02] now what's really fascinating in this chain from is now check this out people who on earth is this he doesn't transmit any other hadith and what's shocking is he doesn't exist this guy is a is a ghost right there are the attacks that transmit from abu hurairah

[2:56:37] superb so there's five atars yeah now check this out they say all of these are one person they're all one person so okay let's take them as one person says no they're three ali madini says no all of these are two so we don't even know who this we're trying to figure out who this person is right there's confusion about him if they are all one zahabi transmits nobody knows we don't even know anything about him they disagree where was he even from some people say he's from basra some say makkah some say

[2:57:17] madina some say they don't know anything about this guy right so and they claim check this out they claim he was the freed slave of abu zubaab abu zuba highlights dies in 146 hijri yeah abu hurairah dies in 57 hijri so this person that this slave owner dies uh what is that like almost 90 years after uh has died so he's born obviously much after abu hurairah has already died so let alone his slave he himself never

[2:57:56] saw abu hurairah how on earth is his slave name then to top that off has a book called all the narrators whose names are atar and guess who is not in there who else is not in there right so obviously abhini is a ghost how is he going to be in there right so

[2:58:28] so we've got here uh another this is in sahih muslim right so right okay we've got here in this straight away my humble says that we do not write anything from him mark it's up to unhoo and i don't write anything from him uh they say uh mentions his from yahya he is says we do not take we do not consider him reliable in hadith um

[2:59:06] and then ibn all for the love of god ibn juraj [Laughter] says that he's obviously a major mutualist he was kabir he did such horrific at least blogging in his chains imam malik says he used to just just grab anything and pull it off as hadith zahabi says even uh that you know we got to take anything he says without being very clear that he heard it with a pinch of not even a pinch a kilo of salt uh even yena says he used to just transmit from a book he just had a book

[2:59:46] and used to pretend that he actually heard it from the person humble says some of his hadith that he presents are actually fabrications like made up literally made of not even misunderstood but literally made up he's in this chain then you've got abu zubair after him so check that out so you've got abu zubair abu zubair what are the problems with him uh you've got abu hatim says we do not consider him to be reliable in hadith um and imam shafeen even bukhari mentioned him as not reliable hence this narration is

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment b1OOltqtPTw/s/37. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/37/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.