# Who are the problematic narrators in the Sahih Muslim reports on Jesus's return?

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

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/tr3nsx3ufy8/s/25/
- Date: 2021-03-14 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Reply to Yasir Qadhi's False Claims on 2nd Coming of Jesus | Mufti Abu Layth (1:50:30–1:57:02)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR3NSX3UFy8&t=6630s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/tr3nsx3ufy8/

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

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The Sahih Muslim chains include a narrator who suffered memory loss, a narrator who cannot be identified and could not have met Abu Hurayra, a major mudallis whose reports some critics discarded as fabrications, and Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim did not consider reliable.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Sahih Muslim chains for Jesus's return include a narrator who suffered memory loss, a narrator who cannot be identified and could not have met Abu Hurayra, a major mudallis whose reports some critics discarded as fabrications, and Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim did not consider reliable.

**Evidence, his words at 1:51:37:** “years before his death he suffered huge memory loss and possibly dementia and this is why he becomes unreliable and he's in this chain” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR3NSX3UFy8&t=6697s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth continues through the Sahih Muslim chains. One variant has a narrator who is generally reliable but whom al-Bukhari avoided as not scrupulous, and a report said to be heard from al-Layth which al-Bukhari says was wrongly attributed; al-Zuhri and Yunus ibn Yazid recur. Another chain contains Sa'id [?], of whom Ibn Sa'd and others say that years before his death he suffered severe memory loss and possibly dementia. He then describes what he calls a ghost: a narrator from Abu Hurayra who transmits no other hadith, about whom al-Bukhari says there are three such men and Ali ibn al-Madini two, about whom al-Dhahabi says nobody knows anything, whose home town is variously given as Basra, Makkah or Madinah, and who is described as the freed slave of a man who died in 146 AH, some ninety years after Abu Hurayra's death in 57 AH, so that he himself could never have met Abu Hurayra; a book listing all narrators named Ata' omits him. In the next chain is a narrator of whom Hanbal says they wrote nothing from him, a major mudallis who, Malik said, grabbed anything and passed it off as hadith, whom al-Dhahabi says must be taken with a kilo of salt, who transmitted from a book while pretending to have heard it, and some of whose reports Hanbal calls outright fabrications; after him comes Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim did not consider reliable.

## Sources and names cited

- Sahih Muslim
- al-Bukhari
- Ali ibn al-Madini
- al-Dhahabi
- Imam Malik
- Abu Hatim al-Razi
- Abu al-Zubayr
- al-Zuhri
- Yunus ibn Yazid al-Ayli
- Abu Hurayra
- tadlis (mudallis)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:50:30–1:57:02)

[1:50:25] so it's the same chain just the person in the beginning is changing that's one variant in muslims even though he is generally reliable however imam buhari avoided him because they felt he wasn't actually scrupulous they avoided they do not transmit anything from him that alone is a question mark then there is also a narration in catabol

[1:50:58] 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 sibne yazid again again this is another hadith in sahih muslim same problems zohari again uh said now in this chain in sahih muslim

[1:51:37] it's quite interesting because uh you've got here let me see you've got in this chain you've also got said who the scholars have have also said about him ibn assad ibn all of these people say his memory uh you know years before his death he suffered huge memory loss and possibly dementia and this is why he becomes unreliable and he's in this

[1:52:16] chain then you've got something very fascinating here you've got this person called now what's really fascinating in this chain from abu reid 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's a is a ghost right there are the attacks that transmit from abu hurayrah this

[1:52:56] is all of these are one person they're all one person so okay let's take them as one person bukhari 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 this confusion about him if they are all one zahabi transmits nobody knows we don't even know

[1:53:35] anything about him they disagree where was he even from some people say he's from basra some say makkah some say 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 zuba abu zubaab highlights dies in 146 hijri yeah abu hurairah dies in 57 hijri so this person that this slave owner dies what is that like almost 90 years after uh has died so he's born obviously much after abu

[1:54:14] hurairah has already died so let alone his slave he himself never saw abu hurairah how on earth is his slave name not going to see then to top that off he has a book called all the narrators whose names are atar and guess who's not in there who else apaib nomena he's not in there right so obviously abhinay is a ghost how is he gonna be in there right so

[1:54:52] so we've got here uh another this is in sahih muslim right so right okay we've got here in this straight away humble says that we do not write anything from him mark is up to unh anything from him we do not take we do not consider him reliable in hadith um

[1:55:30] and [Laughter] that he's obviously a major motherless 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 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 jaena says he used to just transmit from a book

[1:56:08] he just had a book 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 zubayr after him so check that out so you've got abu zubayr abu zubair what are the problems with him you've got abu hatim says we do not consider him to be reliable in hadith

[1:56:44] mention him as not reliable hence this narration is in muslim right and you've got also now i i'm having to skip through some of these this is another rewire in muslim from nawaz ibn saman that he quoted waleed now check this out we'll lead them to muslim abu mushair mentions that he would narrate hadith

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment TR3NSX3UFy8/s/25. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/tr3nsx3ufy8/s/25/

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