Narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah from Sharh Mushkil al-Athar www.notesonalimamalazam.wordpress.

com Imam Abu Jafar al-Tahawi (239 321) narrated several hadiths in his masterpiece work, Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, containing Imam Abu Hanifah in its chain. One of them is referenced in an earlier post. I will quote another five below, and another in a later post inshaAllah when discussing Imam al-Nasai's narration from Abu Hanifah. All references are based on Shuayb al-Arnauts excellent edition of the work available for download here. The second and fourth narrations in this list are examples of Imam Abu Hanifahs thunaiyyat (two-narrator chains). 1. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn alMuthanna narrated to us: He said: Ishaq ibn Yusuf al-Azraq narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from Alqamah ibn Marthad from Sulayman ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: The inviter to goodness is like its doer. (no. 1545, vol. 4:204) The shaykh of Imam al-Tahawi, Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud, is Ibrahim ibn Sulayman ibn Dawud alBarallusi al-Suri (d. 270). Al-Tahawi narrated many hadiths from him. Al-Dhahabi described him as a proficient master (al-hafiz al-mutqin) and Abu Said Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Yunus (d. 347), the biographer of Egyptian narrators and a student of Imam al-Tahawi, said: He was one of the memorisers, proficient Quran-reciters, trustworthy and firm narrators. (Siyar Alam al-Nubala, al-Arnaut ed. 12:612-3) The rest of the narrators in the chain are trustworthy hadith transmitters found in all six of the famous collections of hadith. The narrator from Abu Hanifah, Ishaq ibn Yusuf (117 195 H), better known as al-Azraq, was declared thiqah by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Main, al-Ijli, Ibn Sad, al-Bazzar and al-Khatib alBaghdadi (Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1:257-8). The shaykh of Abu Hanifah in this chain is Alqamah ibn Marthad al-Hadrami (d. 126), a Kufan narrator of hadith. Al-Mizzi lists Abu Hanifah amongst those who narrated from him (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:310). This hadith was narrated through the same chain by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241) in his Musnad (no. 23027, vol. 38:132, Shuayb al-Arnaut ed.) from al-Azraq who narrated from Abu Hanifah from Alqamah. 2. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Ismail ibn Salim narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us: He said: Ata ibn Abi Rabah narrated to us from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him): He said: Allahs Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: When the star appears, calamity is lifted from the inhabitants of every land. (no. 2282, vol. 6:53) The shaykh of Imam al-Tahawi is Ahmad ibn Dawud ibn Musa al-Makki (d. 282), declared thiqah by Ibn Yunus (Misbah al-Arib no. 1593). Ismail ibn Salim Abu Yahya al-Kufi is a narrator found in the collections of Muslim, Abu Dawud and al-Nasai, and was declared thiqah by Ibn Main, Ahmad, Ibn Sad and others. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (132 189 H) is a mujtahid Imam, from the foremost students of Imam Abu Hanifah. Al-Dhahabi said: [He is] strong in [his narrations from Imam] Malik, Ali ibn al-Madini said he is reliable (saduq), and al-Daraqutni said: He does not deserve rejection. (Lisan al-Mizan, Abu Ghuddah ed. 7:60-3) Al-Daraqutni also counted him amongst the trustworthy masters [of hadith]. (Nasb al-Rayah, Muhammad Awwamah ed. 1:409) His transmission of the Muwatta of Imam Malik which includes approximately a thousand narrations was well-received by the ulama which is a strong indication of his strength and credibility in hadith science. The strong criticism of him from some authorities was a result of methodological differences and is of no consequence. Ata ibn Abi Rabah (ca. 27 115) was the greatest of Imam Abu Hanifahs teachers as he himself mentioned (see here), and he has many narrations found in all six of the famous collections of hadith. One of the scholars said:

Ata was black, blind in one-eye, snub-nosed, lame and limp and then he became blind after this, yet he was trustworthy [in transmitting hadith], a jurist and a scholar possessing many hadiths! (Tahdhib al-Kamal, 20:76) He met 200 companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would issue fatwa in the presence of the companions, such that Ibn Abbas would say to questioners: O people of Makkah! Do you gather your questions to me, when Ibn Abi Rabah is amongst you?! (ibid. 20:77) (For an elucidation of the meaning of this hadith, see Imam al-Tahawis commentary that follows after narrating it) 3. Al-Tahawi narrates: Rawh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us: He said: Yusuf ibn Adi narrated to us: He said: Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Razi narrated to us from al-Numan ibn Thabit Abi Hanifah from Hammad [ibn Abi Sulayman] from Said ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them): He said: Allahs Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) dispatched the weak of his family in the night from Muzdalifah, and he said to them: Do not pelt the jamrah until sunrise. (no. 3495, vol. 9:120) Al-Tahawis shaykh, Rawh ibn al-Faraj Abu al-Zinba (d. 282), was a Maliki jurist and also the one who taught Imam al-Tahawi the science of qiraah according to his transmission from the founder of one of the seven readings, Asim ibn Bahdalah. He was thiqah as mentioned by al-Asqalani in Taqrib al-Tahdhib. Yusuf ibn Adi ibn Zurayq (d. 232) is a narrator found in the collections of alBukhari and al-Nasai, and he was thiqah (Tahrir al-Taqrib no. 7872). The narrator from Abu Hanifah, Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Kinani (d. 187), is a narrator found in all six collections of hadith, and was declared thiqah by a number of authorities. Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 120) was the primary teacher of Abu Hanifah in fiqh, and he was a mujtahid Imam, the greatest of the students of Ibrahim al-Nakhai as he himself expressed. Hammads narrations are found in all six collections of hadith, although in Sahih al-Bukhari there is only one narration narrated as muallaq (i.e. where Imam al-Bukhari does not cite his chain to Hammad). For the scholars praise of his knowledge and reliability, see Tahdhib al-Kamal (7:269-79). 4. Al-Tahawi narrates: Yazid narrated to us: Abu Qatan narrated to us: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from Atiyyah from Abu Said [al-Khudri] from Allahs Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then he mentioned the equivalent of it [i.e. the words: "Whoever lies upon me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire."] (no. 401, vol. 1:361) The shaykh of al-Tahawi, Yazid ibn Sinan ibn Yazid al-Qazzaz (178 264), is also one of the shaykhs of al-Nasai in his Sunan. (Imam al-Tahawi in fact shares some shuyukh with all the collectors of the six books of hadith besides al-Bukhari.) He was declared thiqah by al-Nasai, Ibn Yunus and Ibn Abi Hatim (Tahdhib al-Kamal 32:152-5). The narrator from Imam Abu Hanifah Abu Qatan Amr ibn al-Haytham (121 198) is a narrator found in all six of the famous collections of hadith besides Sahih al-Bukhari, and was declared thiqah by al-Shafii, Yahya ibn Main, Ali ibn al-Madini (Tahdhib al-Kamal 22:280-5). The shaykh of Imam Abu Hanifah is Atiyyah ibn Said ibn Junadah al-Awfi (d. 111), a narrator found in the collections of Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, and also in al-Bukharis al-Adab al-Mufrad. It was reported from Yahya ibn Main that he said he is acceptable (salih) and there is no harm in him, and Ibn Sad said he is thiqah if Allah wills, although it is also reported from Ibn Main that he considered him weak and this was reported from a number of other authorities also (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:145-9). The text of the hadith itself, however, is of unquestionable authority, and is probably the most authentic hadith in existence. 5. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Ismail ibn Salim al-Saigh narrated to us : He said: Abu Muawiyah narrated to us: al-Numan ibn Thabit reported to me from Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: Maiz alAslami came to Allahs Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) while he was seated and confessed [that he committed] adultery. He rejected his [confession] four times, and then he ordered his stoning. Thereupon, they stood him up in a place with few stones. When stones

struck him, he began to worry, so he came out running until he reached al-Harrah wherein he was stopped by them and they pelted him with its stones until he became silent. Later, they said: O Messenger of Allah! When stones struck Maiz he became worried and ran. He said: Why did you not let him go?! (no. 432 vol. 1:379-80) The chain is the same as the second narration mentioned above, except for the narrator from Abu Hanifah, Abu Muawiyah Muhammad ibn Khazim (113 195), whose narrations are found in all six collections of hadith, and he was declared thiqah by the major authorities of narrator-criticism. This hadith is well-known and is found with different chains of transmission in many books of hadith.