0/5.1. Chapter:
Sahih Muslim 76 — False Attribution to Anas
Unveiling Defects of the Transmitters of Ḥadīth and Relaters of Reports and the Statements of the A’immah Regarding That
False Attribution in Hadith Narration
Sahih Muslim : 76
Sahih MuslimHadith Number 76
وَحَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيِّ قَدْ أَكْثَرْتَ عَنْ عَبَّادِ بْنِ مَنْصُورٍ فَمَا لَكَ لَمْ تَسْمَعْ مِنْهُ حَدِيثَ الْعَطَّارَةِ الَّذِي رَوَى لَنَا النَّضْرُ بْنُ شُمَيْلٍ قَالَ لِيَ اسْكُتْ فَأَنَا لَقِيتُ زِيَادَ بْنَ مَيْمُونٍ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ فَسَأَلْنَاهُ فَقُلْنَا لَهُ هَذِهِ الأَحَادِيثُ الَّتِي تَرْوِيهَا عَنْ أَنَسٍ فَقَالَ أَرَأَيْتُمَا رَجُلاً يُذْنِبُ فَيَتُوبُ أَلَيْسَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ قُلْنَا نَعَمْ . قَالَ مَا سَمِعْتُ مِنْ أَنَسٍ مِنْ ذَا قَلِيلاً وَلاَ كَثِيرًا إِنْ كَانَ لاَ يَعْلَمُ النَّاسُ فَأَنْتُمَا لاَ تَعْلَمَانِ أَنِّي لَمْ أَلْقَ أَنَسًا . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ فَبَلَغَنَا بَعْدُ أَنَّهُ يَرْوِي فَأَتَيْنَاهُ أَنَا وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ فَقَالَ أَتُوبُ . ثُمَّ كَانَ بَعْدُ يُحَدِّثُ . فَتَرَكْنَاهُ .
Mahmūd bin Ghaylān Narrated from:
I said to Abū Dāwud at-Tayālisī: ‘You transmit a great deal on authority of Abbād bin Mansūr - so how is it that you did not hear the Ḥadīth of ‘the lady perfume seller’ from him which an-Naḍr bin Shumayl transmitted to us?’ [Abū Dāwud] said to me: ‘Be quiet, for Abd ar-Rahma bin Mahdī and I met Ziyād bin Maymūn and asked him, saying to him, ‘Are these Ḥadīth you transmit on authority of Anas?’ [Ziyād] said: ‘Have you seen a man sin and then repent- does Allah not turn to him?’ [Abū Dāwud] said: ‘We said, ‘Yes’.’ [Ziyād] said: ‘I did not hear from Anas whether a little or a lot; if the people did not know, then you two would not know that I did not meet Anas’.Abū Dāwud said: ‘So it reached us afterwards that he was transmitting [from Anas], then Abd ar-Rahman and I went to him and he said: ‘I repented’. Then afterwards he was narrating [again in the same fashion] so we abandoned him ’.
Reference : Sahih Muslim Introduction 76In-book reference : Introduction, Narration 75
Summary of Sahih Muslim Hadith 76
This narration is a strong example of false attribution in Hadith. Abu Dawud at-Tayalisi says he and Abd ar-Rahman bin Mahdi asked Ziyad bin Maymun about the Hadiths he narrated from Anas. Ziyad admitted that he had not heard from Anas, neither a little nor a lot, and even said he had not met Anas. Later, it reached them that he was narrating again. When they went back to him, he said he repented, but afterward he returned to narrating in that way, so they abandoned him. This report teaches that repentance is serious, but repeated false attribution destroys trust in narration.
What we learn from this hadith
- A narrator must not claim hearing from someone he did not meet.
- Admitting a false attribution does not make later repeated false reporting acceptable.
- Scholars abandoned a narrator when the same problem returned.
- Hadith authenticity depends on truthful links between narrators.
