Muhammad ibn Sa'd [RH]

[faqir]

Abu Abdulla Muhammad Ibn Sa'd is one of the greatest authorities on muslim biography. His collection, the Kitab At-Tabaqat al-Kabir, is one of the most important and earliest surviving biographical collection of narrations. Its scope extends from the time of the Prophet :saw: down to his own time.

Ibn Sa'd was born in 168/764-5 in Basra, and died in 230/845 at the age of 62. He moved to Baghdad where he studied under various people, especially Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi. He came to be known as the 'secretary of Waqidi' because of his close connection to him. He also visited Kufa and Madina in the course of his quest for knowledge. Various authorities have testified to his reliability. These include Ibn Hajar, adh-Dhahabi, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Ibn Khallikan


--From 'The Women of Madina'

[Hassan ul Hind]

Shukran Ya Akhi. Jazakh Allah Khairan.

[faqir]

:salam:

The following was mentioned by Sidi Abul Hasan elsewhere [slight editing by me]:


This is what al-Hafiz ibn Hajar mentioned in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib [regarding Muhammad ibn Sa'd] (vol. 9, no. 275)

د أبي داود محمد بن سعد بن منيع الهاشمي مولاهم أبو عبد الله البصري نزيل بغداد كاتب الواقدي وصاحب الطبقات وأحد الحفاظ الكبار الثقات المتحرين روى عن هشيم والوليد بن مسلم وابن عيينة وابن علية وابن أبي فديك وضمرة ومعن بن عيسى وأبي الوليد الطيالسي وخلق كثير يطول ذكرهم روى عنه أحمد وابن أبي الدنيا وأحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري والحارث بن أبي أسامة والحسين بن محمد بن الفهم وآخرون قال الخطيب كان من أهل العلم والفضل والفهم والعدالة صنف كتابا كبيرا في طبقات الصحابة والتابعين إلى وقته فأجاد فيه وأحسن وقال أحمد بن كامل سمعت بن فهم يقول كنت عند مصعب الزبيري فمر بنا يحيى بن معين فقال له مصعب يا أبا زكريا حدثنا محمد بن سعد الكاتب بكذا وكذا فقال له يحيى كذب قال الخطيب أظن مصعبا ذكر ليحيى عنه حديثا من المناكير التي يرويها الواقدي وقد قال بن أبي حاتم سألت أبي عن محمد بن سعد فقال يصدق رأيته جاء إلى القواريري وسأله عن أحاديث فحدثه قال الخطيب ومحمد عندنا من أهل العدالة وحديثه يدل على صدقه فإنه يتحرى في كثير من رواياته وقال إبراهيم الحربي كان أحمد بن حنبل يوجه في كل جمعة بحنبل بن إسحاق إلى بن سعد يأخذ منه جزئين من حديث الواقدي فينظر فيهما إلى الجمعة الأخرى ثم يردهما ويأخذ غيرهما قال إبراهيم ولو ذهب سمعهما كان خيرا له قال الحسين بن فهم مات ببغداد في جمادى الآخرة سنة ثلاثين ومائتين وهو بن 62 سنة وكان كثير العلم كثير الحديث والرواية كتب الحديث وغيره من كتب الغريب والفقه قال أبو داود ثنا أحمد بن عبيد عن محمد بن سعد عن أبي الوليد الطيالسي قال يقولون قبيصة بن وقاص له صحبة وما له في الكتب غير هذا والله أعلم

In the above is proof that Khatib al-Baghdadi praised him. Ibn Sa'd was associated with al-Waqidi [faqir: see below] - a historian accused of lying. This is why Imam Ibn Ma'een had a negative view on Ibn Sa'd. Even so, Khatib still defended Ibn Sa'd despite what Ibn Ma'in said.

What concerns us is the final summation on Ibn Sa'd as a Rawi of Hadith and History.

Hence, al-Dhahabi in al-Kashif (no. 4920) declared him: Hafiz Saduq: A Truthful Hafiz (of Hadith)

and Ibn Hajar in his Taqrib al-Tahdhib (no. 5903) declared him: Saduq Fadil: Truthful and Virtuous, and note: Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut and Dr Bashhar Awwad agreed with Ibn Hajar in their Tahrir Taqrib al-Tahdhib.




I would just like to add a note to what was mentioned by Sidi Abul Hasan regarding al-Waqidi:

Sh. GF Haddad stated the following:

http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/f/Al-Waqidi%20and%20Sira.htm


Al-Waqidi is reliable for purely historical reports. Ahl al- Hadith consider him too honest and too rich a source to be discarded especially in light of Ibn Sa`d's accreditation, which lent him huge credit--but they unanimously discard him with regard to ahkam reports which are uncorroborated by other narrators e.g. wiggling the index finger in Salat. It is the latter category they meant when they called him a liar, i.e. thoroughly unreliable and/or inaccurate in his isnads, not at all that he was dishonest. Al-Dhahabi said: "I have no doubt in his sidq." And Allah knows best.

Wasalam.

[mospike]

Once upon a time those lands gave birth to such Luminaries who's knowledge has lit up the world untill Qiyamat,,, today unfortunately they have been illegally occupied by the Kufar forces.

May Allah destroy the efforts of those who plot against his deen and the ummatis of nabi (saw)