Ahmad 7431

Its isnad is sahih. Yahya bin Main (with a fatha on the mim and kasra on the unpointed ayn) was from Baghdad, the imam of hadith criticism and verification, and the counterpart of Imam Ahmad, who reported from him as a peer would report from a peer. Yahya was a devoted imam, a learned scholar and memorizer, firm and precise, as Khattab said in his biographical entry. Abu Ubayd said, "Knowledge came to rest with four men, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Yahya bin Main, who wrote the most of them all, Ali bin Madini, and Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba." He was born at the end of the year 158, and died in Madinah in Dhul-Qaidah of the year 233. His biography fills many books and registers. See Tahdhib, Ibn Saad 7/2/91-92, the Kabir 4/2/307, the Saghir 241, the introduction to Jarh wa Tadil 314-318, and Tarikh Baghdad 14:17-178.Hafs is Ibn Ghiyath bin Talq bin Muawiya, the Kufan, whose reliability was already established at 2749. We add here that Ibn Saad gave him a biography at 6:271-272, as did Bukhari in the Kabir 3672/1, the Saghir 215, Ibn Abu Hatim 185/2/1-186, and he has an extensive biography in Tarikh Baghdad, 188-200. Further discussion of his case will follow in the study of this hadith's transmission.Abu Dawud narrated the hadith, 290:3346 (Awn al-Mabud), from Yahya bin Main, with this isnad, in the wording, "Whoever grants a Muslim relief from his slip, Allah will grant him relief from his slip." Hakim narrated it in Mustadrak 2:45, by way of Abu Dawud, and by way of Abu Muthanna Anbari, both from Yahya bin Main, with the same. Hakim said, "This is a sahih hadith by the standard of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it." Dhahabi concurred with him. Bayhaqi narrated it in Sunan al-Kubra 2706 by way of Ahmad bin Ali Marwazi, and by way of Abbas bin Muhammad Duri. Khatib narrated it in Tarikh Baghdad 8:196 by way of Muhammad bin Uthman bin Abu Shayba, all three from Yahya bin Main. Khatib's wording is, "Whoever grants a Muslim relief from his slip, Allah will grant him relief from his slip on the Day of Resurrection." Ibn Hazm mentioned it in al-Muhalla 3:9, from Abu Dawud's narration, then described it on page 4 as sahih. Zaylai attributed it in Nasb Raya 4:30, Munziri in Targhib wa Tarhib 3:20, and Hafiz in Talkhis 241, to Ibn Hibban in his Sahih as well. Hafiz reported that Abu Fath Qushayri, that is, Ibn Daqiq Eid, also graded it sahih.This hadith carries a lengthy critical discussion that has no real bearing on its soundness. We will strive to summarize it here, pointing to its sources, and then respond to it and refute it.Hafiz quoted from Ibn Hibban in Talkhis, who said, "No one narrated it from Amash except Hafs bin Ghiyath, and no one narrated it from Hafs except Yahya bin Main." Khatib said, "This hadith too is among those said to have been narrated solely by Hafs from Amash. But it has in fact been corroborated. And even if it were confirmed that Hafs alone narrated it from Amash, that would not harm it at all. That is why Ibn Hibban included it in his Sahih while also noting that Hafs narrated it alone." But Hafs did not narrate it alone, as Khatib said, and we will mention the other narrations we found.Khatib had already said earlier, on page 194, "Hafs had many hadiths, memorized them well, was firm in them, and was also given precedence by the shaykhs from whom he heard hadith." Then he narrated afterward, on page 197, from Ali bin Madini, who said, "I heard Yahya bin Saeed Qattan say, 'The most reliable of Amash's companions is Hafs bin Ghiyath.' I found that strange. Then I later came to Kufa, and Umar bin Hafs brought out to me his father's book from Amash, so I began to pray for mercy upon Yahya. Umar said to me, 'You look into my father's book and pray for mercy upon Yahya?!' I said, 'I heard him say that Hafs bin Ghiyath is the most reliable of Amash's companions, and I did not know it until I saw his book.'"He also narrated from Abu Dawud, who said, "Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi would not give precedence, after the great figures, among Amash's companions, to anyone except Hafs bin Ghiyath."Khatib also narrated, from Ibn Adi's book, pages 196-197, a critical remark along with Ibn Adi's refutation of it. Ibn Adi said, "I heard Abdan Ahwazi say, 'I heard Husayn bin Humayd say, "I heard Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba criticizing Yahya bin Main, saying, 'Where did he get Hafs bin Ghiyath's hadith from Amash,'" then he mentioned this hadith, "'It is the case that Hafs bin Ghiyath's books are with us, and his son Umar bin Hafs's books are with us too, and there is nothing of this in them!'"'" Ibn Adi said, "This hadith was also narrated by Malik bin Suayr (with damma on the sin and fatha on the unpointed ayn) from Amash. As for what Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba said, if indeed he said it, Husayn bin Humayd's report cannot be relied upon, regarding Ibn Main, for Yahya is too eminent to have anything of that kind attributed to him, and it is by him that the conditions of weak narrators are examined and cleared up. Moreover, this hadith was narrated from Hafs by someone other than Yahya, namely Zakariya bin Adi."Ibn Adi spoke truly, for this Husayn bin Humayd is neither reliable nor worthy of trust. In fact Mutayyan accused him of lying. See his biography in Lisan Mizan 2:280-281. He also referred to this story, with a clear distortion in it, perhaps due to a printing error. There is also an error here in Khatib's Tarikh, for in it we find, "This hadith was also narrated by Malik bin Suayr [from Abdul-Rahman bin Marzuq bin Atiya], from Amash," and the addition of "Abdul-Rahman bin Marzuq bin Atiya" is certainly a mistake, because Amash died in the year 147 or 148, while Abdul-Rahman bin Marzuq died in the year 275 at the age of 93. He is given a biography in Khatib's Tarikh 10:274-275, and Lisan Mizan 3:435. So it is impossible for him to have met Amash. The correct reading in Khatib is probably, "This hadith was also narrated by Malik bin Suayr, and Abdul-Rahman bin Marzuq bin Atiya narrated it from him, from Amash."Malik bin Suayr's narration from Amash is established in Ibn Majah, number 2199, where it says, "Ziyad bin Yahya Abu Khattab told us, Malik bin Suayr told us, Amash told us, from Abu Salih..." This too is a sahih isnad, and it serves as a good corroboration for Yahya bin Main's narration from Hafs bin Ghiyath from Amash.The hadith has yet another isnad, in fact two isnads, one of them sahih and the other mistaken. Bayhaqi narrated it, 6:27, by way of Jafar bin Ahmad bin Sam, and by way of Ali bin Abdul-Aziz Baghawi, both from Ishaq bin Muhammad Farawi, "Malik bin Anas told us, from Sumayy, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Whoever grants relief to one who regrets his sale, Allah will grant him relief on the Day of Resurrection.'"He then narrated it, as did Abu Naeem in Hilya 6:345, both by way of Abu Abbas Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Ibrahim Dawraqi, "Ishaq bin Muhammad Farawi told us, Malik bin Anas told us, from Suhayl, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Whoever grants a Muslim relief from his slip, Allah will grant him relief on the Day of Resurrection.'" Abu Naeem said, "Abdullah alone narrated it from Ishaq in the version through Suhayl. And Ishaq alone narrated it from Malik through Sumayy from Abu Salih, in which he said, 'Whoever grants relief to one who regrets.'"These two isnads appear on their face to be sahih, for Jafar bin Ahmad bin Sam is reliable and trustworthy, given a biography by Khatib at 7:182. Abu Abbas Abdullah bin Ahmad Dawraqi is also reliable, given a biography by Khatib at 9:271-272. As for Ishaq Farawi, the narrator from Malik bin Anas, he is Ishaq bin Muhammad bin Ismail bin Abdullah bin Abu Farwa, and opinions differ about him. The truth is that he is reliable, and he is among Bukhari's teachers, from whom Bukhari narrated in his Sahih. Bukhari gave him a biography in the Kabir 1/1/401 without mentioning any criticism of him, and did not include him among the weak narrators. Daraqutni and others weakened him, and Saji said, "There is some weakness in him, he narrated hadiths from Malik that he alone transmitted." Hakim said, "It has been held against Muhammad," meaning Bukhari, "that he included his hadith, for he has been faulted, yet Bukhari included from him narrations from Malik." So in Hakim's view, his being the sole transmitter of certain hadiths from Malik does not negate their soundness. Hafiz said in the introduction to Fath al-Bari, page 287, "It seems that these are among what he took from him from his book before he lost his eyesight, and this is indeed the truth." Ibn Abu Hatim gave him a biography too, at 1/1/233, and said, "I heard my father say, 'He was truthful, but he lost his eyesight, so at times the hadith would be fed to him by prompting, yet his books were sound.' My father and Abu Zura wrote from him and narrated from him."So this hadith, with the two isnads that Ishaq Farawi narrated, has one isnad that is mistaken and the other sahih. Abu Abbas Dawraqi, its narrator from Ishaq, said, in Bayhaqi's version, "Ishaq used to narrate this hadith from Malik from Sumayy, but he told it to us from the original of his book, from Suhayl." Thus Dawraqi clarified the source of the mistake in the first version, "Malik from Sumayy," namely that Ishaq narrated it from memory, and then he clarified the soundness of the other version, "Malik from Suhayl," namely that Ishaq narrated it to them from the original of his book.Then, beyond that, the hadith has yet another isnad, sound in appearance, but defective due to a broken link in the chain. Hakim narrated it at length in Marifa Ulum Hadith, 18, and Bayhaqi narrated it, 6:27, from Hakim, by way of Hasan bin Abdul-Ala Sanani, "Abdul-Razzaq told us, from Muamar bin Rashid, from Muhammad bin Wasi, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Whoever grants relief to one who regrets, Allah will grant him relief on the Day of Resurrection, and whoever removes distress from a Muslim...'"Hakim then said, "This isnad, when examined by someone outside the craft, leaves no doubt about its soundness and chain." But that is not so, for Muamar bin Rashid Sanani, though reliable and trustworthy, did not hear from Muhammad bin Wasi, and Muhammad bin Wasi, though reliable and trustworthy, did not hear from Abu Salih. This hadith has a defect whose explanation would take long. What will come later, supporting Hakim's statement, at 7787, 2, and 10501, if Allah wills and intends it."Whoever grants relief," and so on. Ibn Athir said, "That is, he agrees with him to annul the sale and grants his request." One says, "aqalahu yuqiluhu iqalah," and "taqayala," when the two parties dissolve the sale, the sold item returns to its owner and the price to the buyer, if one or both of them has come to regret it. The word "iqalah" applies both to a sale and to a pledge of allegiance.