Azami 4019

Tabarani reported it in Kabir (9/51), and in Awsat (Majma Bahrayn 1381), from Ibrahim bin Hashim Baghawi, who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Salam Jumahi told us, Dawud bin Abdul-Rahman Attar told us, from Hisham bin Hassan, from Muhammad bin Sirin, from Uthman bin Abu As, and he mentioned it. Tabarani said, "No one narrated it from Hisham except Dawud, and Abdul-Rahman alone transmitted it." I say, Abdul-Rahman bin Salam is Jumahi, their freedman, Abu Harb Basri. Abu Hatim said, "Truthful." Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators (8/379), so his being the sole transmitter does not harm the hadith, for at the very least it is hasan.Tabarani also reported it in Kabir (9/44) through another route, from Kilab bin Umaya, that he met Uthman bin Abu As, who asked, "What brought you here?" He said, "I have been appointed over the tenth-tax of Ubulla." Uthman said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Allah draws near to His creation and forgives whoever seeks forgiveness, except for a prostitute for her vagina or a tax collector.'" Haythami mentioned this in Majma al-Zawaid (3/88) and attributed it to Tabarani in Kabir without commenting on it.As for what has been reported from Hasan, who said, Uthman bin Abu As passed by Kilab bin Umaya while he was sitting at the seat of the tax collector in Basra, and said, "What has seated you here?" He said, "This man appointed me to this position" meaning Ziyad. Uthman said to him, "Shall I tell you a hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?" He said, "Yes." Uthman said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Dawud, the prophet of Allah , had an hour of the night in which he would wake his household and say, "O family of Dawud, rise and pray, for this is an hour in which Allah answers prayer, except for a sorcerer or a tax collector."'" So Kilab bin Umaya boarded his ship, went to Ziyad, and asked to be excused from the position, and Ziyad excused him. This is daif.Imam Ahmad reported it (16281), and Tabarani in Kabir (9/46) and in Duaa (139), through the route of Ali bin Zayd, from Hasan, from Uthman bin Abu As, similarly. Ali bin Zayd is Ibn Jadan, who is daif, and Hasan did not hear from Uthman bin Abu As according to the correct view.Likewise, what has been reported from Uqba bin Amir is not sound. He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'No tax collector will enter Paradise,' and this is daif." Abu Dawud reported it (2937), from Abdullah bin Muhammad Nufayli, who said, Muhammad bin Salama told us, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Abdul-Rahman bin Sahammasa, from Uqba bin Amir, who said, and he mentioned it. Ahmad also reported it (17294, 17354), and Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih (2333), as did Hakim (1/404) and Bayhaqi (7/16), all through the route of Muhammad bin Ishaq. I say, its chain is daif because of Muhammad bin Ishaq, for he is a mudallis and here he used the ambiguous "an" form of narration without clarifying his source. I did not find any explicit statement from him clarifying it, and his hadith is graded hasan only when he states his source explicitly, otherwise it is graded daif.On this subject there is also a report from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "Woe to the rulers! Woe to the officials! Woe to those entrusted with authority! On the Day of Resurrection, many people will wish that their forelocks had been suspended from the Pleiades, swaying between heaven and earth, rather than having held any position." Ahmad reported it (8627), and Abu Yaala (6217), both from the hadith of Hisham Dastawai, from Abbad bin Abu Ali, from Abu Hazim, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it. Hakim graded it sahih (4/91) and said, "Its chain is sahih." Dhahabi said in Mizan, in the biography of Abbad bin Abu Ali, after narrating this hadith, "This is a munkar hadith."Ibn Hibban also reported it (4483) through another route, from Hisham bin Hassan, from Abu Hazim, the freedman of Abu Rahm Ghifari, from him. Abu Hazim, the freedman of Abu Rahm Ghifari, the date seller, was described by Hafiz as "acceptable," meaning when corroborated. As for what has been transmitted regarding Abu Dawud's endorsement of him, as found in Tahzib Kamal, that actually refers to Abu Hazim Ansari Bayadi, as Ibn Hajar leaned toward in Tahdhib.Likewise, what has been reported from Yazid bin Sharik Amiri is not sound. He said, "I heard Marwan say to Abu Hurairah, 'O Abu Hurairah, tell me a hadith you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.' He said, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "A man will soon wish that he had fallen down from the Pleiades, rather than having held any authority over the people's affairs."'" Ahmad reported it (10927), and this is his wording, and Bazzar, in Kashf Astar (1643), both from the hadith of Shayban, from Asim, from Yazid bin Sharik Amiri, and he mentioned it. Hakim graded it sahih (4/91) and reported it through the route of Hammad bin Salama, who said, Asim bin Bahdala informed us, from Yazid bin Sharik, that Dahhak bin Qays sent him with a garment to Marwan bin Hakam. Marwan said to the doorman, "See who is at the door." He said, "Abu Hurairah." So he admitted him, and Marwan said, "O Abu Hurairah, tell us something you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ," and he mentioned it.I say, this contains Yazid bin Sharik Amiri, whose biography I could not find, and the text itself contains an evident irregularity, as Dhahabi said regarding the previous hadith.The tax collector (ashshar) is one who takes taxes without right from merchants who pass through his territory, and this falls under Allah's statement, "O you who believe, do not consume your wealth among yourselves unjustly" [Nisa 4:29]. As for the one who collects the tenth-tax and half-tenth-tax from farmers, and taxes from merchants, by order of the ruler, he is not the one meant by this threat, for it is permissible for the ruler to impose taxes on merchants in order to fund the public interests of the country and the welfare of its subjects, and this is the practice followed in all Islamic countries, which now number more than fifty.Khattabi said, "The tax collector is the one who taxes the wealth of Muslims, taking from merchants and travelers when they pass by him or through his territory, a levy under the name of the tenth-tax, and he is not the same as the zakat collector who takes alms, for the collection of alms was entrusted to the finest and most senior of the companions in the time of the Prophet ﷺ and afterward. The root meaning of maks is deficiency, from which comes the term for a haggler in buying and selling, meaning one who tries to have part of the price reduced or diminished for him. As for the tenth-tax that people under treaty agree to pay on their trade goods when they travel to Muslim lands, that is not maks, and I do not consider the one who takes it deserving of this threat, unless he oversteps and commits injustice, in which case sin and punishment are to be feared for him." End of Khattabi's statement, Maalim Sunan (3/349, hadith no. 2936).