Chapter: That Which is Related to the Statements ‘The Chain of Narration is from the Religion’; ‘Transmissions are not Taken Except from Trustworthy Narrators’; and ‘Criticism of the Narrators With What is Permissible Regarding Them, Even Obligatory and That It is not the Prohibited Kind of Backbiting, Rather it is the Defense of the Noble Sharī’ah’

Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ‘The people would transmit from Jābir before there appeared what appeared, then when there appeared what appeared, the people imputed him in his Ḥadīth and some of the people abandoned him’. So it was said to [Sufyān]: ‘What appeared?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Belief in ar-Raj’ah’. Hasan al-Hulwānī narrated to us, Abū Yahyā al-Himmānī narrated to us, Qabīsah and his brother [Sufyān bin Uqbah] narrated to us, that they heard al-Jarrāh bin Malīh saying, I heard Jābir say: ‘I have 70,000 Ḥadīth all of which are on authority of Abū Ja’far on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’. Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad bin Yūnus narrated to us, he said, I heard Zuhayr saying, Jābir said, or, I heard Jābir saying: ‘Indeed I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth that I have not narrated from at all’. [Zuhayr] said: ‘Then that day he related a Ḥadīth and said, ‘This is from the fifty thousand’. Ibrāhīm bin Khālid al-Yashkurī narrated to me, he said, I heard Abūl-Walīd saying, I heard Sallām bin Abī Mutī’ saying, I heard Jābir al-Ju’fī saying: ‘I have fifty thousand Ḥadīth on authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him’. Salamah bin Shabīb narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said, I heard a man ask Jābir about the verse: {Thus I will never depart from the land until my father permits me or Allah decides for me, and He is the best of Judges}[Yūsuf: 80]. Jābir said: ‘An interpretation has not come to me about these [verses]’. Sufyān said: ‘He lied’. We said to Sufyān: ‘What did he mean by this?’ [Sufyān] said: ‘Indeed the Rāfiḍah say, ‘Alī is in the clouds and we will not emerge along with he who will emerge from his children [the Khalīfah] until a caller calls from the heaven, meaning Alī: ‘Ride out along with so-and-so [meaning the promised Mahdī]’. Jābir said, ‘that is an interpretation for these verses’, and he would lie as they were regarding the brothers of Yūsuf, peace be upon him’. Salamah narrated to me, al-Humaydī narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ‘I heard Jābir talking about something like 30,000 Ḥadīth [that] I did not regard as permissible to mention anything from, and that to me was like this and that [Ḥadīth].’ Muslim said, I heard Abū Ghassān Muhammad bin Amr ar-Rāzī say, ‘I asked Jarīr bin Abd il-Hamīd: ‘Did you meet al-Hārith bin Hasīrah? He said: ‘Yes, [he is a] Shaykh of lengthy silence; he persisted in a grave matter.’ Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm ad-Dawraqī narrated to me, he said Abd ur-Rahman bin Mahdī narrated to me, on authority Hammād bin Zayd, he said, Ayyūb mentioned a man one day and said [about him]: ‘He is not upright in speech [i.e. he lies]’, and he mentioned another [person] and said: ‘He adds to records [i.e. he lies]’. Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Sulaymān bin Harb narrated to us, Hammād bin Zayd narrated to us, he said, Ayyūb said: ‘Indeed I have a neighbor’ and he mentioned some of his virtues, [and continued] ‘…even if he testified to me about two dates I would not see his testimony as permissible’. Muhammad bin Rāfi’ and Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, they said Abd ur-Razzāq narrated to us, he said Ma’mar said: ‘I did not see Ayyūb speaking ill of anyone, ever, except for Abd al-Karīm- meaning Abū Umayyah’. So he mentioned him and said, may Allah have mercy on him ‘He is not trustworthy- he had asked me about a Ḥadīth of Ikrimah then said ‘I heard from Ikrimah’ [when relating the Ḥadīth].’