Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said: ‘Yahyā bin Ma’īn narrated to me, Hajjāj narrated to us, Ibn Abī Dhi’b narrated to us on authority of Shurahbīl bin Sa’d , and he was imputed [with lying regarding Ḥadīth near the end of his life] ’.

Muhammad bin Abd Allah bin Quhzādh narrated to me, he said, I heard Abū Ishāq at-Tālqānī saying, I heard Ibn al-Mubārak saying: ‘If I had to choose between entering Paradise and meeting Abd Allah bin Muharrar, I would have chosen to meet him, then enter Paradise. Then when I saw him, dung was more preferred to me than him’.

Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, Walīd bin Sālih narrated to us, he said, Ubayd Allah bin Amr said, Zayd- meaning Ibn Abī Unaysah – said: ‘Do not take [Ḥadīth] from my brother ’.

Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm ad-Dawraqī narrated to me, he said, Abd us-Salām al-Wābisī narrated to me, he said, Abd Allah bin Ja’far ar-Raqqī narrated to me, on authority of Ubayd Allah bin Amr, he said: ‘Yahyā bin Abī Unaysah was a liar’.

Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm narrated to me, he said, Sulaymān bin Harb narrated to me, on authority of Hammād bin Zayd, he said, Farqad was mentioned near Ayyūb, so he said: ‘Indeed Farqad is not a companion of Ḥadīth’.

Abd ur-Rahman bin Bishr al-Abdī narrated to me, he said, I heard Muhammad bin Abd Allah bin Ubayd bin Umayr al-Laythī was mentioned near Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān, so he weakened him severely. Then it was said to Yahyā: ‘More weak than Ya’qūb bin Atā ’?’ He said: ‘Yes’. Then he said: ‘I did not see anyone transmitting on authority of Muhammad bin Abd Allah bin Ubayd bin Umayr’.

Bishr bin al-Hakam narrated to me, he said, I heard Yahyā bin Sa’īd al-Qattān weaken Hakīm bin Jubayr and Abd al-A’lā; and he weakened Yahyā Mūsā bin Dīnār [there is no ‘bin’ between ‘Yahyā’ and ‘Mūsā’] ; [Yahyā] said: ‘His Ḥadīth are Rīh or ‘wind’ [i.e., not established and weak] . [Yahyā] weakened Mūsā bin Dihqān and Īsā bin Abī Īsā al-Madanī. [Muslim] said, ‘I heard al-Hasan bin Īsā saying ‘Ibn al-Mubārak said to me: ‘When you go to Jarīr then write down all of his knowledge except the Ḥadīth of 3 [people] - do not write the Ḥadīth of Ubaydah bin Mu’attib, as-Sarī bin Ismā’īl, or Muhammad bin Sālim’.’

He said: And I heard al-Hasan ibn Isa say: Ibn al-Mubarak said to me: If you arrive at Jarir, then write down all his knowledge, except for the hadith of three—do not write: the hadith of Ubaydah ibn Mu'attib, and al-Sariyy ibn Isma'il, and Muhammad ibn Salim.

Muslim and those like him said: What we have mentioned from the words of the people of knowledge regarding the accused narrators of hadith and their reports about their defects is much, and the book would become lengthy by mentioning it in detail. And in what we have mentioned there is sufficiency for whoever understands and comprehends the method of the people in what they have said about that and clarified.

Indeed, they only obligated themselves to expose the faults of the narrators of hadith and the transmitters of reports, and they issued fatwas regarding that when they were asked, due to the great danger involved. For the reports concerning religious matters only come with rulings of permissibility or prohibition, or commands, or prohibitions, or encouragement, or warning. So if the narrator of these reports is not a source of truthfulness and trustworthiness, and then someone who knows him proceeds to narrate from him, without clarifying his condition to others who are unaware of his status, he is sinful for doing so, deceiving the general Muslims. For it cannot be guaranteed that some of those who hear these reports will not act upon them, or act upon some of them, and perhaps they—or most of them—are lies with no basis. While the authentic reports from trustworthy narrators and people of integrity are more than enough to make it unnecessary to transmit from one who is not trustworthy or reliable.