Hadith 35

Sahih Muslim

Book 0: Introduction

Chapter 5

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’

باب فِي أَنَّ الإِسْنَادَ مِنَ الدِّينِ وَأَنَّ الرِّوَايَةَ لَا تَكُونُ إِلَّا عَنْ الثِّقَاتِ وَأَنَّ جَرْحَ الرُّوَاةِ بِمَا هُوَ فِيهِمْ جَائِزٌ بَلْ وَاجِبٌ وَأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ الْغِيبَةِ الْمُحَرَّمَةِ بَلْ مِنْ الذَّبِّ عَنْ الشَّرِيعَةِ الْمُكَرَّمَةِ

Sahih Muslim Introduction 36
وَحَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّضْرَ، يَقُولُ سُئِلَ ابْنُ عَوْنٍ عَنْ حَدِيثٍ، لِشَهْرٍ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى أُسْكُفَّةِ الْبَابِ فَقَالَ إِنَّ شَهْرًا نَزَكُوهُ إِنَّ شَهْرًا نَزَكُوهُ ‏.‏ قَالَ مُسْلِمٌ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ يَقُولُ أَخَذَتْهُ أَلْسِنَةُ النَّاسِ تَكَلَّمُوا فِيهِ ‏.‏
Ubayd Allah bin Sa’īd narrated to us, he said, I heard an-Naḍr saying:

‘Ibn Awn was asked about the Ḥadīth of Shahr and he was standing at the threshold of the door, so [Ibn Awn] said: ‘Indeed they criticized Shahr, indeed they criticized Shahr’. Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him, said ‘He means- the tongues of men were busy criticizing him’.’