Hadith 46

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 47
وَحَدَّثَنِي حَجَّاجُ بْنُ الشَّاعِرِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ يُونُسَ - حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، أَنَّ الْحَارِثَ، قَالَ تَعَلَّمْتُ الْقُرْآنَ فِي ثَلاَثِ سِنِينَ وَالْوَحْىَ فِي سَنَتَيْنِ - أَوْ قَالَ الْوَحْىَ فِي ثَلاَثِ سِنِينَ وَالْقُرْآنَ فِي سَنَتَيْنِ ‏.‏
Hajjāj bin ash-Shā’ir narrated to me, Ahmad- meaning Ibn Yūnus- narrated to us, Zā’idah narrated to us, on authority of al-A’mash, on authority of Ibrāhīm that al-Hārith said:

‘I studied the Qur’ān for three years and the revelation for two years’; or he said: ‘…the revelation in three years and the Qur’ān in two years ’.