Hadith 60

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 61
حَدَّثَنِي حَجَّاجُ بْنُ الشَّاعِرِ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ قَالَ أَيُّوبُ إِنَّ لِي جَارًا - ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ - وَلَوْ شَهِدَ عِنْدِي عَلَى تَمْرَتَيْنِ مَا رَأَيْتُ شَهَادَتَهُ جَائِزَةً ‏.‏
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’.