Hadith 62

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 63
حَدَّثَنِي الْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَفَّانُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، قَالَ قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ الأَعْمَى فَجَعَلَ يَقُولُ حَدَّثَنَا الْبَرَاءُ، قَالَ وَحَدَّثَنَا زَيْدُ بْنُ أَرْقَمَ، ‏.‏ فَذَكَرْنَا ذَلِكَ لِقَتَادَةَ فَقَالَ كَذَبَ مَا سَمِعَ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّمَا كَانَ ذَلِكَ سَائِلاً يَتَكَفَّفُ النَّاسَ زَمَنَ طَاعُونِ الْجَارِفِ ‏.‏
Al-Faḍl bin Sahl narrated to me, he said Affān bin Muslim narrated to us, Hammām narrated to us, he said, Abū Dāwud al-A’mā came to us and began saying:

‘Al-Barā’ [bin Āzib, the Companion] narrated to us’; he said: ‘Zayd bin Arqam narrated to us’- and he mentioned that [those chains] to Qatādah. [Qatādah] said ‘He lied; he did not hear from them. He would beg the people asking [about Ḥadīth] at the time of the plague’ [circa 67H].