Ikrimah b. Ammar

Muslims published traditions of Ikrimah b. Ammar, but only where the same tradition is reported by others.

Some scholars considered him weak, others reliable.

Abu Hatim ar-Razi said= “He transmits traditions from authorities without stating whether he actually heard them from them. His traditions are acceptable only if he expressly states that he heard them.” 916a In the Mizan, adh-Dhahabi said with regard to ‘Ali b. Ziyad= “It is not known who he is.”

Then, he said: “It should be ‘Abdallah b. Ziyad.” 917 Sa’d b. ‘Abd-al-Hamid was considered reliable by Ya’qub b. Shaybah. 918 Yahya b. Main said regarding him:

“There is nothing wrong with him.” However, ath-Thawri discussed him (adversely), because, it is said, he saw him give legal opinions on certain problems and make mistakes.

Ibn Hibban said= “He belongs among those who made atrocious mistakes. He may not be used as evidence.” Ahmad b. Hanbal said= “Sa’d b. ‘Abd-al-Hamid claims that he heard the books of Malik when they were presented. The scholars disapprove of this statement of his. He is here in Baghdad and never made the pilgrimage, so how could he have heard them?” Adh-Dhahabi placed him among those whom it would be no slander to discuss (adversely).

The following tradition was published by al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, as transmitted by Mujahid 919 on the authority of Ibn Abbas, with a chain of transmitters stopping with the latter and not continued back to the Prophet: “Mujahid said= ‘Abdallah b. ‘Abbas said to me= ‘If I had not heard that you are like a member of the family of Muhammad, I would not tell this tradition.’ He said: Mujahid replied= ‘I shall keep it in confidence. I shall not tell it to anyone to whom you might object.’

Thereupon, Ibn ‘Abbas said= ‘From among us, the people of the House, there will be four= As-Saffah, alMundhir, al-Mansur, and the Mahdi.’ He said= Mujahid asked him to explain those four to him, and Ibn ‘Abbas replied= ‘As- Saffah often kills his supporters and forgives his enemies. Al-Mundhir,’ I believe he said, ‘will give away a great deal of money. He will not consider himself a great man and will hold on to (even) his smallest rights.

Al-Mansur will be given half as much help against his enemies as the Messenger of God was given. Muhammad’s enemies were terrified by him for a space of 2 months, and al-Mansur’s enemies will be terrified by him for a space of one month.

The Mahdi will be the one who will fill the earth with justice, as it had been filled with injustice. The cattle will be safe from wild animals, and the earth will cast out the treasures of its interior.’ He said, and I asked him what the treasures of the interior of the earth were. He replied: ‘Something like gold and silver columns.’ End of the quotation.

Al-Hakim said= “This is a sound tradition as regards the chain of transmitters. But neither (al-Bukhari nor Muslim) published it. It is transmitted by Ismail b. Ibrahim b. Muhajir,921 on the authority of his father. Ismail is weak, and his father Ibrahim is considered weak by most scholars, even though Muslim published traditions of his.”

The following tradition by Thawban was published by Ibn Majah. Thawban said: “The Messenger of God said= ‘Three will fight with each other at (the placewhere) your treasure (is). All of them are the sons of a caliph. None of them will get it. Then, black flags will arise from the East. They will kill you in a slaughter such as there has never been before.’ He then mentioned something that I do not remember. He continued= ‘When you see him, render the oath of allegiance to him, even if you must creep over the snow.

For he is the representative of God, the Mahdi.’ " End of the quotation.

The persons named in (the chain of transmitters of this tradition) are persons whose names occur in the Sahih . 922 However, among them is that of Abu Qilabah al-Jarmi. 923 Adh-Dhahabi and others mentioned that Abu Qilabah reported traditions he had not himself heard from his authorities. The chain of transmitters also includes Sufyan athThawrl. He is known for reporting traditions he had not heard from his authorities. Each of the two merely said that he had a tradition on the authority of such-and-such a person, without stating that he had heard it from him.

Therefore, their traditions are not acceptable. The chain of transmitters further includes ‘Abd-ar-Razzaq b. Hammam, 924 who is known for his pro-Shi’ah sentiments. At the end of his life he became blind and confused.

Ibn ‘Adi said: “He reported traditions on the virtues (of Muhammad and the early Muslims), with regard to which no one agrees with him.

Scholars considered him to have pro-Shi’ah sentiments.”

End of the quotation.

The following tradition of ‘Abdallah b. al-Harith b. Jaz’ az-Zubaydi was published by Ibn Majah through Ibn Lahi’ah, on the authority of Abu Zur’ah ‘Amr b. Jabir al-Hadrami, on the authority of ‘Abdallah b. al-Harith b. Jaz’, who said= “The Messenger of God said= ‘People will come forth from the East. They will pave the way for the Mahdi,’ " that is, (for) his rule.

At-Tabarani said= “Ibn Lahi’ah stands alone with this tradition.” We mentioned earlier, in connection with the tradition of ‘Ali, published by at-Tabarani in his Medium Mu’jam, that Ibn Lahi’ah was weak and that his authority, ‘Amr b. Jabir, was even weaker than he. 925

The following tradition was published by al-Bazzir in his Musnad and by at-Tabarani in his Medium Mu’jam-the recension (quoted here) is that of at-Tabarani-on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, on the authority of the Prophet, who said= “In my nation, there will be the Mahdi.

If he lives (among you) only a short time, it will be 7-9.

My nation will experience a prosperity the like of which it has never experienced before. The heavens will rain upon them. The earth will not hoard any of its plants.

There will be piles of money. A man will get up and say= ‘O Mahdi, give me something,’ and the Mahdi will reply= ‘Just take.’ " 926

At-Tabarani and al-Bazzar said: “Muhammad b. Marwan al-‘Ijli stands alone with this tradition.”

Al-Bazzar added: “We do not know whether anyone followed him in this tradition.”

Abu Dawud, as well as Ibn Hibban, by the way he mentions him in the Thigdt (on reliable transmitters), considered him reliable. Yahya b. Ma’in said regarding him: “He is all right.” Once, he said: “There is nothing wrong with him.” Still, opinions about him differ.

Abu Zur’ah said= “In my opinion, he is not such (a good man).” ‘Abdallah b. Ahmad b. Hanbal 928 said= “I saw Muhammad b. Marwan al’Ugayli tell traditions while I was present. I did not write them down. I purposely omitted to do so.

One of our colleagues wrote down traditions on his authority, in a way that suggested he considered him weak.” The following tradition of Abu Hurayrah was published by Abu Ya’la al- Mawsili in his Musnad.

Abu Hurayrah said= “My friend Abul-Qasim (the Prophet Muhammad) said= ‘The Hour will not arise before there shall have come forth against them a man from my family. He will beat them until they return to the truth.‘He said. And I asked= ‘How long will he rule?’ He replied= ‘Five and two.’ He said. And I asked= ‘What is meant by five and two?’ He replied= ‘I do not know.’ "

End of the quotation.

The chain of transmitters includes Bashir b. Nahik. 929 Abu Hatim said, regarding him:

“He may not be used as evidence.” Still, both (al-Bukhari and Muslim) used him as evidence, and the scholars considered him reliable. They paid no attention to Abu Hatim’s statement that he may not be used as evidence. However, (the chain of transmitters also) includes Murajja b. Raja’ al-Yashkuri.

Opinions differ concerning him. Abu Zur’ah said= “He is reliable.” Yahya b. Main said= “He is weak.” Abu Dawud said= “He is weak,” but once he said= “He is all right.”

Al-Bukhari has one fragment 931 of his in his Sahih. 932