(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of Visitors to his Facebook Page)
To Madina Watiqah
Question:
Our beloved Ameer, may Allah protect you, care for you, and grant victory through your hands. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
A narration appeared in the book The Ruling System in Islam and The Institutions of the State of the Khilafah (In Ruling and Administration). This narration was quoted from Tarikh al-Tabari as follows: "If five agree and accept a man, and one refuses, then strike his head or hit his head with the sword; and if four agree and accept a man from among them, and two refuse, then strike their heads... etc."
Included in that narration is a narrator named Abu Mikhnaf Lut bin Yahya bin Sa'id bin Mikhnaf bin Sulaym al-Azdi. Furthermore, the great scholar Taqiuddin al-Nabhani said: "Nothing remains of his authentic books except what was quoted by Ibn Jarir al-Tabari in his history. Many of the Muhaddithin (Hadith scholars) have criticized him and said that he used to narrate from a group of unknown people." (Al-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 354).
The question is: If this is the case, how could the scholar Taqiuddin al-Nabhani mention the narration of Abu Mikhnaf in Tarikh al-Tabari as an authentic narration? Thank you for your attention.
Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu...
We have previously answered this question in detail on this page.
I will summarize the answer for you:
1- The narration of al-Tabari states: "Umar bin Shabah told me, he said: Ali bin Muhammad told us, from Waki’, from al-A'mash, from Ibrahim and Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Ansari, from Ibn Abi Arubah, from Qatadah, from 'Shahr bin Hawshab and Abu Mikhnaf,' from Yusuf bin Yazid, from Abbas bin Sahl and Mubarak bin Fadalah, from Ubaydullah bin Umar and Yunus bin Abi Ishaq, from Amr bin Maymun al-Awdi, that when Umar bin al-Khattab was stabbed... he said..." (End).
2- It is clear from this that Qatadah did not narrate from Abu Mikhnaf alone; rather, he narrated from Shahr bin Hawshab and Abu Mikhnaf. Then, the two of them—"Shahr bin Hawshab and Abu Mikhnaf"—narrated from Yusuf bin Yazid. The fact that there is criticism regarding Abu Mikhnaf does not affect the narration because Shahr bin Hawshab was declared tsiqah (trustworthy) by a group of Hadith scholars:
Al-Ijli (d. 261 AH) said in his book Al-Thiqat: "Shahr bin Hawshab: 'Syrian', Tabi'i, tsiqah."
Al-Haythami (d. 807 AH) said regarding Shahr bin Hawshab in Majma' al-Zawa'id wa Manba' al-Fawa'id in more than one place: "Shahr bin Hawshab, and he has been declared tsiqah," "Shahr bin Hawshab, they have differed regarding him, but Ahmad, Ibn Ma'in, Abu Zur'ah, and Yaqub bin Shaybah declared him tsiqah," "Shahr bin Hawshab, and there is some talk about him, but more than one has declared him tsiqah," "Shahr bin Hawshab, and there is talk about him, but a group has declared him tsiqah."
Ibn Shahin (d. 385 AH) said in his book Tarikh Asma' al-Thiqat: "Yahya said: Shahr bin Hawshab is firm (thabit), and in another report from him: He was a Syrian who settled in Basra, he was from the Ash'arites themselves, and he is tsiqah."
Therefore, Qatadah narrated from Abu Mikhnaf and Shahr bin Hawshab, not just from Abu Mikhnaf, and for that reason, we took this narration. It should be noted that it is not the only narration on this subject; Ibn Sa'd narrated something similar in Al-Tabaqat, as did Ibn Shabah in his book Tarikh al-Madinah...
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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