of God be upon him." So they asked the Messenger of God (Peace and blessings of God be upon him) about it, and the Messenger of God (Peace and blessings of God be upon him) said: "Indeed, the Qurʾān was sent down according to seven modes, so do not dispute regarding the Qurʾān, for disputing regarding it is disbelief." (1)
42- Yūnus narrated to us, he said: Sufyān informed us, from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, he said: The
Notes
- (1) Hadith 41: Aḥmad narrated it in al-Musnad no. 17615 (4/169–170, al-Ḥalabī ed.), from Abū Salama al-Khuzāʿī from Sulaymān ibn Bilāl, with this chain of transmission. Ibn Kathīr cited it in al-Faḍāʾil (64–65) from al-Musnad, and said: "And this chain of transmission is authentic as well, and they did not transmit it"—meaning the authors of the Six Books. al-Haythamī cited it in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid (7/151) and said: "Aḥmad narrated it, and its men are the men of the Ṣaḥīḥ."
Ibn Kathīr cited it before that from Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, who said: "Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa from Muslim ibn Saʿīd, the freed slave of al-Ḥaḍramī—and another said: from Busr ibn Saʿīd—from Abū Jahīm al-Anṣārī: that two men differed," etc. Then Ibn Kathīr said: "And thus Abū ʿUbayd narrated it with doubt! Whereas Imam Aḥmad narrated it correctly," then he cited the narration of al-Musnad.
Abū ʿUbayd's narration was not out of doubt, as Ibn Kathīr claimed; rather, the hadith has two routes: Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar narrates it from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa from "Muslim ibn Saʿīd". And Sulaymān ibn Bilāl narrates it from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa from "Busr ibn Saʿīd", who is the brother of Muslim ibn Saʿīd. So Abū ʿUbayd indicated the other narration in the middle of the chain of transmission without mentioning its chain of transmission.
al-Bukhārī mentioned both narrations in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (4/1/262) in the biographical entry of "Muslim ibn Saʿīd, the freed slave of Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī", indicating that he narrated this hadith from Abū Jahīm, and said: "Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar said it from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa. And Sulaymān ibn Bilāl said from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa from Busr ibn Saʿīd from Abū Jahīm." Thus he established both narrations and did not make one of them a defect for the other. Therefore, Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfa heard the hadith from both brothers: Muslim and Busr, the two sons of Saʿīd.
It is astonishing that al-Ḥāfiẓ indicated in al-Iṣāba (7/35) the narration of this hadith via Muslim ibn Saʿīd and attributed it solely to al-Baghawī, then did not indicate the narration of Busr ibn Saʿīd, going far astray!!
And this "Abū Jahīm al-Anṣārī": his name is "ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ṣimma", and other opinions were mentioned regarding his name. In this hadith in the printed edition of al-Ṭabarī, Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, and al-Faḍāʾil by Ibn Kathīr, it occurred as "from Abū Jahm", which is a typographical error in all likelihood, because it is established in al-Musnad as "Abū Jahīm". al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Fatḥ (1/374–375), regarding another hadith of his in al-Bukhārī: "It occurred in Muslim [meaning ]: 'We entered upon Abū al-Jahm,' with a sukūn on the hāʾ, but the correct form is in the diminutive [Abū Jahīm]; among the Companions there is another person called Abū al-Jahm, who is the owner of the cloak, and he is other than this one, because he is a Qurashī, whereas this one is an Anṣārī. It is said both omitting the definite article in both and including it in both."
al-Ḥāfiẓ indicated this hadith in (9/23) and attributed it to Aḥmad, Abū ʿUbayd, and al-Ṭabarī. In this place it occurred as "Abū Jahm" without the diminutive form, which is also a typographical error.
And "Busr ibn Saʿīd": with a ḍamma on the bāʾ and a sukūn on the unpointed sīn. In the printed edition of al-Ṭabarī it occurred as "Bishr", which is a typographical error.
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