LessonsAvoiding Unreliable Transmitters: Critical Reception of Reports and Historical ClaimsQuiz

حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو الضَّبِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا نَافِعُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، قَالَ: كَتَبْتُ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَسْأَلُهُ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ لِي كِتَابًا وَيُخْفِيَ عَنِّي، فَقَالَ: «وَلَدٌ نَاصِحٌ، أَنَا أَخْتَارُ لَهُ الْأُمُورَ اخْتِيَارًا وَأُخْفِي عَنْهُ». قَالَ: فَدَعَا بِقَضَاءِ عَلِيٍّ، فَجَعَلَ يَكْتُبُ مِنْهُ أَشْيَاءَ، وَيَمُرُّ بِهِ الشَّيْءُ، فَيَقُولُ: «وَاللَّهِ مَا قَضَى بِهَذَا عَلِيٌّ إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ ضَلَّ».
Translation: Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr al-Ḍabbī narrated to us; Nāfiʿ ibn ʿUmar narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, who said: “I wrote to Ibn ʿAbbās asking him to write a book for me and to withhold some things from me.” Ibn ʿAbbās said, “A sincere son! I shall carefully select matters for him and keep some back from him.” He then called for the collection of judgments attributed to ʿAlī and began copying items from it. Whenever he passed something objectionable, he would say, “By Allah, ʿAlī did not judge this way, unless he had gone astray!”

The printed text has dotted khāʾ in وَيُخْفِيَ عَنِّي / وَأُخْفِي عَنْهُ: “withhold something from me / I shall withhold something from him.” Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ reported that most of his teachers read the undotted ḥāʾ (وَيُحْفِيَ / وَأُحْفِي). He favored that reading, discussing reduced or limited narration, or alternatively insistence and thorough enquiry. The author of Maṭāliʿ al-Anwār interpreted the latter root as exceptional solicitude and careful selection.

Abū ʿAmr Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ favored dotted khāʾ: withholding written material that was disputed or liable to cause discord where its disclosure was not required, with oral clarification possible if needed. **Al-Nawawī expressly endorsed the khāʾ reading.** These are transmitted variant readings and interpretations, not permission to suppress obligatory evidence or necessary instruction. The source quotation retains the primary Al-Bushra wording.

Ibn ʿAbbās's emphatic “By Allah, ʿAlī did not judge this way unless he had gone astray” denies the authenticity of the attribution: Ibn ʿAbbās is not asserting that ʿAlī was actually astray.

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Ibn Abī Mulaykah and scrutiny of a written compilation

Avoiding Unreliable Transmitters: Critical Reception of Reports and Historical Claims

حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو الضَّبِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا نَافِعُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، قَالَ: كَتَبْتُ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَسْأَلُهُ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ لِي كِتَابًا وَيُخْفِيَ عَنِّي، فَقَالَ: «وَلَدٌ نَاصِحٌ، أَنَا أَخْتَارُ لَهُ الْأُمُورَ اخْتِيَارًا وَأُخْفِي عَنْهُ». قَالَ: فَدَعَا بِقَضَاءِ عَلِيٍّ، فَجَعَلَ يَكْتُبُ مِنْهُ أَشْيَاءَ، وَيَمُرُّ بِهِ الشَّيْءُ، فَيَقُولُ: «وَاللَّهِ مَا قَضَى بِهَذَا عَلِيٌّ إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ ضَلَّ».
Translation: Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr al-Ḍabbī narrated to us; Nāfiʿ ibn ʿUmar narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, who said: “I wrote to Ibn ʿAbbās asking him to write a book for me and to withhold some things from me.” Ibn ʿAbbās said, “A sincere son! I shall carefully select matters for him and keep some back from him.” He then called for the collection of judgments attributed to ʿAlī and began copying items from it. Whenever he passed something objectionable, he would say, “By Allah, ʿAlī did not judge this way, unless he had gone astray!”

The printed text has dotted khāʾ in وَيُخْفِيَ عَنِّي / وَأُخْفِي عَنْهُ: “withhold something from me / I shall withhold something from him.” Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ reported that most of his teachers read the undotted ḥāʾ (وَيُحْفِيَ / وَأُحْفِي). He favored that reading, discussing reduced or limited narration, or alternatively insistence and thorough enquiry. The author of Maṭāliʿ al-Anwār interpreted the latter root as exceptional solicitude and careful selection.

Abū ʿAmr Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ favored dotted khāʾ: withholding written material that was disputed or liable to cause discord where its disclosure was not required, with oral clarification possible if needed. **Al-Nawawī expressly endorsed the khāʾ reading.** These are transmitted variant readings and interpretations, not permission to suppress obligatory evidence or necessary instruction. The source quotation retains the primary Al-Bushra wording.

Ibn ʿAbbās's emphatic “By Allah, ʿAlī did not judge this way unless he had gone astray” denies the authenticity of the attribution: Ibn ʿAbbās is not asserting that ʿAlī was actually astray.