Hadith No: 1
Note: Only the excerpts mentioning the reliability of al-Waqidi have been taken from the full text, and those who wish to see al-Dhahabi's complete words can follow the link below.Al-Dhahabi - Siyar A'lam al-Nubalā' - Volume 10 - Al-Waqidi
Volume: (9) - Page Numbers: (454 > 469)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpts are provided here]
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He narrated from: Muhammad ibn Ajlan, Ibn Jurayj, Thawr ibn Yazid, Ma'mar ibn Rashid, Usama ibn Zayd al-Laythi, Katheer ibn Zayd, Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja'far, al-Duhhak ibn Uthman, Ibn Abi Dhuhb, Aflah ibn Hamid, al-Awza'i, Hisham ibn al-Ghazz, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Surbah, Malik, Fali' ibn Sulayman, and many others up to the end of the common people of Medina.
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He narrated to: Muhammad ibn Sa'd, his scribe, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, Abu al-Hasan al-Hasan ibn Uthman al-Ziyadi, Muhammad ibn Shu'ja' al-Thalji, Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Shadhkuni, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Azdhi, Ahmad ibn Ubayd ibn Nasih, Abu Bakr al-Saghani, al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah, Muhammad ibn al-Farj al-Azraq, Ahmad ibn al-Walid al-Fahham, Ahmad ibn al-Khalil al-Barjulani, Abdullah ibn al-Hasan al-Hashimi, and others.
- He collected, compiled, and mixed the trivial with the valuable, and the stones with precious pearls, so they dismissed him for that.
Still, he is indispensable in the fields of military campaigns (maghazi), the days of the Companions, and their histories.- Ibrahim ibn Jabir said: I heard al-Ramadi narrating and mentioning the hadith of Aqil from Ibn Shahab, saying:
"This is something that al-Waqidi was wronged in."- Muhammad ibn Sa'd said: Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi was a client of Banu Aslam, then Banu Sahm, a clan of Aslam. He held the position of judge in Baghdad for al-Ma'mun for four years
and was knowledgeable in maghazi, sirah, conquests, rulings, and the differences among people. He explained this in books he compiled and wrote, and he narrated it. He informed me that he was born in the year 130 AH.
- Ibn Sa'd also stated in al-Tabaqat al-Kabir: He was a client of Abdullah ibn Buraydah al-Aslami, who came to Baghdad in connection with a debt in the year 180 AH and remained there. He went out to Syria and al-Ruqqa, then returned.
Al-Ma'mun appointed him as a judge when he arrived from Khurasan, and he assigned him the judiciary in the military district of al-Mahdi, where he remained a judge until he died in Baghdad on the eleventh day of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 207 AH.
- Al-Khatib said:
He is someone whose mention was noted from the east of the earth to the west and whose books were carried by travelers in various fields of knowledge, including maghazi, sirah, hadith, and fiqh. He was generous, noble, and known for his openhandedness.- Muhammad ibn Salama al-Jumahi said:
"Al-Waqidi was the scholar of his time."- Ibrahim al-Harbi said:
Al-Waqidi was the trustworthy guardian of the people regarding the affairs of Islam. He was the most knowledgeable person about Islamic matters, but he did not know much about the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah).
- Musa ibn Harun said: I heard Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayri mention al-Waqidi
and say: "By Allah, we have never seen anyone like him."- And al-Darawardi mentioned al-Waqidi and said:
"That is the commander of the believers in hadith."- About al-Waqidi, it was said:
"My tablets would go missing, but they would be brought to me from their notoriety in the city, saying: 'These are the tablets of Ibn Waqid.'" Al-Waqidi had a remarkable stature during his time, and it settled in people's minds such that Abu Amir al-Aqdi said: "We ask about al-Waqidi; the elders and hadith narrators would not provide us anything except al-Waqidi."
- Mus'ab al-Zubayri said: Someone who heard Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak say:
"I used to advance to the city, and nothing would inform me or guide me to the elders except al-Waqidi."Mu'awiya ibn Salih al-Dimashqi said: Sunayd ibn Dawud narrated to me, saying: We were with Hisham when al-Waqidi entered, and Hisham asked him about a chapter he was memorizing. He replied:
"What is not with you, Abu Mu'awiya?" and mentioned five or six hadiths on the subject. Then Hisham said to al-Waqidi: "What do you have?" He narrated thirty hadiths to him about the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), his companions, and the followers, and then said: "I asked Malik, Ibn Abi Dhuhb, and others, and I saw Hisham's face change." When he left,
Hisham said: "If he is a liar, there is nothing like him in the world. If he is telling the truth, there is nothing like him in the world."Ahmad ibn Ali al-Abbar:
I heard Mujahid ibn Musa say: "We did not write from anyone more reliable than al-Waqidi."Muhammad ibn Jarir said: Ibn Sa'd stated:
Al-Waqidi would say: "There is no one except that their writings are more numerous than their memorization, and my memorization is greater than my writings."Yaqoub ibn Shaybah said: When al-Waqidi moved from the western side, it is said that
he carried his books on a load of one hundred and twenty clay tablets.And from Abu Hudhafah al-Sahmi, it was reported:
Al-Waqidi had six hundred large chests of books.Abu Bakr al-Khatib said: Despite what we have mentioned of his vast knowledge and extensive memorization, al-Waqidi did not memorize the Quran. Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Rafqi informed me that Ahmad ibn Kamal al-Qadi said:
Al-Ma'mun said to al-Waqidi: "I want you to lead the Friday prayer for the people tomorrow." He refused. Al-Ma'mun insisted, saying: "You must." Al-Waqidi replied: "By Allah, I do not remember the Surah of al-Jum'ah." Al-Ma'mun said: "I will help you," and he began to teach him the Surah of al-Jum'ah until he reached half of it. When he had memorized it, he started again with the second half. If he memorized it, he would forget the first half, exhausting al-Ma'mun, who then dozed off. He said to Ali ibn Salih: "Can you memorize it?" Ali replied that he could. So, whenever he memorized something, he forgot something else. Al-Ma'mun then woke up and said to me: "What did you do?" When I informed him, he said: "This is a man who can memorize exegesis but not revelation. Go and pray with them, and recite any Surah you wish."
This is an unverified account, and al-Barbari was indeed a reliable memorizer.
Ibrahim ibn Jabir al-Faqih said: I heard Abu Bakr al-Saghani - mentioning al-Waqidi - say: "By Allah, if he were not a trustworthy person to me, I would not narrate from him."
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, Abu Ubayd, and others also narrated from him.
Ibrahim al-Harbi said: I heard Mus'ab ibn Abdullah say: "Al-Waqidi is a trustworthy guardian."
When Ma'n ibn Isa was asked about al-Waqidi, he said: "I am the one to be asked about al-Waqidi. Al-Waqidi can ask about me."
I asked Ibn Numayr about him, and he said: "As for his narrations here, they are sound, but the narrations of the people of Medina know him better."
Jabir ibn Kurdi narrated from Yazid ibn Harun, who said: "Al-Waqidi is trustworthy."
Al-Harbi said: I heard Abu Abdullah say: "Al-Waqidi is trustworthy."
Al-Harbi added: "As for Abu Ubayd's understanding of fiqh, he had the writings of al-Waqidi on differences and consensus."
Then Ibrahim al-Harbi said: "He is a great imam. Those who say that the rulings of Malik and Ibn Abi Dhuhb should be taken from someone more reliable than al-Waqidi are not to be trusted, for he said: 'I asked Malik and Ibn Abi Dhuhb.'"
It has been established that al-Waqidi is considered weak but is needed in narrations about expeditions and history, and we will present his reports without requiring evidence. However, in the realm of obligatory duties (fara'id), he should not be mentioned. These six books, the Musnad of Ahmad, and most compilations on rulings show that they are lenient in presenting the hadiths of weak or even abandoned individuals. Nonetheless, they do not present anything from Muhammad ibn Umar. In my view, this signifies that despite his weakness, his hadiths can be recorded and narrated because I do not suspect him of fabrication. The statements of those who disregard him represent an overstatement from some perspectives, just as the authentication by those who do trust him, like Yazid, Abu Ubayd, al-Saghani, al-Harbi, Ma'n, and a complete set of ten scholars, should not be taken seriously, as there is now a consensus that he is not a reliable authority and that his hadiths are considered weak. May Allah have mercy on him.