Imam Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah Al-‘Absi and the Narrators He Declared Trustworthy: Collection and Study 10.35781/1637-000-147-003

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the collected statements of Imām Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah al-ʿAbsī (d. 235 AH) regarding the taʿdīl (affirmation of reliability) of narrators. Ibn Abī Shaybah occupies a prominent position among the leading hadith critics of the third Islamic century. He was one of the most prolific scholars in narration and memorization، and the major imams relied on his judgments in both taʿdīl and tajrīḥ. However، his evaluative statements have not previously been gathered and studied as an independent research topic. The study sought to compile all narrators whom Ibn Abī Shaybah explicitly declared reliable، drawing from his extant works as well as citations preserved by later scholars in biographical، historical، and critical literature. An analytical examination of these judgments was then conducted، focusing on the terminology he used in taʿdīl، with comparative analysis between his assessments and those of major critics such as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal، Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn، and ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī. The findings reveal a strong overall concordance between his evaluations and those of the leading early critics، demonstrating his significant role within the critical school and confirming the scholarly reliance on his assessments. The research also highlights a number of narrators whose evaluations by Ibn Abī Shaybah had not previously been collected in a single source. By God’s grace، I have also gathered Ibn Abī Shaybah’s statements on tajrīḥ (criticism of narrators)، which will be presented in a dedicated section، with the aim of offering a comprehensive picture of his methodology in al-jarḥ wa-al-taʿdīl