Question:

Our beloved Ameer, May Allah protect you, bless you, and bring victory through your efforts, Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.
There is a narration in the books: The Ruling System in Islam and The Institutions of State in the Khilafah "Caliphate" (In Ruling and Administration) and this narration has been quoted from the history of Tabari as follows: "So if five people gathered and accepted one of them to be a leader, and one has refused, then beat his head with a sword. And if four people agreed on one of them to be a leader, except two who have refused, then beat their heads ... etc".

In the narration, there is a narrator called Abu Makhnaf Lut Bin Yahya Bin Saeed Bin Makhnaf Bin Saleem al-Azdi, then the scholar Taqiuddin an-Nabahani said: "None of his sound books have remained except what is quoted by Ibn Jarir at-Tabarani in his history. Many scholars of Hadith have casted doubt in him and said that he used to narrate from a group of anonymous people." (Al-Shakhsiyya al-Islamiyya) (The Islamic Personality Volume 1, page 354, Arabic edition)

The Question: If this is the case, how come scholar Taqiuddin an-Nabahani had mentioned the narration of Abu Makhnaf in the history of at-Tabari as a sound narration? Thank you for your interest.

Answer:

Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu...

We have previously answered this question in detail on this page:
https://www.facebook.com

And I will summarize the answer for you:

1. The narration of at-Tabari says: "Umar Bin Shiba told me, he said: Ali Bin Mohamad told us, from Wakee', from al-A'mash, from Ibrahim and Mohamad Bin Abdullah al-Ansari, from Ibn Abi Aroubah, from Qatada, from Shahr Bin Hawshab and Abi Makhnaf, from Yusuf Bin Yazeed, from Abbas Bin Sahl and Mubarak Bin Fadala, from Obeidillah Bin Umar and Yunus Bin Abi Ishaq, from Amr Bin Maymoun al-Awdi, that Umar Bin al-Khattab when stabbed... So he said... " (END)

2. It shows that Qatada did not narrate from Abi Makhnaf only, but narrated from Shahr Bin Hawshab and Abi Mahnaf, then those two "Shahr Bin Hawshab and Abi Mahnaf" have narrated from Yusuf Bin Yazeed. Although Abu Makhnaf is included in the narration, it does not affect it because Shahr Bin Hawshab has been authenticated by a group of scholars of Hadith:

Al-'Ijli (died: 261 Hijri) said in his book "al-Thiqat" (The Trusted): (Shahr Bin Hawshab: Bilad al-Sham, tabi'i, trusted.)
Al-Haythami (died: 807 Hijri) said about Shahr Bin Hawshab in his "Mujamma' az-Zawaed wa Manba' al-Fawaed in more than one place:

(Shahr Bin Hawshab, has been authenticated), (Shahr Bin Hawshab, and they disagreed about it, but was authenticated by Ahmad, Ibn Mu'een, Abu Zur'a, and Ya'qoob bin Shayba), (Shahr Bin Hawshab, and there is some talk about him but authenticated more than one), Shahr Bin Hawshab, there is some talk about him and a group has authenticated him.)

Ibn Shaheen (who died on 385 Hijri in his book the History of Authenticated Names: (Yahya Shahr Bin Hawshab said it is proved, and in another narration that he is from Bilad al-Sham, he came to al-Basra and was from al-Ash'ariyyeen themselves and he is trusted).

For that, Abu Qatada narrated from Abu Makhnaf and Shahr Bin Hawshab, and not only from Abu Makhnaf. For that, we took this narration. Moreover, it was not the only one in this topic, as Ibn Sa'd has narrated the like in at-Tabaqat, and Ibn Shibba has narrated also the like in his book the History of the Medina...

Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

The link of the answer from the Ameer's Facebook page: