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'Tadlees' is confirmed on Al-Hassan Al-Basri

Question

Was Al-Hassan Al-Basri, may Allaah have mercy on him, using 'Tadlees'?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Indeed, Al-Hassan Al-Basri may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him was really using 'Tadlees'. Tadlees means to report a narration from someone as if one heard it directly from the narrator while in reality he did not. Many scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them reported this on him, among whom is Abu Al-Wafaa' may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him in his book 'clarifying the names of Tadlees people.' Moreover, Ibn Hajar may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him mentioned that Al-Hassan Al-Basri may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him used Tadlees in regard to the narrations reported by An-Nasaa'ee, and others may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them and Ibn Habbaan may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said the same thing about him.

Nonetheless, Al-Hassan Al-Basri may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him was an outstanding and devout scholar. It is believed that he did not report on the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) unless he was sure that the narration is authentic, and Ibn Hajar considered him among the second generation after the companions  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  them and he mentioned that it is acceptable from this category of successors to use Tadlees. Imaam Al-Bukhari and Muslim may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them reported their narrations because they were great scholars, some of whom used Tadlees very little, and some of them did not use Tadlees except on trustworthy narrator.

Allaah Knows best.

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