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Question: What is the word of Sunnite scholars about the reliability of Waki' Ibn Jarrah and accepting his quotations?
Answer: Waki' Ibn Jarrah Ibn Malih Ibn Uday whose nickname was Sufyan Rawasi –because of his son’s name- (i.e. he was called Abu Sufyan) was from the tribe of “Qais Ghilan”.
Ibn Qutaibah has counted him as one of the authorities of Shia in his Ma'arif book and Ibn Madini has specified in his Tahzib book that Waki' was Shia. Marwan Ibn Mu'awiyah was sure that Waki' is a Rafizi (a heretic). One day Yahya Ibn Mu'in came to him and saw a tablet which contains some matters about the people. One of those people was Waki' who had been introduced as a Rafizi. Ibn Mu'in said to him that: Waki' is batter than you. He said that: is he better than me? He answered that : Yes. Waki' was informed of this and said that: Yahya is our friend and companion.
It was asked from Ahmad Ibn Hanbal that: If Waki' and Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mahdi disagree over a matter, which opinion will be more reliable? He preferred Abd al-Rahman for some reasons, particularly that the dead people were safe from the tongue of Abd al-Rahman, but not from that of Waki' Ibn Jarrah.
The supporter of this saying is what Zahabi has mentioned in the last part of the biography of Hasan Ibn Salih. He has said that : “Waki' said: In my opinion, Hasan Ibn Salih is an Imam and leader. He was said that: He does not send greetings to Uthman, Waki' answered that: Do you send greetings to Hujjaj? Here he has compared Uthman with Hujjaj.”
Zahabi has mentioned his name and whatever said above in his biography in the Mizanul I'tidal book .The writers of six Sahih books and others have relied on his traditions.
The traditions that he has quoted from A'mash, Thuri, Isma`il Ibn Abi Khalid and Ali Ibn Mubarak, are available in the Sahih of Bukhari and Sahih of Muslim books.
Both Bukhari and Muslim believe that Ishaq Hanzali and Muhammad Ibn Numair have quoted tradition from him.
In the opinion of Bukhari, Abdullah Ibn Hamidi, Muhammad Ibn Salam, Yahya Ibn Ja'far Ibn A'yan, Yahya Ibn Musa, Muhammad Ibn Maqatil, and in the opinion of Muslim, Zuhair, Ibn Abi Shaibah, Abu Kuraib, Abu Sa'id Ashaj, Nasr Ibn Ali, Sa'id Ibn Azhar, Ibn Abi Umar, Ali Ibn Khashram, Uthman Ibn Abi Shaibah and Qutaibah Ibn Sa'id have quoted tradition from him.
He passed away at the age of 68 in the month of Muharram of the year 197 A.H, in Faid, while he was returning from Haj . May God bless him.[1]
[1] - Sayyid Abdul Husain Sharafuddin Musawi, Al-Muraji'at, p. 191.
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