On Hadith Fabrication

A widespread phenomenon in the sectarian milieu of the first two centuries of Islam was the fabrication of reports on the Prophet and early authorities of the Islamic tradition—a problem that has plagued the field of hadith since its birth.^[464] Fabricated hadiths made their way into religious culture and many entered the hadith collections.^[465] Ja'far al-Sadiq, like his father, constantly complained about and condemned this phenomenon.

قبل لأبي عبد هللا: إن الناس يقولون إن القرآن نزل على سبعة أحرى، فقال: كذبوا« نزل حرف واحد من عند رب واحد على نى واحد«^[466]

It was said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “People say that the Qur'an was revealed in seven forms.” He said, “They lied. Only one form was revealed by one Lord to [this] one Prophet.”

الفضل ين أبي قرة قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: هؤلاء يقولون إنكسب المعلم سحت. فقال: كذبوا أعداء هللا! إتما أردوا أن لايلموا [أولاذهم] القرآن.

[Al-Fadl b. Abi Qurra:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “These people say that the payment a teacher receives for his teaching is ill-gotten.” He said, “The enemies of God lied! They wish to avoid teaching their children the Qur'an. Were someone to give a teacher even the [value of] the blood-money compensation for his child, it would be lawful for the teacher to take it.”

عبد الرجن ن أبي عبد اهللا قال: قلت لأبي عبد اهللا: إن ناسا من هؤلاء القضاص يقولون إذا حخ الرجل حجة بم تصدق ووصل كان خيرا ل. قال: كذبوا. لوفعل هذا الناس لئئلل هذا اليت. إناً هللا جعل هذا اليت الناس عمال أحل ولا أطيب منه.^[478]

[Sayaba b. Ayyub:] A man questioned Abu 'Abd Allah, saying, “May I be made your ransom! I hear a group of people saying that farming is disfavored.” He said to him, “Cultivate and plant, for by God there is no work that is more lawful and pleasant than it.”^[479]

عمروبن سفيان الجرجاني رفعه إلى أبي عبد الله قال: سأل أحد مواليه فقال: ما كلل لا تخرج؟ قال: اليوم الأحد.

['Amr b. Sufyan al-Jurjani] Abu 'Abd Allah asked one of his associates, “Why are you not leaving on your travels?” He said, “Today is Sun­day.” He said, “And what is wrong with Sunday?” He said, “Because of the hadith reported from the Prophet (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family), ‘Beware of the sharpness of Sunday, for it is sharp like this sword.'”^[481] He said, “They lied! They lied! The Messen­ger of God did not say that.”

عبيد ين زرارة قال: قلت لأيى عبد هللا: إنن الناس يروون أتن علجاً كتب إلى عامهل بالمدان أن يشتى ل جارية فاشياها وعث بهاإيه، وكتب أن لها زوجا، فكتب إيه على أن يشارى نضعها، فاشتاه.

['Ubayd b. Zurara:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “People relate that 'Ah wrote to his governor in Ctesiphon asking him to buy him ['All] a [cer­tain] slave woman. He [the governor] did, sent her to 'Ah and wrote to him that she had a husband. 'Ah then wrote to him to purchase sexual access to her. He [the governor] purchased that.” He said, “They lied about 'Ah. Would 'Ah say that?”^[483]

عمروين امسرقال: قتن لجعفربن محتد: جعتن فداك! إنا نتحدث بالعرإق أدن علجا صلى على سهل ين حنيف فكشعليه سئا. فقال جعفر: إنه لم يكن كذا ولكئه كار عله خمستا.^[484]

['Amr b. Shimr:] I said to Ja'far b. Muhammad, “May I be made your ran­som! We keep mentioning among ourselves in Iraq that 'Ah prayed [the funeral prayer] over Sahl b. Hunayf,^[485] saying six takbirs over his body.”^[486] Ja'far said, “That was not so; he rather said five takbirs over him.”

رباح ين أيى نهرقال: قتن لأيى عبد هللا: إنا زوى بالكوفة أن علجا قال: إن من تمام حجك إحرامك من دورة أهكل.

[Rah b. Abi Nasr:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, 'We keep hearing in Kufa that 'All said, ‘Part of the perfection of your hajj is to enter the state of pilgrim sanctity in your family home.'" He said, “Praise be to God! If it were as they say, why did the Prophet keep his [usual] clothes on until he reached [the Mosque of] Shajara?"

أبو بصير عن أني عبد الله قال: دخل على أناس من أهل الرصة فسألوني عن مال ايتيم هل عله أكنا؛؟ قال: قلت لهم: لا! فقالوا: إنا نتحدث عندنا أن عمرسأل عيا عن مال أبي رفع، فقال: أنفد به الكاة. فقتى لهم: لا، ورتل الكعبة! ما تزك أو رفع ببتيتا.^[488]

[Abu Basir:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Some people from Basra came to me and asked whether the property of an orphan is subject to zakat.

عبد الرحمن ين الحجاج قال: قنت لأبي عبد هللا: إني أدخل سوق المسلمين فآشزى متهم الغراء للنجارة فأقول لصاحبها: أليس ي ذكية ؟ فيقول: بلى! فهل يصلح لي أن أيعها على أنها ذكية؟ قال: لا! قته: وما أفسد ذلك؟ قال: إستحلال أهل العراق للميتة فزعموا أن دباغ جدل الميتة ذكاته، بم لم ;رضوا إلا أن ككذبوا لي ذلك على رسول هللا.^[490]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “I go to the mar­ket of the Muslims and buy from them fur cloaks for trade. I ask the seller: ‘Are they not ritually clean?' He says, ‘Yes, indeed!' Is it all right if I sell the cloaks as ritually clean?" He said, “No!" I said, 'What makes this illicit?" He said, “The reason is that the people of Iraq consider carrion lawful to use, as they maintain that tanning the hide of car­rion makes it ritually clean. And they are not satisfied [with anything] short of attributing this lie to the Messenger of God.” معاوية ين وهب قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: إن الناس نحوون عن رسول هللا — صلى الله عله وآل وسلم — أن الصدقة لا تحلى لغي ولا لذى مزة سوي. فقال: قد قال ⁴⁷⁹.»لغى« ولم يقل«لذى مزة سوي»

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[Mu'awiya b. Wahb:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “People narrate that the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) said, ‘Zakat is not lawful [to receive] for either a wealthy person or a strong, healthy individual.'”^{[491] [492] He said, “He [the Prophet] said ‘for a wealthy person,' but he did not say ‘for a strong, healthy individual.'”}

أبو العباس قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: حرم رسول هللا — صلى الله عله وآل وسلم - المدينة؟ قال: نعم! حرم نحببنا ي بريد، غضاها. قلت: صيدها؟ قال: لا! يكذب الناس.^[493]

[Fad b. 'Abd al-Malik al-Baqbaq, Abu al-'Abbas:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “Did the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) declare Medina to be a sacred precinct?” He said, “Yes! He declared sacred the shrubs of Medina within a some twelve-mile radius.” I said, “[What about] hunting?” he said, “No, peo­ple lie.”

سعيد الأعرج قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله يقول: طلق اين عمرامرأته ثلادا. فسأل عمر رسول هللا — صلى هللا عله وآل وسلم — فأمره أن نحاجعها. فقلت: إن الناس يقولون إقا طلقها واحدة وه حائض. قال: فلأي شء سأل رسول الله — صلى هللا عله وآل وسلم — إذا كان هو أملك نحجعتها؟ كذبوا. ولكئه طللها ثلادا فأمره رسول هللا — صلى هللا عله وآل وسلم — أن نحإجعها.^[494]

[Sa'id al-A'raj:] I heard Abu 'Abd Allah say, “Ibn 'Umar divorced his wife in a triple divorce, so 'Umar asked the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) about it, and he ordered him [Ibn 'Umar] to take her back.” I said, “People say that he divorced her once while she was menstruating.”^[495] He said, “So why then did he ask the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) if he had an [indisputable] right to take her back? They lied. He divorced her in a triple divorce, so the Messen­ger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) ordered him to take her back.”

In the last case, Ja'far was following his father's precedent by taking a tough stance against those he believed were misleading the community with their false testimonies:

عن زر قال: كتت عنده (يعي أبا جعفر) إذ مر به نافع مولى اين عمر فقال ل أبو جعفر: أنت الذي تزعم أن اين عمر طلق إمرأته واحدة وه حائض فأمر رسول الله — صلى الله عله وآل وسلم — عمرأن يأمره أن يراجعها؟ قال: نعم! فقال ل: كذبت — والله الذي لاإل إلاهو — على اين عمر« أنا سمعت ابن عمريقول: طلقتها على عهد رسول الله — صلى الله عله وآل وسلم — ثلادا فردها رسول الله — صلى الله عله وآل وسلم — -هلى وأمسكتها بعد« الطلاق« فائق الله بتا نافع، ولانزوعلى ابن عمراباطل«^[496]

[Zurara:] I was with him [Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Baqir] when Nafi', the client of Ibn 'Umar, passed by. Abu Ja'far said to him, “Are you the one who claims that Ibn 'Umar divorced his wife once while she was menstruating, and that the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) ordered 'Umar to order him [that is, his son] to take her back?” He said, “Yes!" He [Muhammad al-Baqir] said to him, “By God who is the only god, you attributed a falsehood to Ibn 'Umar. I heard Ibn 'Umar say: ‘I divorced her during the time of the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) in a triple divorce, and the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) returned her to me and I remained with her after the divorce.' Fear God, O Nafi', and do not report falsely on the authority of Ibn 'Umar.”^[497]

This report exemplifies Muhammad al-Baqir's consistent reaction to transmissions that he considered fake. The same attitude is also evident in the following example. A group of his Kufan followers, who had traveled to the Hijaz for the hajj, came to visit him. He asked one of them:

من أين أحرمت؟ قال: من الكوفة. قال: ولم أحرمت من الكوفة؟ فقال: بلغي عن بعضكم أنه قال: ماتئنمن الإحرام فهوأعظم للأجر. فقال: مابغغك هذاالاكذاب.^{[498] [499]}

“Where did you enter the state of pilgrim sanctity?” He said, “In Kufa.” He said, 'Why did you enter the state of pilgrim sanctity in Kufa?” He said, “I was told on the authority of one of you that he said, ‘The farther away one enters the state of pilgrim sanctity, the greater the reward.'” He said, “Only a liar informed you of this.”

And a couple of further examples:

زرارة عن أبي جعفرقال: قتا ل: ما تقول ي رجل قال لامرأته: 'أنت على حرام، فإئا لروى باعلراق أناً علنا جعلها ثلاقا. قال: كذبوا! لم يجعلها طلاقا.487

[Zurara:] I said to Abu Ja'far, “What is your position regarding a man who says to his wife, ‘You are forbidden to me'? Reports are circulating among us in Iraq that 'Ah considered this a triple divorce.” He said, “They lied! He did not consider it a divorce.”

زر عن أبي جعفر قال: قلت ل: أصلحك هللا! رجل طلق امرأته على طهر من غير جماع بشهادة عدلين؟ قال: إذا دخلت ي الحيضة الثالثة فقد انقضت عذتها. قلت ل: أصلحك هللا! إن أهل انحراق ;روون عن علي أنه قال؛ »هوأحق يرجعتها ما لم تفتسل من الحيضة الثالثة«. قال؛ كذبوا.^[500]

[Zurara:] I said to Abu Ja'far, “May God put you on the right path! A man divorced his wife when she was in a state of purity, without hav­ing had intercourse [with her during that period], and in the presence of two upright witnesses.” He said, “When she commences her third menstrual cycle, her waiting period is concluded.” I said to him, “May God put you on the right path! The people of Iraq narrate that 'All said, ‘He has a greater right to take her back so long as she has not performed the full-body ablution after her third menses.'”^{[501] [502] He said, “They lied.”}

محتد ين مسلم قال: قدتا لأبي جعفر؛ إن أهل الكوفة ;روون عن علي أئه كان يأمر بالوضوء قبل الفسل من الجنابة. قال؛ كذبوا علي علي. ما وجدنا ذلك ي كتاب علي. قال هللا نغالى؛ زؤإن كنلي جثيا فاظهروه490

[Muhammad b. Muslim:] I said to Abu Ja'far, “The Kufans report that 'All used to order people to perform ablution before taking a bath to cleanse ritual impurity.” He said, “They attribute this falsely to 'All. We did not find this in the book of 'All. God, the Exalted, said, ‘If you are in a state of ritual impurity, purify yourselves.'”^[503]

أبوالورد قال؛ قات لأبي جعفر؛ إن أبا ظبيان حدثى أده رأى عيا أراق الماء بم مسح علي الحثين. قال؛ ك^ذب أبو ظبيان. أما بلغك قول علي فبنكم؛ »سبق الكتتاب الحفين«؟^[504]

[Abu al-Ward:] I said to Abu Ja'far, “Abu Zabyan [Husayn b. Jundab al-Janbl] told me that he saw 'All pour water and wipe over his boots.” He said, “Abu Zabyan lied. Did the statement of 'All [when he was] among you [in Iraq] not reach you: ‘The Book [that is, the Qur'an] out­lawed [the practice of wiping over] boots'?”

Ja'far himself was a victim of fabrications of all kinds, first and foremost from those who sought to rebuff the followers of the House of the Prophet by falsely quoting from its senior members, 'All and Ja'far in particular, statements that contradicted the well-known and established positions of the House of the Prophet and supported the standpoints of their oppo­nents. This was a very common tactic in the sectarian milieu of late Uma- yyad/early Abbasid times. Examples abound across discussions of law and theology, as well as in reports on events in early Islamic history, for which the account offered by the House of the Prophet differed from those pro­moted and sanctified as indisputably correct history by the Umayyads and early Abbasids, and their respective entourages. The fabricators went as far as portraying the Imams quoting the Sunna of the Prophet from some of the archenemies of his Family.^[505]

A report cited by a disciple of Ja'far and recorded in an early work on hadith transmitters provides an interesting example of the vast genre of fabrications in his name:

ميمون بن عبد الله قال: أق قوم أبا عبد الله يسألونه الحديث من الأمصاروأنا ءذده٠ فقال لي: أنفرى أحدا من القوم؟ قات: لال قال: فكيف دخلوا علي؟ قات: هؤلاء قوم يطلون الحديث من كل وجه، لايبالون ممتن أخذوا الحديث. فقال لرجل منهم: هل سمعت من غيري من الحديث؟ قال: نعم.¹ قال: فحدثي بعض ما سمعت. قال: إتكا جئت لأسمع منك، لم أبيء أحدثك. قال: وتفضل أن تحدثي ما سمعت؟ أجعل اندي حدثك حديبه أمانة لاتحدث به أحدا؟ قال: لال قال: فأسمعنا بض ما اقتبست من العلم حي نفيدك إن شاء ١لله١٠ قال: حدثي سفيان الثورى عن جعفر بن محمتد قال: النبيذ كهل حلال إلا الحمر. بم سكت. فقال أبو عد لله: زدنا! قال: حدثي سفيان عمتن حدثه عن محمتد ين علي أئه قال: من لا بمسح عل خفيه فهو صاحب بدعة، ومن لا يثرب النبيذ فهو مبتدع، ومن لا يأكل الحرث وطعام أهل الذمة وذباتحهم فهوضال. أنتا النبيذ فقد شربه عمر، نبيذ زبيب فرشحه بالماء، وأنتا المسح علي الحنفين فقد مسح عمرعلي الخفين ثلائا لي السفرولوئاوليهل لي الحض، وأما الدباخ فقد أكاها علي وقال: كوها فان; لله نفالى يقول: you, and your food is lawful for them.'"'"^[507] Then he fell silent. Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Tell us more!" He said, “I have reported to you what I heard." He said, “Is that all you have heard?" He said, “No!" He said, “Tell us more!" He said, “'Amr b. 'Ubayd reported to us that Hasan [al-Basi] said, ‘There are things people believe in and rely on that have no basis in the Book. Among them are the punishment of the grave, the Scale, the Pool, interces­sion, and the intention, so that when a man intends to do good or bad but does not actually do it, his intention is still recompensed. A man is recompensed only for what he does; if it is good, then good, and if it is bad, then bad.'" I laughed at his reporting. Abu 'Abd Allah signaled to me to refrain so we could hear [more]. [The man] lifted his head to me and said, 'What makes you laugh? Something true or something false?" I said to him, “God causes laughter and crying!^[508] It was amaze­ment at how you memorized all these hadiths that made me laugh.” He fell silent.

Abu 'Abd Allah asked, 'What region are you from?" He said, “I am from the people of Basra." He said, “This person you narrate from and whose name you mention as Ja'far b. Muhammad—do you know him?" He said, “No!" He said, “Have you heard anything about him?" He said, “No!" He said, “So you consider these hadiths to be true?" He said, “Yes!" He said, “When did you hear them?" He said, “I do not remem­ber, except that they are the hadiths of the people of our town since time immemorial that they do not dispute." Abu 'Abd Allah said to him, “If you were to meet this man from whom you transmit and he were to say to you, ‘These things that you narrate from me are false, without basis, I do not recognize them, and I did not transmit them,' would you believe him?" He said, “No!" He said, “Why?" He said, “Because those who testified to his sayings were men whose word would be accepted were they to testify with regards to the neck [that is, life] of a man."^[509]

The prime engine for fabrications of this sort were the Qussas (“sto- tellers"),^[510] the popular street preachers.^[511] They were members of an institution reportedly established by Mu'awiya^[512] to publicize the Uma­yyad caliphate's positions in their propaganda war against 'All and his supporters.^[513] In late Umayyad and post-Umayyad times, however, the storytellers changed their approach and began exploiting the popularity of the House of the Prophet by ascribing their own fabrications to them. The Qussas were known for making statements and ascribing them to religious authorities even in their presence.^[514] There were also many other individuals who were active in this field. An infamous case was that of the judge Abu al-Bakhtari Wahb b. Wahb (d. 199 or 2 0 0),^{[515] [516] judge of Baghdad under Harun al-Rashid, who openly improvised fabrications and attributed them to Ja'far al-Sadiq.5٥4 To make his fabrications appear more acceptable, he claimed to have a close familial relationship with the Imam through his mother, whom he asserted the Imam had married. The story was altogether false.[517]}

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Ja'far al-Sadiq constantly complained about those who fabricated state­ments in his name:

عن أبي عبد هللا: إدن الناس أولعوا بالكذب علينا.^[518]

Abu 'Abd Allah: “People have enthusiastically made false attributions to us.”

اين سنان قال: قال أبو عبد الله : إنا أهل بيت صادقون لا نخلو من كذاب تمكذب علنا فيسقط صدقنا *كذبه علنا عند الناس,^[519]

['Abd Allah b. Sinan:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “We are people of a truthful household, but we do not lack fabricators who falsely attribute things to us and thus tarnish our reputation for truthfulness among people with their lies.”

There was an added factor that further encouraged these fabrications. During the Umayyad period, the pro-'Uthman faction worried very little about 'All, as he was officially regarded as an outcast by the government and was, as noted earlier, regularly cursed from the pulpit of every mosque throughout the caliphate. It was later in the Umayyad reign, and then in early Abbasid times, that the pro-'Ali tendency found an opportunity to manifest itself. That trend culminated in the early third century, to a great extent thanks to efforts by Ahmad b. Hanbal to make 'All's name the fourth in the list of the “rightly guided” caliph-successors to the Prophet. This was also the time in which mainstream Islamic orthodoxy, with its specific interpretations of the historical past and of the doctrinal and legal present, was taking shape. There was thus an urgent need to “tame” and reshape 'All's image as orthodox in order to present the orthodoxy as uniform and homogeneous, and to eliminate any elements that splinter groups could use to attack the orthodoxy and to bolster their own propositions and argu­ments. This was the stage on which the role of hadith transmitters was vitally important, because their many contributions, placed mostly, though not solely, in the mouth of Ja'far al-Sadiq, presented 'All as someone who fully agreed with the orthodox teachings on every matter, whether histori­cal, doctrinal, or legal.

A second, similarly active group of fabricators was the Ghulat, whose members tried to support their own esoteric version of religion by ascrib­ing it to the Imams, and to Ja'far al-Sadiq in particular. I have discussed this group and their doctrines elsewhere.^[520] Volumes have been compiled over the past twelve centuries of the vast amount of materials produced by the early Ghulat. Ja'far al-Sadiq did his best to disown them, condemn their doc­trine and false attributions, and warn his followers of the harm they could cause to the Shi community. Here are a few examples of the Imam's state­ments on and instructions about the group:^[521]

هشام ين سالم عن أبي عبد الله وذكر الغلاة فقال: إن فيهم من كذب حى أن الغيطان يحتاج إلىكذبه!^[522]

[Hisham b. Salim:] Abu 'Abd Allah mentioned the Ghulat and said, “There are among them those who lie to the extent that Satan is in need of their lies!”

فضيل ين يسار عن أبي عبد الله: إحذروا على شباكم الغلاة لا يفسدوهم فإن الغلاة خرخلق لله، يصعرون عظمة لله ويدعون الربوبية صياد ١لله٠ ^[523]

[Fudayl b. Yasar:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Beware that the Ghulat do not corrupt your youth, for the Ghulat are the most evil of God's creation. They belittle God's magnificence and attribute divinity to the servants of God.”

عن مرزم قال: قال أبوعبدالله: قل للغاية: توبواإلى الله فإنكم فساقكعارمشكون.^[524]

[Murazim b. Hukaym:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Say to the Ghulat, ‘Repent before God, for you are immoral, disbelievers, and polytheists.'”

خلف ين خماد عن رجل عن أبي عبد لله قال: لا تصل خلف الغالى وإنكان يقول بقولك.^[525]

[Khalaf b. Hammad:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Do not pray behind any of the Ghulat, even if he professes what you profess.”^[526]

Sharik b. 'Abd Allah al-Nakha'i, a judge in Kufa (d. 177), made the follow­ing comment about the effect of the false attributions of the second group of fabricators—the Ghulat—but is understandably silent on the first —the Qussas and other hadith fabricators:

يحيى بن عبد الحميد الحماني في كتابه، قال: قلت لشريك إن اقواتا يزعمون أن جعفر ين محتقد ضعيف في الحديث، فقال: أخمك الغضة: كان جعفر ين محتقد رجال صالحا مسلئا ورعا، فاكتنغه قوم جهال يدخلون عله يحرجون من عنده وتقولون «حدثنا جعفر ين محتقد« يحدثون بأحاديث كلها منكرات كذب موضوعة على جعفر، يستأكاون الناس بذلك ويأخذون منهم الدراهم. والله ما قال جعفرشيئا من هذا قط. كان جعفر أتق لله وأورع من ذلك. فضعفوه. ولو رأيث جعفرا لعلمت أقه أوحد^[527] الناس.^[528]

[Yahya b. 'Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani:] I said to Sharik, “Some people claim that Ja'far b. Muhammad was a weak [that is, unreliable] hadith transmitter.”^[529] He said, “Let me tell you the story: Ja'far b. Muham­mad was a righteous and pious man. He was surrounded by a group of ignorant people who would visit him and then come out and say, ‘Ja'far b. Muhammad told us...' and they would transmit hadiths that were all unacceptable lies and fabrications attributed to Ja'far. They would defraud people with them to take their money. By God, Ja'far said none of that. Ja'far was more pious and God-fearing than that. They besmirched him. Had you seen Ja'far, you would know that he was unique among people.”

Heirs to both groups of fabricators still abound in Muslim communities. They continue their predecessors' legacy, repeating and publicizing old fab­rications falsely attributed to the Imams.

The widespread phenomenon of introducing false reports and attribut­ing them to Ja'far al-Sadiq and his father prompted Ja'far and Muhammad al-Baqir to set standards for their followers as well as others. Their aim was to help people distinguish between truth and falsehood in the citations that they received from transmitters of religious reports, street preachers, and other networks that had been set up to propagate the caliphate's points of view throughout the land of caliphate:

عبد الله بن تنكير عن رجل عن أبي جعفر قال: دخلنا عله جماعة فقلنا: بإين رسول الله! إنا نريد العرق فاوصنا. فقال: إذا جانكم عثا حديث فوجدتم عيه شاهدا او شاهدين من كتاب لله فخذوا به والأفقفوا عنده تم ردوه إلنا حى يستبين لكم.^[530]

['Abd Allah b. Bukayr:] Abu Ja'far [al-Baqir] said, “If a hadith attributed to us reaches you, and you find one or two corroborations for it in the Book of God, accept it. Otherwise, suspend judgment and refer it to us until it is clarified for you.”

عبد لله بن أبي يعفورعن أبي عبد لله قال: إذا ورد عيكم حديث فوجدتم ل شاهدا من كتاب لله أومن قول رسول لله — صق لله عيه وآل وسلم — [فخذوا به] وإلأ فاندي جاءكم به أولى به.^[531]

['Abd Allah b. Abi Ya'fur:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “If you come across a hadith and find something in the Book of God or the sayings of the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) corroborating it, then accept it; otherwise it is more appropri­ate for the one who brought it to you to keep it!”

يونس ين عبد الرجن قال: حدثى هشام ين الحكم أقه سمع أبا عبد اهللا يقول: لا تقبلوا علنا حديثا إلا ما وافق القرآن والستة أو تجدون معه شاهدا من أحاديثنا المتقدمة. فاتقوا الله ولا تتقبلوا علنا ما خالف قول ربنا نغالى وسئة نببنا — صق الله عله وآل وسلم.^[532]

[Yunus b. 'Abd al-Rahman:] Hisham b. al-Hakam told me that he heard Abu 'Abd Allah say, “Do not accept a statement attributed to us unless it accords with the Qur'an and Sunna, or you find one of our earlier statements corroborating it. Do not accept anything attributed to us that contradicts the word of our Lord, the Exalted, or the Sunna of our Prophet (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family).”

VIII.