Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith

Ahmad Reporting From an Apostate Companion:

Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari, says: In Musnad Ahmad we find hadith of Rabi’ah ibn Umayyah ibn Khalaf al-Jamhi, who embraced Islam during conquest of Makkah, attending the Hijjat al-Wada’ with the Messenger of Allah, relating his traditions after his demise…then he was disgraced. During the caliphate of Umar he joined the Romans, adopting the Christian religion, because of something that enraged him. Reporting such a hadith is verily a dubious thing, and that who reported it might not get acquainted with the story of his apostasy.

634

These were comments uttered by eminent leaders (imams) about Musnad Ahmad, which suffice for introducing it and manifesting its worth as it was actually not as was known about it. It was one of the sources that were unreliable and unfit for argumentation, like all other Musnads.

  1. Fath al-Bari, vol. VII, p.3.