আল ওয়াকিদি
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Wāqidī
» Ibn Ḥajar commented on him saying, “Muttaham (suspected of ḥadīth
forgery).”
» Al-Bukhārī said, “Al-Wāqidī is a Madanī who settled in Baghdad. He is
matrūk al-ḥadīth (suspected of ḥadīth forgery). Aḥmad, Ibn al-Mubārak,
Ibn Numayr and Ismāʿīl ibn Zakariyyā have discarded him.”
» He said at another juncture, “Aḥmad declared him a liar.”
» Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ said, “Aḥmad ibn Ḥambal said to me, ‘Al-Wāqidī is a
kadhāb (great liar).’ Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn told me once, ‘He is worthless.’”
» Al-Shāfʿī has stated as reported by al-Bayhaqī, “All the books of al-Wāqidī
are false.”
» Al-Nasa’ī remarked in al-Ḍuʿafā’, “The kadhābs (great liars) who are known
to forge against RasūlullāhH are four, viz. al-Wāqidī in Madīnah…”
» Ibn ʿAdī2 stated, “His aḥādīth are not maḥfūẓ (safe from weakness) and the
problem lies with him.”
1 Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā vol. 8 pg. 73
2 ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAdī ibn ʿAbd Allah, Abū Aḥmad al-Jurjānī. The Imām, Ḥāfẓ, critic, and explorer. He
was born in 277 A.H. He is one of the ʿUlamā’ of al-jarḥ wa al-taʿdīl. Among his works are: al-Kāmil fī
Maʿrifat al-Ḍuʿafā’ wa al-Matrūkīn a comprehensive book in its feld and al-Intiṣār. He passed away in
365 A.H. (Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalā’ vol. 16 pg. 154; Shadharāt al-Dhahab of Ibn al-ʿImād vol. 3 pg. 51)
» Ibn al-Madīnī said, “He has 20 000 aḥādīth with him, i.e. that are baseless.”
He says at another place, “He is not worthy of being reported from.
Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Yaḥyā is a kadhāb (great liar) but is better than al-Wāqidī
in my sight.”
» Abū Dāwūd states, “I do not record his ḥadīth nor do I narrate from him
because I suspect that he would fabricate aḥādīth.”1
1 Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb vol. 9 pg. 324
Criticism of Muhammad Ibn 'Umar al-Waqidi:
Abd Allah Ibn Ali al Madini and his father said: "Al-Waqidi has 20,000 Hadith I never heard of." And then he said: "His narration shouldn't be used" and considered it weak.
Yahya Ibn Muaen said: "Al-Waqidi said 20,000 false hadith about the prophet."
Al-Shafi'i said, "Al-Waqidi is a liar."
Ibn Hanbal said, "Al-Waqidi is a liar."
Al-Bukhari said he didn't write a single letter by Al-Waqidi. (Siar Aalam al nublaa - althagbi - biography of Al-Waqidi)
The following Muslim author writes:
As a report of history, this narration suffers from two fatally serious defects. The first is the UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED UNTRUSTWORTHINESS OF AL-WAQIDI. Details of his unreliability as a narrator would probably fill several pages, but all of it may be suitably condensed into a statement by Imam ash-Shafi'ee, who was his contemporary, and who knew him personally. Ash-Shafi'ee has the following to say: "In Madeenah there were seven people who used to forge chains of narration. One of them was al-Waqidi."3 (Sources: http://www.allaahuakbar.net/shiites/vicious_unscrupulous_propaganda_of_shiia-2.htm" and http://www.ansar.org/english/hasan.htm; bold emphasis ours)
Others say:
Al-Waqidi (130/747-207/822-23), who wrote over twenty works of an historical nature, but only the Kitab al-Maghazi has survived as an independent work. His reputation is marred by the fact that he relied upon story tellers; viz., those who embellished the stories of others. Al-Waqidi did such embellish, such as by adding dates and other details onto the account of Ibn Ishaq (at pages 25-29) (http://jeromekahn123.tripod.com/enlightenment/id3.html)
Even the English translator of Ibn Sa'd's work had this to say about al-Waqidi:
: The chain of the narrators is not reliable because the person who narrated to Ibn Sa'd was Waqidi WHO IS NOTORIOUS AS A NARRATOR OF FABRICATED hadithes. The next one Ya'qub is unknown and 'Abd Allah Ibn 'Abd al-Rahman is not a Companion. Consequently this narration is not trustworthy. (Ibn Sa'd's Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, Volume I, English translation by S. Moinul Haq, M.A., PH.D assisted by H.K. Ghazanfar M.A. [Kitab Bhavan Exporters & Importers, 1784 Kalan Mahal, Daryaganj, New Delhi, 110 002 India], p. 152, fn. 2; capital emphasis ours)
Here is what Haddad says about al-Waqidi:
[(*) Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Waqidi (d. 207), Ahmad ibn Hanbal said of him: "He is A LIAR." Al-Bukhari and Abu Hatim al-Razi said: "DISCARDED." Ibn `Adi said: "His narrations ARE NOT RETAINED, AND THEIR BANE COMES FROM HIM." Ibn al-Madini said: "HE FORGES HADITHS." Al-Dhahabi said: "CONSENSUS HAS SETTLED OVER HIS DEBILITY." Mizan al-I`tidal (3:662-666 #7993).] (Source: http://bismikaallahuma.org/Polemics/haddad.htm; capital emphasis ours)
“Al-Waqidi is reliable for purely historical reports. Ahl al-Hadith consider him too honest and too rich a source to be discarded especially in light of Ibn Sa`d's accreditation, which lent him huge credit--but they unanimously discard him with regard to ahkam reports which are uncorroborated by other narrators e.g. wiggling the index finger in Salat. It is the latter category they meant when they called him a liar, i.e. thoroughly unreliable and/or inaccurate in his isnads, not at all that he was dishonest. Al-Dhahabi said: "I have no doubt in his sidq." And Allah knows best.” (Source: http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/f/Al-Waqidi%20and%20Sira.htm; bold emphasis ours)