Sharh al-Sunna

The False Attribution of Sharh al-Sunna to the Hanbali Outlaw Al-Barbahari

Among the false attributions being promoted in our time is the book entitled:

“Sharh al-Sunna”

Chainlessly attributed by Ibn Abi Ya`la (d. 526) in his Tabaqat al-Hanabila to the Hanbali outlaw and anthropomorphist Abu Muhammad al-Barbahari (253-329), which in reality reaches us through a unique sixth-century Zahiriyya manuscript with an unambiguous, explicit chain back to the ultra-Hanbali Sufi forger Ghulam al-Khalil (d. 275) as his own work – and thus catalogued by Fuat Sezgin in his  “Tarikh al-Turath al-`Arabi” – without any mention of al-Barbahari whatsoever.

This is acknowledged in all its numerous, mutually censorious prints from 1408H to 1426H

(three editions by Muhammad ibn Sa`id al-Qahtani, then three editions by Khalid al-Raddadi, then another edition by `Abd al-Rahman al-Jumayzi), each criticizing the previous although they all find excuses why authorship should be attributed to al-Barbahari – mostly on the basis of Ibn Abi Ya`la’s unsourced claim and his imitators the later Hanbalis

al-`Ulaymi,

Ibn Taymiyya,

Ibn `Abd al-Hadi,

Ibn Muflih,

Ibn `Imad and al-Dhahabi.

One editor even claims that “al-Barbahari‘s biographers all mention he wrote a “Sharh al-Sunna” while none of Ghulam al-Khalil does.”

 In fact, Qawwam al-Sunna al-Taymi (d. 535) in “al-Hujja fi Bayan al- Mahajja wa-Sharh `Aqidat Ahl al-Sunna” (2:473-475) explicitly cites the latter in his list of

“those shaykhs of the Salaf and the Khalaf upon whom is the reliance on the chapters of religious doctrine, who are our leaders in practicing the Sunna and who have publicized their belief… and I shall mention a group of our Imams among the Salaf who have composed books in those meanings… among them, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib, known as Ghulam al-Khalil the companion of Ahmad ibn Hanbal”

– and he omits any mention of al-Barbahari despite the length of his list.

Note: The Hanbali Abu `Abd Allah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib al- Bahili nicknamed Ghulam al-Khalil was al-La’laka’i’s teacher and a major Baghdad Sufi who reputedly ate only beans.

When he died, the souks of Baghdad closed down, his bier was carried to al-Basra where he was buried and the Hanbalis built a dome over his grave; but he fabricated hadiths of his own admission, forging no less than four hundred (400) of them according to Abu Dawud who called him “Baghdad’s dajjal” and refused to pray over him as mentioned in the books of the Du`afa.

--

Sharh as-Sunnah By Imam al-Barbahari, English translation
[b#4425, 5d2, HB 2 Vols 818pp With Commentary By Salih Al-Fawzan, Dar Makkah Int, English: Abdus-Sam]

A Gift to the Reader in Annotation of
Sharh as-Sunnah : The Explanation of The Sunnah
By Imam Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Ali bin Khalaf al-Barbahari
With Commementary By Shaykh, Dr. Saalih bin-Fawzan bin Abdullah al-Fawzan (Member of the Council of Senior Scholars Saudi Arabia)
[2 Volumes 480 + 338 Pages]
Translator : Abdus-Sami Abdus salam
Revised By Abu Asma Abdul Hakim Harun
Final Review and Edited By Abu Nasir Ibrahim Abdur Rauf
Publisher: Dar Makkah International (2012)

 ---------------------------

This book is so important to the Wahhabiyyah “Salafis” that they have Audio & Written commentaries on it:

-Salih Al-Fawzan (audio)
-Omar Al-Harkan (audio)
-Ahmad Abdas Salam (audio)
-Omar bin Sa'ud (audio)
-Abdul Aziz Ar-Rajihi (audio)
-Fahd bin Sulayman (audio)
-Abdul Aziz Ar-Rayes (audio)
-Falah Isma'il Mndakar (audio)
-Ahmad An-Najmee (written - Irshad As-Sari commentary)
-Ali Al-Halabee (written commentary)
-Salih As-Suhaymee (audio)

-------

Note: That the Imams of Ar-Rijal all call Ghulam Khalil a liar, fabricator!

Al-Hakim An-Naysaburi says of him:
روى عن جماعة من الثقات أحاديث موضوعة
"He narrarated fabricated hadith from a group of trustworthy transmitters"
--
Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar (ra) says of Ghulam Khalil the following (Lisan Al-Mizan):

قال ابن عدي سمعت أبا عبد الله النهاوندي يقول قلت لغلام خليل: ما هذه الرقائق التي تحدث بها؟ قال وضعناها لنرقق بها قلوب العامة
"Ibn Uday said: I heard Aba Abdallah An-Nahawandi say: I said to Ghulam Khalil 'what are these heart softening hadiths that you are narrating?' he replied: 'we've fabricated them to soften the hearts of the laymen'.
-
Al-Hafidh also says:

قال أبو داود أخشى أن يكون دجال بغداد
وقال الدارقطني متروك
سمعت الشيخ أبا بكر بن إسحاق يقول: أحمد بن محمد بن غالب ممن لا أشك في كذبه
قال أبو داود قد عرض علي من حديثه فنظرت في أربعمائة حديث أسانيدها ومتونها كذب كلها

"Hafidh Abu Dawud said about Ghulam Khalil: 'I suspect he is the Dajjal of Baghdad"
"Ad-Daraqutni said about him: 'Matruk' (meaning his hadith is not accepted)"
"I heard Abu Bakr bin Ishaq say: "Ahmad bin Mohammed bin Ghalib (Ghulam Khalil) is a liar without any doubt"
"Abu Dawud said: 'his hadith was shown to me, and I saw of them only 400, and ALL of their isnads and texts were lies"

---

The book Sharh As-Sunnah, which is considered a book of much value to the Salafis, was not authored by Barbahari, rather it was authored by a fabricator of Hadith named Ghulam Khalil. 

(Edited by ADHM)