How sound is the hadith of as-Sufyaani?

This hadith – the hadith of as-Sufyaani – is one of the
hadiths that people have been circulating amongst themselves in recent
years, and some people try to interpret it as referring to what the Muslims
are going through of crises and wars. But it is a da‘eef hadith and is not
saheeh.

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said
concerning it:

It is munkar. It was narrated by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak
(4/520) via Muhammad ibn Ismaa‘eel ibn Abi Sameenah: al-Waleed ibn Muslim
told us: al-Awzaa‘i told us: from Yahya ibn Abi Katheer, from Abu Salamah,
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), in a marfoo‘ report
(i.e., attributed to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him)).

He said: It is saheeh according to the conditions of the two
shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim], and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him.

I – i.e., Shaykh al-Albaani – say: This is subject to further
discussion from two angles:

Firstly, Muslim did not narrate any hadith from Ibn Abi
Sameenah.

Secondly, al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated by saying ‘an
(“from”, as opposed to “So and so told us” or “I heard So and so say” etc),
so he used to engage in tadlees (saying ambiguous words to give the wrong
impression), by omitting the name of the shaykh of his shaykh, namely the
shaykh of al-Awzaa‘i. It says in his biography: It was narrated that al-Haytham
ibn Khaarijah said: I said to al-Waleed ibn Muslim: You have corrupted the
hadith of al-Awzaa‘i! He said: How? I said: You narrate from him from Naafi‘,
and from him from az-Zuhri, and from him from Yahya – i.e., Ibn Katheer –
whereas others include between al-Awzaa‘i and Naafi‘ (the name of) ‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Aamir al-Aslami, and between him and az-Zuhri they include (the name
of) Qurrah. What made you do that? He said: al-Awzaa‘i is too noble to
narrate from such as these! I said: If al-Awzaa‘i narrated from these munkar
narrators – and they are da‘eef – then you omitted them and made the report
look as if it was narrated from al-Awzaa‘i from the good narrators, then
that will lead to al-Awzaa‘i losing credibility and being regarded as da‘eef.
But he did not pay any attention to what I said.

It was also mentioned by al-‘Alaa’i in al-Maraaseel
(p. 118), and by al-Haafiz in at-Tahdheeb. It was mentioned before
him by adh-Dhahabi in as-Siyar (9/215), before him by al-Mazzi in his
Tahdheeb (31/97), and before them by Ibn ‘Asaakir in at-Taareekh
(17/906). And they quoted something similar from Imam ad-Daaraqutni.

Once you know this, and you know that al-Waleed also used to
engage in tadlees (by omitting the name of the shaykh of his shaykh), then
it is very strange to find that adh-Dhahabi did not explain that in his
books, including as-Siyar, in which he said concerning him: He is
trustworthy and haafiz (knows a lot of ahaadeeth), but he had a poor memory,
so if he said haddathana ([So and so] told us), then his report is credible.
Similarly he said in al-Kaashif: … and he engaged in tadlees, so one
should be cautious of his hadith in which he says “ ‘an” (from). Perhaps
what he meant was anywhere in his isnaad – I mean, as he narrated by saying
“from” between al-Awzaa‘i and his shaykh Yahya, or between the latter and
Abu Salamah. But his reports may be credible if he clearly states that it
was narrated, rather than saying ‘an (from). This explanation is possible
and may be supported by what was mentioned above, but I think he stated
something contrary to that, as he said in al-Mughni: If he says
“al-Awzaa‘i told us” then it is credible. This is undoubtedly a shortcoming
on his part. The correct view is to describe him as engaging in two types of
tadlees, the first of which is tadlees as-samaa‘ (when he says ‘an (from)
instead of So and so narrated/told me). This is what was stated clearly by
al-Haafiz in at-Taqreeb and Muqaddimat al-Fath, where he says
(450): Many criticised him for engaging in tadlees a great deal. The second
type of tadlees is tadlees at-taswiyah, which is mentioned above, and they
quoted as evidence for this kind of tadlees his hadith from al-Awzaa‘i. …
But two suggest that the two shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim] narrated this
hadith is subject to further discussion. Adh-Dhahabi said, after quoting the
report of al-Haytham mentioned above and others: I say: al-Bukhaari and
Muslim narrated some of his hadiths, but they were very careful about which
his hadith to accept and they avoided the odd reports.

I say: perhaps the hadith in question is more akin to those
that they avoided because it is odd (munkar) and because of the ‘an‘anah
(narrating by saying ‘an/from) in its isnaad, and for that reason
adh-Dhahabi – let alone al-Haakim – thought they were wrong to class it as
saheeh according to their (al-Bukhaari and Muslim) conditions, because of
what was known of the biography of Ibn Abi Sameenah, and because there is no
clear mention of al-Awzaa‘i and earlier narrators having narrated that.

To this we may add that Yahya ibn Abi Katheer also engaged in
tadlees when narrating from his shaykhs, and he was known for that, as it
says in Maraaseel al-‘Alaa’i and elsewhere.

The swallowing up of the army in the earth is mentioned at
the end of a saheeh hadith from Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her), who
narrated that she heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) say: “This House (the Ka‘bah) will surely be targeted by an army that
comes to attack it, until when they are in a plain, the middle of them will
be swallowed up by the earth, and the first of them will call to the last of
them, then they will be swallowed up too, and there will be none left except
a fugitive  who will tell of what happened to them.” Narrated by Muslim and
others; it is also narrated in as-Saheehah (1924 and 2432). End
quote.

As-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah
(6520).

This hadith – and all the hadiths that speak of as-Sufyaani –
was classed as da‘eef by Dr at-Tareefi (may Allah preserve him) in
Multaqa Ahl al-Hadith:

http://www.ahlalhadeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2560&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

It was also classed as da‘eef by Dr Haatim al-‘Awni (may
Allah have mercy on him): 

http://www.islamtoday.net/fatawa/quesshow–60–10580.htm

Shaykh Hammood at-Tuwaijri (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

There is no saheeh, reliable hadith about the emergence of
as-Sufyaani. End quote.

Ithaaf al-Jamaa‘ah bima jaa’a fi’l-Fitan wa’l-Malaahim wa
Ashraat as-Saa‘ah
(1/63).

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The hadith of as-Sufyaani was narrated by al-Haakim in his
Mustadrak, and he said that its isnaad is saheeh. But al-Haakim (may
Allah have mercy on him) was known to be lenient in accepting hadiths as
saheeh. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn ‘Utahymeen
(2/62)

And Allah knows best.