Investigating Sahl b. Ziyad’sRijali-Haidithi Personality

Sahl b. Ziyad is one of the most renowned narrators of hadith from whom more than 2300 hadiths have been narrated in the Four Books. However, scholars of rijal have disputes over his reliability. Some have weakened him accusing him of exaggeration, lying and narrating weak hadiths. They refer to the treatment of Ahmad b. ‘Isa al-Ash’ari, Fadl b. Shadhan, Ibn Walid and the views of scholars such as Ibn Ghada’iri, al-Najashi and al-Shaykh al-Tusi. Some other rijali scholars have referred to numerous evidences to validate Sahl b. Ziyad exonerating him of the accusations. In this article, some general issues about Sahl’s life will be presented first, then motives behind weakening or strengthening him will be covered separately and their advantages and disadvantages will be studied.