Hadith Supporting the Protection of Ilm by the Ulema

“Abu Abdullah Al-Hafiz and Abu Sa’id ibn Abi Amr narrated to us, they said: Abu Al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya’qub narrated to us, Yahya ibn Abi Talib narrated to us, Ali ibn Asim narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Abu Sinan, from Al-Dahhak; From Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: “The upright ones of each successive generation will carry this Ilm (knowledge). They will remove from it the distortions of the extremists, the false claims of the liars, and the misinterpretations of the ignorant.”

References

• Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Madkhal ila al-Sunan al-Kubra
• Ibn Adi (d. 365 AH) in Al-Kamil fi Du’afa Al-Rijal (1/75).
• Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi in Sharaf Ashab Al-Hadith.

Scholars have debated whether to grade this Hadith as Sahih (authentic) or Hasan (good) due to Ali ibn Asim and Al-Dahhak’s narration from Ibn Abbas in the Sanad.

Arabic Text

أخبرنا أبو عبد الله الحافظ، وأبو سعيد بن أبي عمرو، قالا: حدَّثنا أبو العباس محمد بن يعقوب، حدَّثنا يحيى بن أبي طالب، حدَّثنا علي بن عاصم، عن حمَّاد بن سلمة، عن أبي سنان، عن الضحَّاك، عن ابن عباسٍ رضي الله عنهما، عن النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أنَّه قال:
«يَحْمِلُ هَذَا الْعِلْمَ مِنْ كُلِّ خَلَفٍ عُدُولُهُ، يَنْفُونَ عَنْهُ تَحْرِيفَ الْغَالِينَ، وَانْتِحَالَ الْمُبْطِلِينَ، وَتَأْوِيلَ الْجَاهِلِينَ».