"His teacher al-Amash used to say, whenever he saw him coming, This is the au‌
thority on the Quran." He was born in the year ٨٠ A.H. (٦٩٩ c.E.) and died in ١٥٦
A.H. (٧٧٢ C.E.)_٣١
Ibn MuIn regarded him as reliable, and al-NasaI considered him acceptable. Al‌
Ijli also regarded him as a reliable and righteous individual. According to Ibn Sad, "He was a righteous person who knew the traditions. He was truthful and had a com‌ pilation." According to al-Saji, "He was truthful but of poor memory and not exact in his transmission of the traditions." He was also criticized by a group oftraditionists (ahl al-?wdfth) for his reading of the Quran, to the extent that some of them invali‌ dated the prayer if the recitation followed his reading. Al-Saji and al-Azdi have both reported that • some
a reprehensible habit of his." Moreover, al-Saji adds that he heard Saluma b. Shabib say that "Al}inad [b. I:Ianbal] used to dislike praying behind anyone who adopted I:Iamzas reading of the Quran." Al-Ajuri has reported, on the authority of Al}mad b. Sinan, that "Yazid b. Haran used to severely disapprove of I:Iamzas reading." Al}mad b. Sinan heard Ibn Muhdi say that "if I had the authority over those who follow I:Iamzas reading, I would have had them flogged." Abu Bakr b. Ayyash declared that "in our opinion, I:Iamzas reading is a sinful innovation." Ibn Durayd said, "I would like to see I:Iamzas reading out of Kufa."٣٢
I:Iamzas reading was transmitted by Khalaf b. Hisham and Khallad b. Khalid, both of whom learned it through intermediary authorities.
As for Khalaf, his full name was Abu Mul}ammad al-Asadib. Hisham b. Thalab al-Bazzar al-Baghdadi. According to Ibn al-Jazari, "He was one of the ten readers, and one of those who transmitted the reading on the authority of Sulaym, who trans‌ mitted it from I:Iamza. He had memorized the Quran at the age of ten, and started seeking knowledge at the age of thirteen. He was trustworthy, prominent, ascetic, pious, and learned." Ibn Ashta has related that "Khalaf followed I:Iamza in his read‌ ing, but differed from him on ١٢٠ letters."٣٣ He was born in ١٥٠ A.H. (٧٦٧ c.E.), and he died in ٢٢٩ A.H. (٨٤٣ C.E.).
According to al-LalkaI, "Abbas al-Duri was asked about the story related, on the authority of Al}mad b. I:Ianbal, regarding Khalaf b. Hisham. He [al-Duri] said, I did not hear it directly from him, but my associates told me that they mentioned Khalaf in Al}mad b. I:Ianbals presence, and it was said that he used to drink. Al)mad then commented on this, saying, We have heard of this. Nevertheless, by God, he is re‌ garded by us as reliable and trustworthy." Al-NasaI regarded him as reliable. Al‌ Daraqutni declared him pious and learned, and added that Khalaf used to say, "I have performed my prayers repeatedly for forty years during which, in accordance with the rulings of the Kufans, I used to drink wine." Al-Khatib al-Baghdadr, in his his‌ tory of Baghdad, relates, on the authority ofMul}ammad b. I:Iatim al-Kindi: "I asked Yal}ya b. MuIn about Khalaf al-Bazzar. He said, He did not even know [about] the science of tradition [ilm aHzad!th]."٣٤
As for those who transmitted the reading from him, we shall mention them later. As for Khallad b. Khalid, his full name was Abu lsa al-Shaybani al-Kuff. Accord‌
ing to Ibn al-Jazari, "He was a master of Quran reading, reliable, knowledgeable, a
careful investigator [of the authenticity of traditions], and a teacher." He received