Q: But maybe al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others relied on

these people without knowing their true belief?

O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah,
These scholars devoted their lives to acquiring and transmitting traditions and and be with the truthful
studying the lives of the transmitters of these traditions. Most of them have (Qur'an: Chapter 9, Verse 119)
books on Rijal (science of judging reliability of narrators) to their credit.
Although their selectivity and choice of authorities and material clearly indicates
a staunch Sunni standpoint, they still found themselves relying on those Shi'ah
who they judged to be truthful. This is despite the fact that their Shi'ism is
expressed with disapproval!

Thus, to say that al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others didn't really know the belief of
these Shi'ah narrators would be to call them incompetent in their field!!!

Q: But why didn't they just rely on Sunni's as

authorities?
Perhaps they were not as bigoted and narrow-minded as some of our Sunni
brethren who insist on associating the Shi'ah belief with all sorts of false
Rafidi
Shi'ah narrators in
allegations. It should be clear from the biographies listed that being critical of
some Caliphs and Companions - based on incontrovertible historical evidence -
was tolerated by Sunni scholars of previous generations.

Q: And do the Shi'ah rely on Sunni narrators in their

books? Sahih al-Bukhari
As long as the Sunni narrator is not known for his enmity towards the
Household of the Prophet (s) (Ahl al-Bayt) and is considered truthful, he is
accepted by Shi'ah traditionists.

Conclusion:
The fact is that a significant portion of the Sunni hadith literature would be lost
if the material from the Shi'ah narrators was rejected. The Shi'ah faith has
always been and remains a well-evidenced alternative to the Sunni point of
view.
The Shi'ah point of view was followed by many early scholars
To find out more about authentic Islam, visit: of Islam who were considered truthful and trustworthy, and
their narrations of the hadith of the Prophet (s) were relied
http://al-islam.org/faq/ upon by famous Sunni scholars.
v1.0
Listed below are a few of the Shi'ah scholars that al-Bukhari has relied upon in 'Abd al-Malik b. ‰ He was Rafidi Shi'i, one of (the people of) opinion.
his Sahih. If we add to these the rest of them including those narrators in the A'yan al-Kufi [Abu Ja'far al-'Uqayli, Du'afa al-'Uqayli, under "'Abd al-Malik
Sahih of Muslim and the other four Sihah Sittah who followed the Shi'ah faith, b. A'yan"]
‰ He was Rafidi, reliable (saduq).
then the number would increase significantly. To save space, reference is given Sahih al-Bukhari [kitab al-
tawhid] [Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, under "'Abd al-Malik b. A'yan"]
to the section title (kitab) in each book for only one hadith by each person - the
Sahih Muslim [kitab al-'iman] ‰ Al-'Ijli said: He was from Kufah, a Tabi'i
rest can be found using indices or hadith software. Sahih al-Tirmidhi [kitab tafsir (Successor), reliable. Sufyan said: 'Abd al-Malik
al-Qur'an]
The reader will notice the term Rafidi every now and then in the following Sunan al-Nasa'i [kitab al-'iman b. 'A'yan the Shi'i narrated to us, he was a Rafidi to
biographies. The Sunni scholars generally define a Rafidi as a Shi'ah who wa al-nudhur] us, a man of opinion. Hamid said: Those three
Sunan Abu Dawud [kitab al- brothers, 'Abd al-Malik, Zurarah, and Hamran
openly criticizes or rejects the legitimacy of the Caliphs before 'Ali (a). buyu']
Sunan Ibn Majah [kitab al- were Rawafid all of them. Abu Hatim said: He was
'Ubayd Allah b. ‰ "Aboo Daawood said: He was an ardent Shee'ee, zakah] one of the earliest to embrace Shi'ism, (he was) on
Musa al-'Absi his ahaadeeth are allowable....Ibn Mandah said: the position of truthfulness, having good traditions,
(died 213 AH) Ahmad ibn Hanbal used to point 'Ubaydullaah out and his traditions are written.
to the people, and he was well known for Rafd [Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, under "'Abd al-
Malik b. A'yan"]
(extreme partisanship for 'Alee), and he would not
let anyone enter his house who was called 'Abd al-Razzaq ‰ Ibn 'Adi said: They (i.e. scholars) did not see any
Sahih Bukhari [kitab al-'iman] 'Mu'aawiyah'". al-San'ani problem in his hadith except that they attributed
Sahih Muslim [kitab al-'iman] [The Creed of the Imaam of Hadeeth al-Bukhari and of the Great Shi'ism to him… He was a man of honor … he
Sahih al-Tirmidhi [kitab al-salat] Scholars from whom he narrated (Salafi Publications, UK, 1997), p. (died 211 AH)
Sunan al-Nasa'i [kitab al-sahw]
narrated traditions in praise of the Household of
89 from Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, vol. 9, pp .553-557]
Sunan Abu Dawud [kitab al- the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt) and disparaging others…
taharah]
‰ "A pious person, one of the important Shi'ah Mukhlid al-Shu'ayri said: I was with 'Abd al-
Sahih Bukhari [kitab al-'iman]
Sunan Ibn Majah [kitab al- scholars ... considered reliable by Yahya b. Ma'in, Sahih Muslim [kitab al-'iman] Razzaq when someone mentioned Mu'awiyah.
muqaddamah] Abu Hatim said he was reliable, trustworthy ... al- Sahih al-Tirmidhi [kitab al- 'Abd al-Razzaq said: 'Do not pollute our assembly
'Ijli said: He was an authority on the Qur'an..." taharah]
by mentioning the descendant of Abu Sufyan!'.
[Al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz under "'Ubayd Allah b. Musa Sunan Nasa'i [kitab al-taharah]
Sunan Abi Dawud [kitab al- [Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, under "'Abd al-Razzaq al-
al-'Absi"]
taharah] San'ani"]
'Abbad b. Ya'qub ‰ He was a trustworthy Rafidi and his hadith is in Sunan Ibn Majah [kitab al- ‰ Ibn 'Adi narrated (a hadith) from 'Abd al-
al-Rawajini (Sahih of) al-Bukhari. muqaddamah fi al-'iman]
Razzaq…, "If you see Mu'awiyah on my pulpit
(died 250 AH) [Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Taqrib al-Tahdhib, under "'Abbad b. then kill him!".
Ya'qub al-Rawajani"] [Al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-'I'tidal, under "'Abd al-Razzaq al-
‰ Abu Hatim said: He was a shaykh, reliable. Ibn San'ani"]
'Adi said: He used to denounce the Salaf. In him 'Awf b. Abi ‰ He was Rafidi but reliable… He was considered
Sahih Bukhari [kitab al-tawhid] was extremism of Shi'ism. Salih b. Muhammad Jamilah al-'A'rabi reliable by many scholars, and in him was Shi'ism.
Sahih al-Tirmidhi [kitab al- said: He used to denounce 'Uthman. I heard him [Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, under "'Awf b. Abi
(died 146 AH)
manaqib] saying, "Allah is more just than that he would Jamilah"]
Sunan Ibn Majah [kitab ma ja' fi
al-jana'iz]
admit Talhah and al-Zubayr into heaven after they Sahih Bukhari [kitab al-'iman] ‰ 'Awf was a Qadari, a Shi'i, a Shaytan!
paid allegiance to 'Ali and then fought him." Ibn Sahih Muslim [kitab al-masajid [Abu Ja'far al-'Uqayli, Du'afa al-'Uqayli, under "'Awf b. Abi
Hibban said: He was a Rafidi inviting (others to his wa mawadi' al-salat] Jamilah"]
belief). He narrated this hadith …, "If you see
Sahih al-Tirmidhi [kitab al-salat] ‰ He was inclined towards Shi'ism. Ibn Ma'in said:
Sunan Nasa'i [kitab al-taharah] reliable, Al-Nasa'i said: Very reliable.
Mu'awiyah on my pulpit, kill him!" Sunan Abi Dawud [kitab al-salat]
[Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, under "'Awf b. Abi Jamilah"]
[Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, under "'Abbad b. Sunan Ibn Majah [kitab al-salat]
Ya'qub al-Rawajani"]