Hadith al-Himyan
- Author died
- 353 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-'Ubaykān
Hadith al-Himyan (Arabic: حديث الهميان, lit. 'The Hadith of the Money Pouch'), also referred to as Hikayat al-Himyan (حكاية الهميان), is an apocryphal narrative transmitted exclusively by the Baghdadi traditionist Mualla ibn Said al-Tanukhi (d. 353 AH / 964 CE) on the purported authority of the scholar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari.
Transmission and Chain
The account is framed with a chain of transmission (isnad) originating from Mualla ibn Said, who claimed to have received it from Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. According to the reported chain, al-Tabari transmitted it from the "owner of the purse" (sahib al-himyan), who related it from Ahmad ibn Yunus, from Malik ibn Anas, from Nafi, from Abdullah ibn Umar.
Scholarly Assessment and Authenticity
Hadith critics and biographical evaluators unanimously classified the text as baseless (batil) and treated it as a fabrication. Mualla ibn Said was the sole transmitter of the story from al-Tabari, leading scholars such as al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani to declare him untrustworthy (laysa bi-thiqah) and to accuse him of having forged the report himself. In his biographical entry on Mualla, al-Dhahabi expressed skepticism regarding its authenticity, stating that there remained doubt in one's heart as to its validity. Later compendia of fabricated traditions, including Tanzih al-Shariah by Ibn Iraq, listed Mualla specifically as the narrator accused of concocting the narrative of the himyan. Furthermore, contemporary hadith authorities who heard Mualla's transmissions, such as the traditionist Abd al-Ghani ibn Said, noted that although they recorded material from him, he was not a transmitter in whom confidence could be placed.
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