and similarly is the statement of al-Dhahabī in "al-Mughnī": "Truthful but errs, trusted by Ibn Maʿīn and others, but weakened by al-Nasāʾī and a group, and al-Bukhārī and Abū Zurʿah said: his ḥadīth is rejected." Ibn al-Jawzī went to extremes in "al-ʿIlal al-Mutanāhiyah" (2/212-213), as he also criticized [al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān], saying: "Yaḥyā said: his ḥadīth is not a proof, his ḥadīth is confused, and people have always avoided his ḥadīth!" This is an exaggeration on his part; the man is trustworthy, and Muslim relied on him, and there is slight criticism that does not harm him. Al-Dhahabī said in "al-Mughnī": "A well-known truthful person." Ibn ʿAdī said: "I see no harm in his ḥadīth." Abū Ḥātim said: "His ḥadīth is sound, but some things in his ḥadīth are rejected." Al-Zanjī was corroborated; Abū Yaʿlá said in "his Musnad" (11/348/6461): "Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying: Ibn Abī Ḥāzim narrated to me from al-ʿAlāʾ with it." I said: This is a good isnād, Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh—who is al-Zubaydī—is truthful. And those above him are trustworthy from the men of "al-Ṣaḥīḥ"; hence, al-Haythamī said in "al-Majmaʿ" (5/244): "Abū Yaʿlá narrated it, and its men are the men of 'al-Ṣaḥīḥ', except for Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr; and he is trustworthy." Ibn al-Jawzī criticized it with a strange defect, saying about the narrator of "Musnad Abī Yaʿlá," Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥīrī: "He was inclined towards Shīʿism!"
ونحوه قول الذهبي في "المغني ":"صدوق يهم، وثقه ابن معين وغيره، وضعفه النسائي وجماعة، وقال البخاري وأبوزرعة: منكر الحديث ". وغلا ابن الجوزي في "العلل المتناهية " (٢/٢١٢- ٢١٣) ، فأعله أيضاً بـ (العلاء ابن عبد الرحمن) ، فقال:"قال يحيى: ليس حديثه بحجة، مضطرب الحديث، لم يزل الناس يتقون حديثه "! وهذا تنطع منه؛ فالرجل ثقة احتج به مسلم، وفيه كلام يسير لا يضره، قال الذهبي في "المغني ":"صدوق مشهور. قال ابن عدي: ما أرى بحديثه بأساً. وقال أبو حاتم: صالح الحديث، وأنكر من حديثه أشياء". وقد توبع الزنجي؛ فقال أبو يعلى في "مسنده " (١١/٣٤٨/٦٤٦١) : حدثنا مصعب بن عبد الله قال: حدثني ابن أبي حازم عن العلاء به. قلت: وهذا إسناد جيد، مصعب بن عبد الله- وهو الزبيدي- صدوق. ومن فوقه ثقات من رجال "الصحيح "؛ ولذا قال الهيثمي في "المجمع " (٥/٢٤٤) :"رواه أبو يعلى، ورجاله رجال "الصحيح "؛ غير مصعب بن عبد الله بن الزبير؛ وهو ثقة". وأعله ابن الجوزي بعلة غريبة، فقال في راوي "مسند أبي يعلى" أبي عمرو محمد بن أحمد الحِيرِيِّ:"كان متشيعاً"!