Sahih Muslim Introduction 35
Amr bin Alī Abū Hafs narrated to us, he said I heard Yahyā bin Sa’īd, he said:
‘I asked Sufyān ath-Thawrī , Shu’bah, Mālik, and Ibn Uyaynah about a man who is not reliable (Thabt) in Ḥadīth, and someone comes and asks me about him, and they said: ‘Inform [others] against him that he is not reliable’.’
وَحَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ أَبُو حَفْصٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ يَحْيَى بْنَ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ سُفْيَانَ الثَّوْرِيَّ وَشُعْبَةَ وَمَالِكًا وَابْنَ عُيَيْنَةَ عَنِ الرَّجُلِ لاَ يَكُونُ ثَبْتًا فِي الْحَدِيثِ فَيَأْتِينِي الرَّجُلُ فَيَسْأَلُنِي عَنْهُ ‏.‏ قَالُوا أَخْبِرْ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِثَبْتٍ ‏.‏