Was ibn Ishaq a Shia?

[Optimus Prime]

Asalamualaikum.

I've come across many criticisms against this historian, but the one that stands out the most is that he was a Shia.

Is there any truth to this claim?

[Farid]

Wa alaykum alsalam wa rahmatullah,

Nah bro. He is great historian. So much of our Seerah literature is based on his work. When he narrates from reliable teacher his narrations are just fine. It is problematic when he narrates without a chain though.

[Optimus Prime]

Akhi, where do they get this claim from?

I've read that the majority of his work is unreliable because of weak/broken chains?

Seems like his style was that of Al-Tabari's who just collected much as he could, and left it others to determine whether the narrations can be accepted or not.

[Farid]

I haven't studied all the chains in his book, but I think he did a decent job. Wallahu a'alam.

No idea who called him a Shi'ee.

[Hani]

Back in Ibn Ishaaq's days many people would be falsely accused of being Nawasib, Shia, Rafidah etc... by their opponents.

[Khaled]

Back in Ibn Ishaaq's days many people would be falsely accused of being Nawasib, Shia, Rafidah etc... by their opponents.

There's a statement in Siyar Alam an-Nubala where adh-Dhahabi رحمه الله mentions some statements of Jarh against al-Imam ash-Shafi'ee in which he said something along the line that if we were to take every Jarh against every Imam than we wouldn't have anyone left.

Lets not forget even ash-Shafi'ee and an-Nasaaiee رحمهما الله were accused of Rafd; its really because of just how brain dead and sectarian some Muslims are may Allah protect us.

[matpau_83]

Ibn Ishaq has been jarh a lot by his contemporaries. Imam Malik call him a 'dajal amongs the dajals'. Hisyam bin Urwah also criticized him if i'm not mistaken. There's a small movement in my country trying to reject Ibn Ishaq sirah narratives especially narrations that involves the virtue of Ali radiyallahanhu. in my early years, i too was one of them, seeing that there is some truth to what their saying. But after i study and read, i retract my position and consider him to be a truthful person with some flaws and his sirah compilation is one of the primary sources in our sunni tradition. In reality, either the salafi or the asharis (be it from sufi or not) accept him and his sirah compilations. wallahuA'lam. 

[Hani]

He's Thiqah. Ibn `Uqdah the famous Shia narrator of `Iraq is Thiqah in my opinion as well.

[Optimus Prime]

He's Thiqah. Ibn `Uqdah the famous Shia narrator of `Iraq is Thiqah in my opinion as well.

Who's thiqah? ibn Ishaq? According to who, akhi?

Who's ibn Uqdah?

[Hani]

Ibn Ishaq is Thiqah, I recall in a report he went and began narrating the virtues of Abu Bakr then `Umar, then after he was done he asked: "Whose virtues should we narrate next? `Uthman or `Ali?" So some of the people sitting there screamed at him and called him a Rafidi.

As bro Khaled said, this was due to some major narrow mindedness and lack of wisdom and tolerance in those times.

[Hadrami]

Ibn Ishaq is Thiqah, I recall in a report he went and began narrating the virtues of Abu Bakr then `Umar, then after he was done he asked: "Whose virtues should we narrate next? `Uthman or `Ali?" So some of the people sitting there screamed at him and called him a Rafidi.

Does that mean in his time those who was thought to prefer Ali RA over uthman RA but did not reject Syaikhain RA also called a rafidi?

[Hani]

It means a lot of people were falsely labeled Rafidi by ignorant or extremist Sunnies. In our days it's worse, Rafidah today label anyone who disagrees with them as Nasibi although that's not true almost all the time.