25. Ahmad bin Hanbal tried to hide the name of Banu Ummayah which was one of the clan most hated by Prophet (ﷺ).

Abu Ya’la Mosuli (Died 307 AH) narrated like this :

حدثنا أحمد بن إبراهيم الدورقي، قال: حدثني حجاج بن محمد، حدثنا شعبة، عن أبي حمزة جارهم، عن حميد بن هلال، عن عبد الله بن مطرف، عن أبي برزة، قال: كان أبغض الأحياء إلى رسول الله (ص) بنو أمية وثقيف وبنو حنيفة

Abu Barza’h Aslami who said :

“Prophet (ﷺ) used to hate Banu Ummayah, Banu Thaqeef and Banu Hanifa most in his life”.

Musnad – Abu Ya’la // Volume 13 // Page 417 // Number 2 // Edn. Maktaba Rushd Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Now same narration is present in Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal (Died 241 AH) but he erased out the name ” Banu Ummayah ” out of three clans.

Musnad – Ahmad bin Hanbal // Volume 33 // Page 19 // Number 19775 // Edn. Risalah Al-Alamiyyah Beriut Lebanon.

Now Al-Hakim (Died 405 AH) narrated it via the chain of Ahmad bin Hanbal but here the name ” Banu Ummayah ” is present.

Mustradak ‘Ala Sahihain – Al-Hakim // Volume 8 // Page 258 // Number 8706 // Edn. Dar Al-Tasil Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Now there could be two possiblities : 

1 – Ahmad first narrated complete version of this narration to his students and then wrote down distorted one in hia book.

2 – Anyone who narrted book of Ahmad bin Hanbal distorted the narration later on.