Yahya ibn Ibrahim al-Salmasi (1); the musnad of Nishapur, Abu ‘Uthman Isma‘il ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-‘Asa’idi (2), who at the time was past eighty years of age; and the shaykh Abu l-Fath Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hibat Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Salam al-Katib (3), grandfather of al-Fath ibn ‘Abd Allah in Baghdad.
Umm Muhammad Zaynab bint ‘Umar ibn Kindi related to us in Baalbek in the year 593 AH, on the authority of Abu l-Fath Ahmad ibn Zufar ibn Yahya ibn al-Wazir. Muhammad ibn Nasir the ḥāfiẓ informed us; Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi l-Saqr al-Khatib told us in 473 AH; Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Farra’ in Egypt informed us as I read the text to him; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Kharuf dictated to us; Tahir ibn ‘Isa narrated to us; Asbagh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us; Ibn Wahb narrated to us; Mu‘awiyah ibn Salih, from Khalid ibn Kurayb (4), from Malik ibn Ibrahim (5), from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanm, from Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari, conveyed from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said:
“Some people from my community will certainly drink wine, calling it by other names; musical instruments will be played over their heads; then Allah will cause the earth to swallow them, and He will turn some of them into apes and swine.” (6)
(1) A full biographical entry appears in Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, vol. 10, p. 164.
(2) Biographied in al-Dhahabi, al-Ibar, vol. 4, p. 139, and Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 4, p. 155, where the name is garbled as “al-Fadairi.”
(3) Listed in al-Ibar, vol. 4, p. 140, and Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 4, p. 155.
(4) No narrator is known under this name; the likely correct reading is Hudayr b. Kurayb, one of the transmitters cited in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, whom Muawiya b. Salih is recorded as narrating from. The isnad sources, however, unanimously give the name as Hatim b. Harith, which is the sound attribution.
(5) The manuscript reads “b. Ibrahim,” whereas the majority of authorities have “b. Abi Maryam.”
(6) Reported by al-Bukhari in al-Tarikh al-Kabir 1/305 and 7/322; Abu Dawud (no. 3688); Ibn Majah (no. 4020); Ibn Hibban (no. 1384); Ahmad, Musnad 5/342; al-Tabarani, al-Mu jam al-Kabir (no. 3419); and al-Bayhaqi, 8/295 and 10/231— all through the chain of Muawiya b. Salih → Hatim b. Harith → Malik b. Abi Maryam → Abd al-Rahman b. Ghanm → Abu Malik al-Ash ari. Malik b. Abi Maryam is declared reliable only by Ibn Hibban; the remaining transmitters are trustworthy. The tradition is further supported by a corroborating narration from Ubadah b. al-Samit—or from an unnamed Companion—