Ibn al-Musayyab said, “He was an excellent archer; I heard him say, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ combined his father and mother for me on the Day of Uhud’ (1).
Al-Bukhari records this report, and the hadith master Ibn ʿAsakir traced it through over a dozen separate chains (2).
He likewise collected the narration of Ibn Abi Khalid, from Qays, by seventeen different routes, preserving each wording; endeavours such as these account for the great length of his history.
He also cited the report of ʿAbd Allah ibn Shaddad, from ʿAli: “I never heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ combine his father and mother for anyone except Saʿd,” through sixteen chains.
It was transmitted by Misʿar, Shuʿbah, and Sufyan, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ibrahim from him.
Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated—from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Ibn al-Musayyab—who said that ʿAli declared, “I never heard the Prophet ﷺ combine his father and mother for anyone other than Saʿd” (3). This version is unique to Ibn ʿUyaynah.
It has, however, also been transmitted by Shuʿbah, Zāʾidah, and others, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, on the authority of Saʿd, and that recension is the sounder one.
(1) Reported by Ahmad, 1/174 and 1/180; by al-Bukhari, no. 3725 in the section on Merits, and nos. 4055-4057 in the Maghazi section under the heading: “When two parties among you were about to lose heart, but Allah was their Protector…”. Also recorded by Ibn Majah, no. 130 in the Introduction, chapter “The excellence of Saad.”
(2) The printed edition has a typographical error, reading “ʿan” instead of the correct wording.
(3) Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 3753, through the chain: al-Hasan ibn al-Sabah – Ibn Uyaynah – Yahya ibn Saʿid – Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab – Ali; al-Tirmidhi judged the hadith to be hasan. It is likewise narrated by Ahmad, 1/180; al-Bukhari, nos. 4056-4057 in the Maghazi section under the same heading; Muslim, no. 2412 in the section on Merits; al-Tirmidhi, no. 3754; and Ibn Majah, no. 130 in the Introduction, all through the isnad of Yahya ibn Saʿid – Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab – Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas. A further chain is given by Ahmad, 1/92, 124, 136, 137; al-Bukhari, nos. 2905, 4058-4059, 6184; Muslim, no. 2411 in the section on Merits; al-Tirmidhi, no. 3755; and Ibn Majah, no. 129, all from Ibn Shaddad on the authority of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him.