the caliphs and leading scholars likewise corresponded with one another by letter, and it is perfectly acceptable that he heard from her while a curtain separated them in her husband’s absence.
I say: this is the most reasonable assumption concerning the two of them, just as many of the Successors received narration from women among the Companions. It is possible that he entered upon her and saw her when he was still a child, memorising her reports, or that he took from her after she had grown old and infirm; this is fitting, for she was more than ten years older than Hishām.
She herself had heard from her grandmother Asmāʾ, and when she narrated to Ibn Isḥāq she was nearly sixty years old.
Abū Zurʿah al-Dimashqī said: “Ibn Isḥāq is a man from whom the great scholars unanimously accepted transmission—among them Sufyān, Shuʿbah, Ibn ʿUyaynah, the two Ḥammāds, Ibn al-Mubārak, and Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd.”
Among the earlier authorities who narrated from him was Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb. The hadith specialists examined him and found honesty and goodness in him, while Ibn Shihāb also praised him.
I discussed Mālik’s remark with Duḥaym, and he held that Mālik’s criticism did not pertain to hadith at all; it was only because Ibn Isḥāq was suspected of holding Qadari views on predestination.
The Prophet ﷺ dispatched a detachment and appointed Abu Ubayda as its commander. When Abu Ubayda set out he burst into tears out of longing for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so he remained behind. The Prophet then placed Abd Allah ibn Jahsh in command, gave him a sealed letter and instructed him, “Do not open it until you reach such-and-such a place. Moreover, do not compel any of your companions to continue the march with you.”
When Ibn Jahsh finally opened the letter he said, “We belong to Allah and to Him we return; we hear and obey Allah and His Messenger.” He informed the men of the contents and read the letter aloud. Two of them turned back, while the rest continued on. They encountered Ibn al-Hadrami and killed him, unaware that the day fell within either Rajab or Jumada. The polytheists retorted to the Muslims, “You have fought during the sacred month!”
Allah then revealed: “They ask you about fighting in the sacred month … ” (Quran 2:217). Some people said, “Even if they have incurred no sin, they will receive no reward.” Thereupon Allah revealed: “Indeed, those who have believed, migrated and striven in the path of Allah—such people hope for the mercy of Allah, and Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Quran 2:218).
All the transmitters in the chain are reliable except for one unnamed individual. Nevertheless, al-Haythami states in Majma al-zawaid, 6/192 (citing al-Tabarani), that its narrators are trustworthy. Ibn Hajar repeats this judgment in Fath al-bari, 1/142, declaring the isnad sound; he also found corroboration in a report from Ibn Abbas recorded by al-Tabari in his Tafsir, 2/350. Taken together, these chains raise the report to the level of authenticity (sahih).