—hinting that he, too, regarded him as somewhat lenient. He added, “They took exception to his report from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir, concerning the raising of the hands (1), and to his report from Shuʿbah, from Qatadah, about the Lote-Tree of the Ultimate Boundary (2).
Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, ‘His ḥadith are sound and close in rank to the reliable narrations.’
I say: He does have narrations that are unique to him, yet his reports never fall below the grade of fair.
A number of our teachers informed us in their written correspondence: ʿUmar ibn Muhammad reported to us; Ibn ʿAbd al-Baqi and Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Maluk said:
Judge Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari narrated to us; Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Ahmad of Jurjan narrated to us; Abu Khalifah al-Jumahi narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Salam narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Tahman narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq al-Hamdani, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever hears my name mentioned, let him invoke blessings upon me, for whoever invokes blessings upon me once, Allah bestows ten blessings upon him.’ (3)
(1) Reported by Ibn Majah, no. 868, Book of the Prayer, chapter: Raising the hands when bowing and when rising from bowing. Chain: Muhammad b. Yahya – Abu Hudhayfa – Ibrahim b. Tahman – Abu ’l-Zubayr – Jabir b. Abd Allah. Jabir stated: “Whenever he began the prayer, bowed, or rose from bowing, he would raise his hands and say, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do the same.’” Ibrahim b. Tahman himself raised his hands up to his ear-lobes. Al-Busiri, Zawaid (MS fol. 57), comments: all the transmitters are trustworthy.
(2) Al-Dhahabi notes in al-Mizan, 1/38: “Among his transmissions is what Shu‘ba related from Qatada, from Anas: ‘The lote-tree of the Ultimate Boundary was shown to me and, behold, four rivers issued from it.’” The present author adds: there is nothing objectionable in this report. See also al-Bukhari, 7/166 (Virtues of the Helpers, the Night-Journey) and al-Nasa’i, 1/217 (beginning of the Book of Prayer).
(3) Also recorded by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, 1/259, through Abu Salama al-Mughira b. Muslim al-Khurasani – Abu Ishaq al-Hamadani – Anas b. Malik. All the transmitters are reliable, but Abu Ishaq did not hear directly from Anas, so the chain is interrupted. The hadith, however, is sound via other routes. Ahmad, 3/261, relates it through Yunus b. Abi Ishaq – Burayd b. Abi Maryam – Anas, and al-Nasa’i, 3/50, through Yusuf b. Abi Ishaq – Burayd b. Abi Maryam, who said: “Anas b. Malik told us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Whoever invokes one blessing upon me, Allah will bestow ten blessings upon him, remove ten of his sins, and raise him ten degrees.’” Declared authentic by Ibn Hibban, no. 2390, and by al-Hakim, 1/550, with al-Dhahabi concurring.