Zarʿ.’ He then went on to relate the story of Umm Zarʿ.
She said, “Eleven women once gathered together. (1)”
Al-Qaṭīʿī said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal narrated to us; he said, “I found in Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith’s notebook, in his own handwriting, the following chain of transmission: from Wakīʿ, from al-Aʿmash, from Jaʿfar ibn Iyās, from ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq—
that Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) was invited to a meal and responded, ‘I am fasting.’ Yet toward the end of the day he was seen eating, and when questioned he replied, ‘I fast three days of every month; that equals fasting for a lifetime.’ (2)
154 – al-Haytham ibn Khārijah al-Marwadhī al-Baghdādī * (Kh, S)
Abū Aḥmad—some say Abū Yaḥyā—al-Marwadhī, later al-Baghdādī, the ḥāfiẓ (hadith master).
He transmitted from: Mālik, al-Layth, Yaʿqūb al-Qummī, Ḥafṣ ibn Maysarah, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, al-Muʿāfā ibn ʿImrān, and Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn Maysarah,
(1) Its chain of transmission is sound. Al-Bukhari also recorded it (9/220, Book of Marriage, chapter: Good companionship with one’s family) and Muslim (2448) through several routes from Isa b. Yunus with the same isnad. The “brother of Urwa” in the chain is Abd Allah b. Urwa.
(2) All its transmitters are trustworthy. Ahmad likewise transmitted it (2/263, 384, 513) through Abu Uthman: while Abu Hurayra was travelling, the group halted and sent for him while he was praying. He said, “I am fasting.” When the food was laid out and they were about to finish, he came. They said, “Come and eat,” so he ate. The people looked at the messenger, who said, “By Allah, he told me, ‘I am fasting.’” Abu Hurayra replied, “He spoke the truth. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Fasting the month of patience and three days of every month equals a lifetime of fasting.’ I fasted the first three days of this month; therefore, by Allah’s concession I am a non-fasting man, yet by Allah’s multiplication I am still fasting.” Its chain is sound.
Al-Nasa’i recorded the prophetic wording (4/218-219). On the same subject see the report of Jarir b. Abd Allah in al-Nasa’i (4/221) and that of Malhan al-Qaysi in Abu Dawud (2449) and al-Nasa’i (4/224-225).
(*) Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqat, 7/342; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-kabir, 8/216; al-Tarikh al-saghir, 2/356; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-taʿdil, 9/86; al-Khatib, Tarikh Baghdad, 14/58; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, folio 1454; al-Dhahabi, Tadhhib al-tahdhib, 4/125/2; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, 11/93; Khulasat tadhhib al-kamal, 412.