ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sarjis (1):
that the Prophet ﷺ once performed the prayer wearing a namirah (striped cloak). He then said to a man, “Hand me your cloak and take mine.”
The man replied, “Messenger of Allah, yours is better than mine.”
He said, “Indeed; but it has a red thread on it and I feared it might distract me in my prayer (2).”
I say: that is, it would divert me from perfect mindfulness. Prophets are required to meet a standard in which some latitude is granted to others; for that reason he exchanged his cloak.
30 – al-Bikandī, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿfar ibn Aʿyan * (Kh)
The imām, ḥāfiẓ, authoritative scholar of ḥadīth beyond the Oxus, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿfar ibn Aʿyan al-Bukhārī, al-Bikandī (4).
He journeyed in quest of knowledge and heard from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, Wakīʿ, Yazīd ibn Hārūn, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, and their contemporaries.
Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Warrāq, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Wāṣil, and a number of others transmitted from him.
(1) The base manuscript reads “Shurahbil,” which is incorrect.
(2) The isnad is sound (hasan). Al-Baghawi also related it in Sharh al-sunnah 2/433 through the chain of Abd Allah ibn Raja. Al-Haythami cites it in Majma al-zawaid 5/136, attributing it to al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, and notes: “Its transmitters are those of the Sahih except for Musa ibn Tariq, who is trustworthy.” The same report is transmitted from Aisha by al-Bukhari 1/406-407, 2/28-29; Muslim, no. 565; and Malik 1/97-98. (*) For biographical details, consult: al-Ansab, fol. 100a; Tahdhib al-kamal, 1491; Tadhhib al-tahdhib 4/150/2; Tadhkirat al-huffaz 2/487; Tahdhib al-tahdhib 11/193; Tabaqat al-huffaz, 211; Khulasat tadhhib al-kamal, 422.
(3) The expression ma waraʾ al-nahr (“beyond the river”) designates the lands east of the Jayhun (Amu Darya) in Khurasan; the territories to its west are Khurasan proper and the province of Khwarazm. See Muʿjam al-buldan.
(4) The nisba “Bikandi” is derived from Baykand, pronounced with a short i after the initial b, an open a after the k, and a silent n. Baykand is a town situated between Bukhara and the Jayhun.