(1) Ibn Kathir cites the report in al-Bidaya, 6/130-131, through Abd b. Humayd with the same chain of transmission, adding: “Its isnad meets the criteria of Muslim, although the wording is unusual.” This judgment is inaccurate, for Ali b. Asim al-Wasiti—present in the chain—does not appear in Sahih Muslim and is known for weak memory and frequent mistakes. Al-Bukhari records the narration with a different wording (4/268, Book of Sales, Chapter: The Carpenter) from the route of Qutayba b. Sa id – Abd al-Aziz – Abu Hazim: Some men asked Sahl b. Sa d about the pulpit. He replied: “The Messenger of Allah sent to a certain woman—Sahl mentioned her name—saying, ‘Tell your slave, the carpenter, to make for me wooden steps on which I may sit when I address the people.’ She ordered him to fashion them from tamarisk wood from al-Ghaba. When they were finished she sent them to the Prophet, who had them set up and then sat on them.” Ibn Abi Shayba transmits, through Sufyan b. Uyayna – Abu Hazim, that people asked Sahl b. Sa d, “From what was the Prophet’s pulpit made?” He answered: “The Prophet used to lean on a palm-trunk in the mosque when delivering the sermon. After the pulpit was built and he mounted it, the trunk groaned until the Messenger of Allah came to it and calmed it down.” This chain fulfils the conditions of both Sahihs. Al-Bukhari also reports (4/268) through Khallad b. Yahya – Abd al-Wahid b. Ayman – his father – Jabir b. Abd Allah: A woman of the Ansar said, “O Messenger of Allah, shall I not make something for you to sit on? I have a slave who is a carpenter.” He replied, “If you wish.” She made the pulpit, and on the next Friday the Prophet sat upon it. The palm-trunk beside which he used to preach cried out until it nearly split. The Prophet descended, embraced it, and it whimpered like a child being quieted until it became still. He said, “It wept for what it used to hear of the remembrance (dhikr).”