And in the section on a child’s prayer he writes: “It is related from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Command your children to pray when they reach seven …’ ” It was reported by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Ḥākim, who added, “It is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.”

I say: this wording leaves the impression that al-Ḥākim declared the ḥadith sound through this particular chain and that it meets Muslim’s criteria—but that is not the case. ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb is not among the authorities whose isnāds Muslim adopted. In reality the ḥadith has two lines of transmission: the first is the chain just cited; the second comes through ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Rabīʿ ibn Sabrah, from his father, from his grandfather, with a comparable wording traced back to the Prophet. It is this second chain that al-Ḥākim judged “authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.” Had the compiler drawn this distinction he would have achieved two benefits:

1. He would have removed the misunderstanding just mentioned; and
2. He would have strengthened the ḥadith by citing its second route—especially since some scholars weaken the first chain, even though further scrutiny shows it to be a good, reliable chain used as evidence by leading imams such as Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī, and others.

Nevertheless, the second chain itself is not actually on Muslim’s criteria, for Muslim cited ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Rabīʿ only as a corroborative narrator, as I clarified in Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 58.