Among the descriptions of the prayer

1. He cites the report: “From ʿAbd Allah ibn Ghanm, that Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī gathered his people and said—” I said: He then narrated a long hadith that includes some details of the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer: he would place the young boys in a row behind the men and the women in a row behind the boys. The narration also speaks of the assemblies of those who love one another for Allah’s sake and of the prophets’ envy of them… It was transmitted by Aḥmad and Abū Yaʿlā with a chain they rated ḥasan, while al-Ḥākim said, “Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ.”

I say: The author has reproduced this citation verbatim from al-Targhīb, 4/48. In our view, however, declaring it sound is incorrect, because the chain hinges on Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, who is weak due to his poor memory and the inconsistencies in his reports, as becomes clear to anyone who investigates them or consults the verdicts of the critics. Al-Ḥāfiẓ summarized those verdicts in al-Taqrīb with the words: