“This is a hasan (fair) ḥadīth,” while in some copies it reads, “This is a gharīb (singular) ḥadīth,” and in others, “This is a hasan, gharīb ḥadīth.”

The compiler relied on al-Muntaqā for declaring it authentic, but that, it seems, was an error. Later I found that al-Mundhirī, in al-Targhīb, notes that the grading appears only in certain manuscripts of al-Tirmidhī.

Second objection: the ḥadīth is neither ṣaḥīḥ nor hasan, for it is transmitted through ʿAlī b. Zayd b. Judʿān from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib, who said: “Anas b. Mālik …” The chain is weak on two grounds:
1 – the weakness of ʿAlī b. Zayd;
2 – the break between Ibn al-Musayyib and Anas.

Al-Mundhirī pointed this out in his Targhīb, and Ibn al-Qayyim faulted the report for the same two defects in Zād al-Maʿād. Do not be misled, therefore, by anyone today who claims, “The isnād is sound!”

He also cites the report: “From Abū Dharr, that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Allah remains turned toward His servant while he is in prayer so long as he does not turn his head; when he turns, Allah turns away from him.’” He attributes it to Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd, adding, “Its chain is sound.”

I have two observations:
First, Abū Dāwūd did not authenticate the report—this is not his practice. The grading belongs to al-Ḥākim, who recorded it in al-Mustadrak and said, “Its chain is sound.” Evidently, the words “and al-Ḥākim” fell out during typesetting or at some other stage; a similar omission will appear shortly.

Second, the chain is not sound, for it contains Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, a narrator whose identity is unknown.