Now, this Ibrāhīm is Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Yaḥyā al-Madani, a narrator who has been discarded and branded a liar.

Jaʿfar, for his part, is Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, whose grandfather is therefore ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. The chain is thus flawed on two counts: it is mursal and it contains a narrator of extreme weakness.

Another consideration is that al-Baghawī did not transmit the report with an isnād at all; he merely cited it in suspended form, saying in Sharḥ al-Sunnah 4/352:

“It has been reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to … .”

By introducing it with the phrase “It has been reported,” he implied its weakness. The author should have clarified all of this for the readers’ benefit.

Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāʿah, a known mudallis, also narrated it from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī without going beyond him; on another occasion he said, “from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh,” thereby attributing it fully. I have discussed this in detail in al-Ḍaʿīfah, no. 2455.

The report does have supporting evidence in a hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, traced back to the Prophet: “On the day of ʿId he would wear a red cloak.” It is recorded in al-Ṣaḥīḥah, no. 1279, and had the author preferred this version it would have been better for him.

Al-Ḥākim (4/230) also narrated—through al-Layth ibn Saʿd ▸ Isḥāq ibn Bazraj ▸ Zayd ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ▸ from his father (may Allah be pleased with them)—that he said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded us, on both festive days, to wear the best garments we can find and to apply the finest fragrance we can find … ,” and so on. Al-Ḥākim then remarked, “Were it not for the obscurity of Isḥāq ibn Bazraj, I would have declared the ḥadīth authentic.”