—and so forth in the narration.” It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd 2/197 and by Aḥmad, nos. 3605, 3774, 4179. As for this ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Ibn al-Madīnī said, “We do not know him among Ibn Masʿūd’s companions.” Al-Bukhārī remarked: “His ḥadīth is not sound,” referring to this very report. Al-Dhahabī cited the narration immediately after al-Bukhārī’s statement and added, “It is objectionable (munkar).” Yet, through a momentary lapse, al-Dhahabī later sided in Talkhīṣ with al-Ḥākim’s grading of the ḥadīth as authentic in the Mustadrak!

Ibn Ḥibbān’s endorsement of this ʿAbd al-Raḥmān carries no weight for the reason I mentioned in the Introduction. Consequently, neither al-Dhahabī in al-Mīzān nor Ibn Ḥajar in al-Taqrīb took notice of that endorsement; the latter in fact rated him “weak in ḥadīth.” Hence one should not be misled by Shaykh Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir’s authentication of this report, for he based it on Ibn Ḥibbān’s rating—a practice he often followed, declaring sound narrations that no earlier critic had graded as such. I once debated this very question with him in Madinah, while he was staying at the hotel, in 69 AH after the Ḥajj season, but regrettably we reached no agreement. May Allah have mercy on us and on him.

The second report comes through ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, traced back to the Prophet ﷺ with the wording: “Whoever acquires a single grey hair, it will be a light for him—unless he plucks it out or dyes it.” Some transmit the hadith in this form. It appears in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī (who graded it ḥasan) and Ibn Mājah through this chain, but without the words “unless he plucks it out or dyes it.” The same abridged version is found in the Musnad, nos. 6672, 6675, 6937, 6962, 6989.