Al-Mufaddal ibn Faḍālah, Ḥayywah ibn Shurayḥ of Egypt, and Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb are all deemed reliable authorities. ʿIyāsh ibn ʿAbbās is also cited by Muslim. Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn declared him “reliable,” while Abū Ḥātim described him as “sound.”
Regarding Abū al-Ḥuṣayn—al-Haytham ibn Shafiyy—al-Dāraqutnī explained that the correct pronunciation is Shafiyy, with the shīn fathah and a light fā; most ḥadīth scholars say Shufayy, and that is incorrect. As for Abū ʿĀmir al-Ḥijrī, there are actually two shaykhs by that name; more than one transmitter narrated from each of them, and both belong to the earlier generation of teachers.
This ḥadīth has puzzled many jurists, because numerous texts allow a small quantity of silk, yet its prohibition here can be traced to a fundamental principle: the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—only disliked a man’s placing silk on the lower edge of his garment or over his shoulders in imitation of the non-Arabs. Thus, the prohibition concerns a particular style that had become a distinguishing emblem.
(1) He is al-Mufaddal ibn Fadala ibn Ubayd ibn Thamama al-Ruayni, later al-Qutaybani, Abu Muawiyah, the Egyptian judge—known for learning and piety and judged reliable in hadith. He died in 181 AH and was born in 107 AH. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 10:273–74, no. 491.
(2) He is Haywah ibn Shurayh ibn Safwan al-Tujibi, Abu Zurah, of Egypt. Ibn Hajar writes in al-Taqrib: “Trustworthy, firmly grounded, a jurist and ascetic of the seventh generation; he died in the year eight—or, some say, nine and fifty,” i.e. 158 AH. All six canonical collections transmit his narrations. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:208, no. 658.
(3) He is Yahya ibn Ayyub al-Ghafiqi, Abu al-Abbas, Egyptian. Ibn Hajar says: “Truthful, though he may err; of the seventh generation.” He died in 168 AH, and the six books transmit from him. See: al-Taqrib 2:343, no. 22 (Y).
(4) See: al-Jarh wa-l-Tadil 7:6.
(5) See: al-Jarh wa-l-Tadil 7:6.
(6) The printed edition reads: al-Azdi.
(7) The word “wahid” (one) is omitted from MSS A, B, and T.
(8) In manuscript A: shiʿar al-aʿajim (the badge of the non-Arabs); in T: aw shiʿaran lil-aʿajim (or a badge for the non-Arabs).