747 – ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf al-Muzanī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Conciliation is permissible among the Muslims, except for a settlement that makes lawful what Allah has forbidden or forbids what He has made lawful. The Muslims are bound by their stipulations, except for a stipulation that makes lawful what is forbidden or forbids what is lawful.” Al-Tirmidhī related it and declared it authentic, but scholars objected because one of its transmitters, Kathīr ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, is weak; it appears that al-Tirmidhī deemed the report reliable due to its numerous supporting chains (1). Ibn Ḥibbān also authenticated it through the narration of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) (2).

Hadith grading:
The ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi (sound owing to corroborating chains).

Al-Talkhīṣ states: It was transmitted by Abū Dāwūd and al-Ḥākim through the chain of al-Walīd ibn Rabāḥ from Abū Hurayrah. Ibn Ḥazm and ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq judged it weak, whereas al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan. Al-Ḥākim added, via Kathīr ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr from his father from his grandfather, the wording, “except for a stipulation that makes lawful what is forbidden or forbids what is lawful,” but that chain is weak. It was also narrated by al-Dāraqutnī and al-Ḥākim from Anas with a feeble isnād, and by al-Dāraqutnī and al-Ḥākim from ʿĀʾishah, likewise weak.

Al-Albānī said: The ḥadīth is authentic. It has been reported from Abū Hurayrah, ʿĀʾishah, Anas, ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar; taken together, these routes raise the narration to the level of ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi.