76 – Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the privy, he would take off his ring.” It was recorded by the Four Sunan compilers, and the report is defective (1).

Degree of authenticity
The hadith is defective. Al-Nasāʾī said, “This report is not preserved.” Abū Dāwūd called it “denounced.” The author likewise judged it defective because the chain between Ibn Jurayj and al-Zuhrī is broken; Ibn Jurayj never heard directly from him. Ibn al-Qayyim considered it irregular, denounced, and singular.

Nevertheless, Ibn Ḥajar, in Talkhīs al-Habīr, transmitted a ruling of authenticity from al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Mundhirī, and al-Qushayrī in al-Iqtirāḥ. Al-Suyūṭī adopted this verdict in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, and the ḥāfiẓ Mughlaṭāy inclined toward grading it ḥasan. Those who authenticated it answered the objection about Ibn Jurayj’s lack of direct transmission from al-Zuhrī by pointing out that he heard the hadith from Ziyād ibn Saʿd, who narrated it from al-Zuhrī with different wording; thus the defect is removed and its narrators are trustworthy.

Vocabulary
• “entered” (dakhala): here means “intended to enter,” as in the verse, “So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed” (Quran 16:98), i.e. when you intend to recite.
• “privy” (al-khalāʾ): literally “an empty place,” referring to the spot prepared for relieving oneself. If one relieves himself in an open area, there is no need to interpret “enter” as “intend to enter.”
• “his ring” (khātamahu): from “you have sealed (khātamta) the book.” The word khātam may be pronounced with the tāʾ opened or closed; the pronunciation with kasrah is more common.