1057 – Saʿīd b. Saʿd b. ʿUbādah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “In our quarter there was a frail little man who committed fornication with one of their slave-women. Saʿīd mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, ‘Administer his ḥadd.’ They replied, ‘Messenger of Allah, he is too weak for that.’ He said, ‘Take a palm cluster containing one hundred thin twigs and strike him with it once.’ So they did.”

It was narrated by Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah, and its chain is ḥasan, though there is disagreement over whether it is connected or mursal (1).

Degree of the ḥadith
The report is ḥasan. The author said: It was transmitted by Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah, and its chain is ḥasan, though there is a difference of opinion regarding its being connected or mursal. Al-Bayhaqī said: The preserved version is the mursal one, whereas Aḥmad produced it with a connected chain from Saʿīd b. Saʿd; this is not a disqualifying defect, for the connected narration is an acceptable addition from a reliable transmitter.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar remarked in al-Talkhīṣ: All the routes of this report revolve around Abū Umāmah, yet Abū Umāmah carried it from several Companions. Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī said: Its chain is good.

Vocabulary
• Ruwayjil: the diminutive of rajul (man). Diminutives serve several purposes, the first of which is belittlement, and that is what is meant here.