(1) Reported by Abu Ya‘la, Musnad, 1:257; al-Shafi‘i, Musnad, 2:131—from whom it is cited by Ibn Zanjuyah, al-Amwal, 1:149—and also by al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-kubra, 9:188. It is likewise recorded by ‘Abd al-Razzaq, Musannaf, 6:70, and by Abu Yusuf, al-Kharaj, p. 129, all on the authority of ‘Ali. In the isnad appears Abu Sa‘d al-Baqqal, a transmitter of weak reliability; nonetheless, Ibn Hajar concludes that the chain is hasan (Fath al-bari, 6:261). (2) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya states in al-Fatawa, 32:189: “If someone says, ‘It is narrated from ‘Ali that they once possessed a book which was later removed,’ we answer: Ahmad and others have judged this hadith weak. Even if it were sound, it only shows that they formerly had a book that was withdrawn, not that they now possess one. Consequently, they cannot rightly be counted among the People of the Book, for they hold no scripture in their hands—whether altered or unaltered, abrogated or unabrogated. At most, their former possession leaves them with the mere semblance of a scripture…”