ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr and Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd, both reporting from Mūsā with the very same wording. Al-Tirmidhī (2/258) did transmit it through the route of Yaḥyā with the alternative wording, “wa-yuḥaṭṭu (and it effaces),” yet the first wording is, in my judgment, the stronger, because Ibn Numayr and Yaʿlā corroborate Yaḥyā in it and because Muslim himself preferred it. In any case, the two renderings convey the same meaning, and Allah knows best.

11 – After ḥadith 1720 he wrote: “It has been narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Riyāʾ is shirk (associationism).’”

I say: By employing the phrase “it has been narrated,” the compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—was indicating that the chain of transmission is weak, and so it is. I have traced the report and exposed its hidden defect in my book Al-Aḥādīth al-Ḍaʿīfa wal-Mawḍūʿa wa-Atharuhā as-Sayyiʾ fī l-Ummah, no. 1850.

12 – In chapter 334, “Chapter: The Dislike of Conversing After the Late ʿIshāʾ Prayer,” he says: “…As for conversation that involves goodness, such as revising knowledge and the like, there is no dislike in it; rather, it is recommended….”

I say: That should be qualified by the condition that such late-night talk does not lead to the neglect of any personal obligation. Take a young man who stays up almost till midnight studying or preparing for an exam, then collapses in exhaustion and misses the Fajr prayer. This sort of late-night vigil—even in the pursuit of knowledge—is impermissible; it is like building a palace while demolishing a city. He ought instead to go to bed soon after ʿIshāʾ so that he may rise early for the dawn prayer, and then devote himself to study afterwards. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke the truth when he said, “Blessing has been placed for my ummah in its early hours.” Let this be noted, for most of today’s youth are heedless of it, and Allah’s aid is sought.

13 – In ḥadith 1870, “from Abū Zayd ʿAmr ibn Akhtab … he informed us of what had been and of what would be.”

I say: Meaning, of the tribulations, as indicated by another report narrated from Ḥudhayfah, may Allah