The words of Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—are, beyond any doubt, sound and true. They are substantiated by the ḥadith of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr, the ḥadith of Anas, and the ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah as well, provided it is cited without the extra wording transmitted by al-Darāwardī, as has already been explained.
As for the pamphlet’s author and his claim that he has verified the treatise to be inauthentically ascribed to Imām Aḥmad, it is a mere allegation lacking all proof. I would dearly like to know: did upright witnesses testify before him that Muhannā ibn Yaḥyā al-Shāmī forged it and attributed it to Imām Aḥmad? Or that someone other than Muhannā among its transmitters fabricated it? Or perhaps that the compiler of Tabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah, the jurist Abū ʾl-Ḥusayn son of the jurist Abū Yaʿlā ibn al-Farrāʾ, was the culprit?!
If fabrication has not been established for him through the testimony of reliable people, does the treatise contain anything that contradicts Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—whether in fundamentals or in subsidiary rulings—so that one might deduce from this a case of forgery or tampering by addition or omission? When all of this is absent, he has no evidence other than casting stones in the dark and speaking without knowledge.
Should he argue that his evidence is al-Dhahabī’s remark concerning it—“I fear it may be fabricated”—the reply is as follows:
First: Allah safeguarded al-Dhahabī—may He have mercy on him—through piety, so he did not state categorically that it is fabricated without proof, as the pamphlet’s author has done. Since al-Dhahabī himself did not pass a definitive judgment, what footing can the author possibly find in his words?
Second: Even if we were to assume that al-Dhahabī had spoken categorically, such a verdict would not be admissible without supporting evidence.
Third: Shaykh al-Muwaffaq Abū Muḥammad Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī—may Allah have mercy on him—quoted from the treatise in his work al-Mughnī, affirming, without hesitation, that it is attributable to Imām Aḥmad.