Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn al-Wāsiṭī is weak; his mere narration from al-Zuhrī cannot be taken as proof, for he is prone to slips in that regard (1).

I say: Imām al-Shāfiʿī also declared Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn mistaken for being the sole transmitter from al-Zuhrī of the ḥadīth, “al-rijl jubār,” and he said:

“Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn related from al-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah—traced back to the Prophet—‘al-rijl jubār (no indemnity is due for an injury caused by a foot).’ This, however, is an error—Allah knows best—because the ḥuffāẓ did not preserve it in that form.” (3)

This isnād is identical to that of the ḥadīth of the muḥallil (the intermediary husband), and the defect is exactly the same: the ḥuffāẓ did not preserve its elevation to the Prophet, as mentioned earlier (4).

Ibn ʿAdī, al-Dāraqutnī, and al-Bayhaqī likewise said that Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn alone transmitted this report from al-Zuhrī. Al-Dāraqutnī remarked, “It is a mistake, for the reliable authorities contradicted him and did not mention it.”

Al-Bayhaqī added, “Mālik, al-Layth, Ibn Jurayj, Maʿmar, ʿUqayl, Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, and others all reported it from al-Zuhrī, and not one of them included in it: