But what shall we say about the fourth premise—namely, that every report over which Ahmad remains silent in the Musnad is, in his judgment, authentic? This premise has absolutely no basis whatsoever; indeed, all hadith scholars are unanimously opposed to it. Imam Ahmad never stipulated that the Musnad would contain only sound narrations, nor did he commit himself to that standard. In fact, the Musnad includes a number of traditions about which he was later asked and which he explicitly pronounced weak and rejected, such as:
• The narration of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, traced back to the Prophet: “When the middle of Shaʿbān arrives, stop fasting until Ramadan begins.” (1)
Harb reported: “I heard Ahmad say, ‘This is a repudiated hadith; al-ʿAlāʾ never related anything more objectionable than this. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī would not transmit it at all.’” (2)