The hadith master Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wāhid al-Maqdisī (1) said: Muslim narrated it through Hafs ibn Ghiyāth and ‘Abd al-A‘lā ibn ‘Abd al-A‘lā (2), from Hishām ibn Hassān, from Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, from Anas: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave Abū Talha the hair from the left side of his head. He also narrated it through Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna, from Hishām ibn Hassān: he gave Abū Talha the hair from the right side of his head (3). He said (4): I consider Ibn ‘Awn’s report from Ibn Sīrīn to strengthen Sufyān’s report. And Allah knows best.

I say: By Ibn ‘Awn’s report, he means the account we have mentioned from Ibn Sīrīn through al-Bukhārī (5). He took the hair that Abū Talha was first to receive to be the hair from the side reserved exclusively for him. And Allah knows best.

The more strongly supported view is that the share reserved exclusively for Abū Talha was the hair from the left side, and that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, first gave to everyone and then singled out one person. This was his customary practice when giving, and most reports support this understanding. In some of them (6), he said to the barber, “Begin,” and pointed to his right side. He then distributed his hair among those nearest him. Next, he gestured to (7) the barber toward the left side, and the barber shaved it,