Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh also narrated, from Thābit ibn ‘Ajlān, from Mujāhid, from Asmā’, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Two matched sheep are to be sacrificed for a boy, and one sheep for a girl” (1). Muhannā said: I asked Ahmad, “Who is Asmā’?” He replied, “She should be Asmā’ bint Abī Bakr.”

In al-Khallāl’s book, Muhannā said: I said to Ahmad: “Khālid ibn Khidāsh related to us, saying: ‘Abd Allāh ibn Wahb related to us, saying: ‘Amr ibn al-Hārith related to us that Ayyūb ibn Mūsā had told him that Yazīd ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Muzanī had related to him, from his father, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘A sacrifice is to be offered for a boy, and his head is not to be smeared with blood.’ He also said: ‘There is a firstborn offering from camels, and a firstborn offering from sheep’ (2).” Ahmad said, “How fine it is (3)! I do not know Yazīd ibn ‘Abd Allāh (4) al-Muzanī, nor this hadith.” I asked him, “Do you reject it?” He replied, “I am unfamiliar with it. The account of al-Hasan and al-Husayn is a single hadith.”

Second, it concerns an action of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, whereas the hadiths (5) concerning two sheep convey his words, and his words