and Ibrāhīm al-Nakha‘ī and al-Hasan al-Basrī were the leading Successors of their time. Compilers who included this hadith, such as Ibn Khuzaymah, have stated that reports of this kind, which establish knowledge, are weightier than reports that require action.

It is well known that if someone such as ‘Atā’ issued a ruling on a legal question on the basis of a report he transmitted with a disconnected chain, this would imply that he considered it established. This is why jurists regard a transmitter’s reliance on a report he transmits with a disconnected chain as evidence that he considers it established. Thus, if ‘Atā’ unequivocally attributed this exalted report to