and ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir narrated it from Khālid ibn al-Lajlāj, from ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Ā’ish, who said, “I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” Yazīd ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir narrated it from Khālid ibn al-Lajlāj, from ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Ā’ish, from a man among the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr narrated it, giving its chain as: from Ibn ‘Ā’ish, from Mālik ibn Yukhāmir, from Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The underlying hadith is one and the same, but they have transmitted it inconsistently.’

Some have therefore attributed two reported positions to Ahmad regarding the authentication of these hadiths, just as disagreement concerning their authenticity is reported from other scholars. Al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā said in Refutation of Interpretations of Reports Concerning the Divine Attributes: ‘This statement by Ahmad apparently indicates that he withheld judgment on its chain of transmission because of the differences concerning it. However, by the jurists’ standards, this does not warrant classifying the hadith as weak.’ He said, ‘I also found in the collected questions of Muhannā ibn Yahyā