Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī both recorded the report through Khushaysh ibn Aṣram (1), while Ibn Mājah (2) transmitted it through Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr. Both versions go back to ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Ṣāliḥ al-Hamdānī, from al-Shaʿbī, from ʿAbd Khayr, from Zayd ibn Arqam with the same wording.

Our shaykh says in Al-Aṭrāf (3): “It is likely that this ʿAbd Khayr is ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Khalīl, but the narrator failed to pronounce his name accurately.”

I say: If that is the case, the ḥadīth is thereby strengthened; and were he someone else, the report would be stronger still, for it would constitute an independent corroboration. There is, however, some criticism of al-Ajlaḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kindī. Imām Aḥmad inclined to the ruling of casting lots in matters of disputed lineage, and this view is unique to him (4).

Imām Aḥmad (5) also said: Abū Saʿīd related to us, Israel related to us, Simāk related to us, from Ḥanash, from ʿAlī who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Yemen. We came upon a people who had dug a pitfall (6) for a lion. While they were pushing one another about, a man fell in; he seized hold of another, who grabbed a third, until four of them were inside. The lion wounded them, whereupon a man stepped forward with a spear and killed it, but all four men died of their injuries. The heirs of the first then confronted the heirs of the last and drew weapons, intent on fighting (8). ʿAlī arrived just then (9) and said, ‘Do you wish to fight while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is alive? I shall judge between you: if you accept it, that will be the ruling; otherwise I shall keep you apart until you go to the Prophet ﷺ, and he will decide between you. Whoever oversteps after that will forfeit his right.’

“He ordered the tribes that had dug (11) the pit to share the blood money as follows: one-quarter, one-third, one-half, and the full amount. The first was to receive a quarter because he perished [from above him] (12); the second a third; the third a half; and the fourth the whole blood money. They refused to accept, so they went to the Prophet ﷺ, who was standing at the Station of Abraham, and recounted the incident. He said, ‘I shall judge between you’ (13). Then one of the men said:”