Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim also included it, through a chain other than that of Hishām.

Al-Bazzār then said, “We do not know of anyone who traced it back to the Prophet from Abū Hurayrah except Hishām; others transmitted it only as a statement of Abū Hurayrah himself.”

Imām Aḥmad recorded—with the isnād: ʿAlī ibn Ḥafṣ, from Warqāʾ (that is, Ibn ʿUmar al-Yashkurī), from Abū al-Zinād, from al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Ibrāhīm told no lies except three. The first was when he was invited to attend their idols and he said, ‘Indeed, I am ill’ (Q 37:89). The second was when he said, ‘Rather, it was this biggest one of them that did it’ (Q 21:63). And the third was his statement about Sarah: ‘She is my sister.’

“Later, Ibrāhīm entered a town ruled by a certain king—one of the arrogant tyrants. People informed the ruler, ‘Tonight Ibrāhīm has arrived with a woman of exceptional beauty.’ The king (or tyrant) sent for him and asked, ‘Who is this woman with you?’ He replied, ‘She is my sister.’ The king said, ‘Send her to me.’ So Ibrāhīm sent her, saying, ‘Do not contradict me, for I have told him you are my sister. There is no believer on earth today except you and me.’

“When she entered upon the ruler he rose to approach her, so she performed ablution and began to pray, saying, ‘O Allah, if You know that I believe in You and in Your Messenger, and that I have preserved my chastity for none but my husband, then do not allow this unbeliever to overpower me.’ The king was stricken until he began to pound the ground with his foot.

Abū al-Zinād said: Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah, related that she also supplicated, ‘O Allah, if he dies, people will say, “She killed him.”’ Thereupon he was released.

The ruler then advanced toward her again. She performed ablution, prayed, and said the same supplication: ‘O Allah, if You know that I believe in You and in Your Messenger, and that I have kept myself chaste save for my husband, then do not give this unbeliever power over me.’ He was again seized until he pounded the ground with his foot.

Abū al-Zinād added that Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah, reported she repeated, ‘O Allah, if he dies, people will say she killed him.’ Then he was released.

On the third—or fourth—occasion he exclaimed, ‘You have only sent me a devil! Return her to Ibrāhīm and give her Hājar.’

She returned and said to Ibrāhīm, ‘Do you realize that Allah has foiled the plot of the unbeliever and has granted me a maidservant?’

Aḥmad alone transmitted this version through this chain, and its isnād satisfies the conditions of authenticity.

Al-Bukhārī also reported it in abridged form, through Abū al-Yamān, from Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah, from Abū al-Zinād, from al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: “My father narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; from ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān; from Abū Naḍrah; from…”