—indeed, his overall reliability is superior to that of Ibn Lahīʿa, who, though trustworthy, does make mistakes. Muslim cites Ibn Lahīʿa only as corroborative support, as Ibn Ḥajar notes in al-Taqrīb, and al-Tirmidhī records this very chain from Abū Salamah in suspended (muʿallaq) form.

The ḥadith also has several other routes with a different wording. It is reported by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd—through whom it is quoted by Ibn Ḥazm—al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī, al-Dārimī, Ibn Mājah, al-Ṭabarānī in al-Ṣaghīr, al-Ṭaḥāwī, al-Bayhaqī, Aḥmad, and al-Khaṭīb in his Tārīkh, all through various chains from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, from Abū Hurayrah, in a marfūʿ report that reads: fa-lā ṣalāta illā al-maktūba (there is no prayer except the obligatory one).

Al-Bayhaqī adds in one narration: It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, not even the two rakʿahs before Fajr?” He replied, “Not even the two rakʿahs before Fajr.”

Al-Bayhaqī transmits this additional phrase through the following chain: Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdī the ḥāfiẓ said: Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Marwazī told us; Aḥmad ibn Sayyār told us; Yaḥyā ibn Naṣr ibn Ḥājib al-Marwazī told us; Muslim ibn Khālid al-Zanjī narrated to us from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār … Abū Aḥmad then remarked, “I do not know anyone who mentions this extra wording in the text except Yaḥyā ibn Naṣr, from Muslim ibn Khālid, from ʿAmr.”

Al-Bayhaqī comments, “Naṣr ibn Ḥājib al-Marwazī is not strong, and his son Yaḥyā is the same.”

I say: Despite the weakness of its chain, the substance of this addition is sound, for many authentic and explicit ḥadiths prohibit the two rakʿahs of Fajr when