—it would nonetheless constitute yet another proof that removing impurity is not a prerequisite for the validity of the prayer, and that—God willing—is the correct view, as has already been explained.

In short, the ḥadith of ʿĀʾishah that we are examining is not meant to deny absolutely that the Prophet ﷺ ever prayed in women’s wraps or garments; rather, it negates his continual practice of doing so. This is what the aggregate of the narrations on the subject—and a careful reconciliation of them—indicates. Allah knows best.

(Second: praying on a mount that has been soiled by impurity, for the Prophet ﷺ prayed on a donkey while heading toward Khaybar [voluntary prayer])

The ḥadith’s chain is sound. It was recorded by Mālik, and—through him—by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Bayhaqī and Aḥmad, all transmitting from Mālik, from ʿAmr ibn Yaḥyā al-Māzinī, from Abū al-Ḥabbāb Saʿīd ibn Yasār, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ praying on a donkey …” and so on.

Mālik’s report is further supported: Aḥmad also narrated it through al-Thawrī, Ḥammād ibn Salamah and Zāʾidah, all of them from ʿAmr ibn Yaḥyā; the additional wording enclosed in the square brackets is from al-Thawrī.

This ḥadith has been criticised because ʿAmr ibn Yaḥyā is the sole narrator to mention the donkey, as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr noted, since what is firmly established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere from Ibn ʿUmar