I say: Even so, the preceding chains lend one another support, so by virtue of them the ḥadith is authentic, and it is not harmed by the fact that it has also come down as a mawqūf report, just as al-Bayhaqī states:

“Humayd ibn Mālik narrated it from Abū Hurayrah in a mawqūf form; some have transmitted it as marfūʿ, but the mawqūf version is the sounder one.”

The marfūʿ wording is an additional detail that must be accepted—especially since the mawqūf here carries the same force as a marfūʿ, for such a statement cannot rest on personal opinion. No one may assert that a particular creature is among the beasts of Paradise except on the basis of a text from the infallible Messenger, as is obviously the case.

Moreover, there are other ḥadiths concerning prayer in sheepfolds that have already been cited earlier.

Ibn al-Qayyim said in Ighāthat al-Lahfān:

“One aspect of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is to pray wherever one happens to be, in any place that presents itself, apart from what he explicitly forbade.”

He continues:

“He used to pray in sheepfolds and ordered that this be done, without requiring any separating barrier. Ibn al-Mundhir said: ‘All the scholars whose views have reached us agree that praying in sheepfolds is permissible, with the sole exception of al-Shāfiʿī, who said: I deem it disliked unless the place is free of their droppings.’”

Ibn al-Qayyim then cited the ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah and that of Ibn Mughaffal, referred to some of the points we have mentioned, and added:

“How far removed is this guidance from the practice of those who will not pray unless a prayer-rug is laid over a carpet…"