(4) From ʿĀʾishah with the wording: “He had a reed mat that he would spread out by day and draw around himself at night; then some people gathered and prayed behind him.”

Al-Bukhārī recorded it through al-Maqburī, from Abū Salamah, from her.

Ibn Ḥajar, in Fatḥ al-Bārī, cites it with the wording: “He had a reed mat that he would spread out and pray upon.” He may have quoted it in meaning only, or it could represent another version preserved by al-Bukhārī.

As for the report in which Abū Yaʿlā transmits from Shurayḥ that he asked ʿĀʾishah, “Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pray on a reed mat? For I have read in the Book of Allah, ‘We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers as a confinement’ (17:8),” and she replied, “He did not pray on it,” its authenticity is debatable, even though al-Haythamī said, “Its transmitters are deemed reliable,” and his teacher al-ʿIrāqī remarked, “Its transmitters are trustworthy.”

Such assessments do not by themselves establish the soundness of the chain, as critical scholars well know. Al-Shawkānī said: “The reconciliation between this report of hers and the other narrations is that she merely denied personal knowledge of the matter, whereas the statement of someone who affirms that he saw him pray on a reed mat is given precedence over that of one who denies it. Moreover, although the men in her chain are trustworthy, the narration is anomalous (shādh), as al-ʿIrāqī has noted.”