“Go forth, and when you reach your land, demolish your church, sprinkle that spot with this water, and turn it into a mosque.”

We said, “The journey is long, the heat is intense, and the water will dry up.” He replied, “Add ordinary water to it; that will only make it purer.”

So we set out, and when we arrived in our homeland we tore down our church, sprinkled the ground with the water, and established a mosque there. We then called the adhan. The monk—who was a man of the tribe of Tayyʾ—heard the call and exclaimed, “This is the summons of truth!” He then headed toward one of our hills and was never seen again.

Al-Nasaʾi transmitted the report: “Hannad ibn al-Sari informed us, from Mulazim, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Badr narrated to me, from Qays ibn Talq, from his father Talq ibn ʿAli.”

This chain is considered sound (hasan). All its transmitters are trustworthy (thiqat) except Mulazim—who is Ibn ʿUmar—and Qays ibn Talq; both are deemed reliable (saduq) in al-Taqrib. Although there is some disagreement over Qays ibn Talq, his narration does not fall below the rank of hasan. Al-Dhahabi states in al-Mizan:

“Ahmad and Yahya declared him weak in one of the two reports from them; whereas in the narration related by ʿUthman ibn Saʿid, he is judged reliable. Al-ʿIjli graded him trustworthy, and Ibn Abi Hatim relates that he asked his father and Abu Zurʿa about him, and they said, ‘He is not someone whose report serves as decisive proof.’ Ibn al-Qattan concluded that his narration is hasan, not sahih.”

Ibn Hibban also recorded this hadith at length in his Sahih through the route of Abu Khalifah—who said: Musaddad ibn Masarhad narrated to us—from Mulazim, with this same chain, as cited in al-Mirqat and Nasb al-Raya.