Al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī raised no objection to it, while al-Shawkānī commented:

“The men in its chain are trustworthy. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿIyāḍ is listed by Ibn Ḥibbān in al-Thiqat, and Abū Hammām is likewise reliable; his name is Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Dallāl al-Baṣrī.”

I reply: al-Shawkānī’s appraisal does not settle the issue, for Ibn Ḥibbān’s inclusion of Ibn ʿIyāḍ in al-Thiqat rests on his well-known practice of accrediting narrators who are otherwise unknown. It is not proper for researchers to rely on that single endorsement. Hence al-Dhahabī says in al-Mīzān, “He is unknown; the only person who reported from him is Saʿīd ibn al-Sāʾib,” and Ibn Ḥajar states in al-Taqrīb, “Acceptable.” All of this shows that the man is obscure, making his ḥadīth unfit for independent proof; therefore we left it out of the main text and mention it here only as a supporting narration.

Al-Shawkānī’s additional remark—“and his name is Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad”—is incorrect. His name is Muḥammad ibn Muḥabbib, with a fatḥa on the mīm and a single bāʾ, as in the word muʿaẓẓam. I do not know whether the slip occurred in al-Shawkānī’s own copy or in a later transcription of his book. He himself is trustworthy, as are all the other narrators except Ibn ʿIyāḍ.

(b) As for the graves of the idolaters after they have been exhumed: when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“ordered that a mosque be built in the enclosure (the orchard), there were graves of polytheists there, so he commanded that they be dug up,” as mentioned above.

The report is from Anas. We cited it in full a short while ago; here we quote only the portion relevant to the present discussion.