ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAmr—better known as al-Raqqī—died in 180 AH at the age of (79). Hence there are (83) years between his death and that of Sulaymān, making it likely that Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Ḥarrānī, the latter’s grandfather (from whom he is known to transmit), stands between the two in the chain.

The ḥadīth also has a supporting narration (shāhid) from the freed slave of Abū Saʿīd al-Khuḍrī. Aḥmad recorded it, saying: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr narrated to us; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mawhib narrated to us; my uncle—meaning ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mawhib—narrated to me, from a freedman of Abū Saʿīd al-Khuḍrī, who said:

‘While I was with Abū Saʿīd al-Khuḍrī in the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we entered the mosque and found a man seated in the middle of it, clasping his knees and interlocking his fingers. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ pointed at him, but the man failed to notice the gesture. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then turned to Abū Saʿīd and said:

“If one of you is in the mosque, let him not interlace his fingers, for such interlacing is from Satan; and a person remains in prayer so long as he stays in the mosque until he leaves it.”’

Aḥmad also transmitted the report through Wakīʿ from ʿUbayd Allāh with the same chain, and Ibn Abī Shaybah related it from Wakīʿ, as cited in al-ʿUmda. Al-Ḥāfiẓ remarked: “Its chain contains a weak transmitter and an unknown one.”

I say: the first of the two is ʿUbayd Allāh—that is, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mawhib—about whom al-Taqrīb states: