and al-Bukhārī has recorded several ḥadiths with this same chain up to Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān.

I searched for the present narration in the places where it ought to appear in al-Ḥākim’s al-Mustadrak, but I could not locate it—Allah knows best where it might be found therein. What I did find was the other version, listed in the biography of al-ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him), transmitted through Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim, who said: "Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah narrated to us from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl, from Abū Burdah, from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, that al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī …"—with essentially the same wording. That report contains all the additional details except the sixth, which appears only in al-Bukhārī’s transmission.

Ibn Saʿd also cited it in al-Ṭabaqāt through his teacher Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim, and the wording there is his. Al-Ḥākim then declared, “This ḥadith is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim,” and al-Dhahabī concurred—and their assessment is correct.

Al-Bukhārī entitled the chapter under which he placed this report: “Chapter: Distribution (of booty) and Hanging a Cluster of Dates in the Mosque.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar commented:
“It shows the permissibility of placing in the mosque items intended for the common benefit of Muslims, such as charity, provided that doing so does not hinder the activities for which the mosque was built—prayer and the like. Depositing this money is analogous to placing the zakāt al-fiṭr funds there. One may also infer the permissibility of putting anything of general benefit in the mosque, like water for anyone who is thirsty. A distinction can be drawn between what is placed for immediate distribution and what is stored for safekeeping: the former is allowed, whereas the latter may be disallowed. Allah, the Exalted, grants success.”

I add: Yet al-Bukhārī did not quote in this chapter any ḥadith about actually hanging the cluster, even though