ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once came out to us carrying a staff. In the Mosque there were bunches of dates hanging up, and among them was a bunch that contained ḥashaf (inferior, dry dates). He tapped that bunch with the staff in his hand and declared, ‘Had the owner of this charity wished, he could have given something better. Indeed, the owner of this charity will eat ḥashaf on the Day of Resurrection.’”

This ḥadith was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah, and Aḥmad—with Aḥmad’s wording cited here—through the chain of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī ʿArīb, from Kathīr ibn Murrah al-Ḥaḍramī, from him.

The isnād is sound (ḥasan); its narrators are trustworthy and belong to the transmitters of Muslim except for Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī ʿArīb. Al-Dhahabī says in al-Mīzān: “Ibn al-Qaṭṭān maintained, ‘His status is unknown, and no one is known to have narrated from him other than ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar.’ I (al-Dhahabī) reply: ‘On the contrary, he was narrated from by Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ, al-Layth, Ibn Luhayʿah, and others. He has a number of hadiths, and Ibn Ḥibbān declared him reliable.’”

I say: Ibn Ḥibbān included this hadith in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and Ibn Khuzaymah did likewise, as mentioned in al-Targhīb.

I also say: al-Ḥākim judged one of his reports authentic, and al-Dhahabī endorsed that verdict in his Talkhīṣ. Hence al-Ḥāfiẓ (Ibn Ḥajar) stated in his commentary on al-Bukhārī, after citing this hadith through al-Nasāʾī: “It is not according to his conditions—meaning Bukhārī’s—even though its chain is strong.”