I say: This is exactly in line with the method we adopted in Al-Ḥijāb, where we deemed his report sound enough for corroboration. All praise is due to Allah, by whose favor righteous deeds are completed.

In short, my aim in what has preceded is not merely to show what the scholars—especially al-Sindī, not to mention those who followed him and even authored treatises to weaken the ḥadith—did in hiding the statements that declared Saʿīd reliable and strengthened his standing, proving that he is suitable for supporting evidence. Allah alone grants success.

Third: They failed to realize—or chose to overlook—that Saʿīd ibn Bishr was not the only transmitter of the wording of this ḥadith. A trustworthy, precision-minded narrator corroborated him. Abū Dāwūd records in al-Marāsīl (310/437) with an authentic chain that Hishām narrated from Qatādah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said something to the same effect.

This Hishām is Ibn Abī ʿAbdillāh al-Dastawāʾī, a reliable, firmly established narrator included by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

I say: This constitutes a strong corroboration from Hishām for Saʿīd. It shows that Saʿīd preserved the text of the ḥadith but erred in attributing it to ʿĀʾishah, since Hishām does not take the chain beyond Qatādah. Consequently, the isnād (chain of transmission) is mursal (missing the Companion) yet sound, for Qatādah is a distinguished tābiʿī (Successor). Al-Ḥāfiẓ stated in al-Taqrīb: “Reliable, firmly grounded.” [85]