Suspicions and their replies:

To complete the benefit, I must relate the objections raised by the dissenters regarding this sound hadith and demonstrate how flimsy—indeed baseless—they are. I say:

The first objection:

One respected scholar—followed by others who possess no real knowledge—considered it unlikely that Asmaʾ bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) would enter upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wearing thin garments. One of those self-styled “scholars,” eager to write on matters he does not master, went even further: he blackened seven pages of his booklet discussing the jealousy of Asmaʾ’s husband—al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwam—the modesty she felt before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and her observance of her husband’s rights. None of this bears any relation to the subject; it is no more than obfuscation and sophistry, coupled with the exaggeration of elevating someone who is not infallible to the rank of infallibility. After this we say:

The answer has two aspects:

First: The supposed improbability just mentioned has no bearing on the wording of the hadith itself, which is a direct statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Its authenticity is confirmed by the totality of its chains and supporting narrations, and by the consistent practice of the Companions and those who came after them, as has previously been shown. Therefore, its soundness is not affected—nor is it weakened—by the fact that one of its routes contains a detail deemed improbable or objectionable whose isnad is weak, as I have clarified earlier in my book “Al-Hijab” and again here. That particular portion is simply set aside, and only what agrees with the other routes and corroborating reports is cited as evidence. Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) alluded to this … ⦗105⦘