4 – It stands in open contradiction to Ibn ʿAbbās’s explanation of the verse, as has already been set out; anything that clashes with his reading is, without question, to be cast aside.

Hadith 3: Reported by Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, identical to the first report from Ibn ʿAbbās on the words, “that they draw over themselves their outer garments” (Q 33:59). He said:

(Fabricated) “Let her veil her face, leaving only one eye uncovered.”

Ibn Saʿd recorded it in al-Ṭabaqāt (8/176–177): “Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar informed us, from Ibn Abī Sabrah, from Abū Ṣakhr, from him.”

I say: This isnād is fabricated; its problem is Ibn Abī Sabrah. Imām Aḥmad states in al-ʿIlal (1/204): “He used to lie and forge ḥadith.”

The man who transmits from him, Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar—namely al-Wāqidī—is scarcely any better. Al-Ḥāfiẓ says in al-Taqrīb: “Abandoned (matrūk),” and Aḥmad calls him “a liar.”

On top of that, the report is mursal (disconnected), as will be shown later in this book (pp. 90–91).

Yet, despite the afflictions that plague this chain, our brother Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl cited it in al-ʿAwda (3/214) without a word of comment, merely attributing it to al-Ṭabaqāt. ⦗57⦘