It contains no mention whatsoever of the number of rakʿahs, and that alone attests to the weakness of Ibn Shuʿayb; for Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl is reliable and did not transmit what Ibn Shuʿayb narrated. Accordingly, Ibn Shuʿayb’s report is classed as munkar under the principles of hadith criticism.
- The report of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—two chains are cited for it as well.
The first: “Ubayy ibn Kaʿb used to lead the people in Medina during Ramadan in twenty rakʿahs and would make witr with three.” Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded it in al-Muṣannaf with a sound chain up to ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufaiʿ, but the link between ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and Ubayy is severed, for about one hundred years or more separate their deaths. Hence the Indian scholar al-Nimāwī remarked, “ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufaiʿ never met Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.”
Al-Mubārakfūrī conveyed this statement and added (2/75): “It is exactly as al-Nimāwī said; therefore this narration from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb is disconnected. Moreover, it contradicts the authentic report that ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and Tamīm al-Dārī to lead the people in eleven rakʿahs, and it also conflicts with the authentic narration that Ubayy ibn Kaʿb prayed eight rakʿahs in Ramadan with some women in his house and then performed witr, as cited earlier in full.” ⦗78⦘