is sounder. I asked al-Bukhārī about this hadith, and he replied, “I do not consider it reliably preserved. Sufyān narrated it from Sulaymān al-Taymī, from Abū ʿUthmān, from Salman as Salman’s own statement.”

After citing Ibn Maʿīn as saying, “Sayf amounts to nothing,” al-ʿUqaylī said:

“It is known only through him with this chain.”

Ibn ʿAdī, however, said:

“Although this report is known through Sayf from Sulaymān, it has also been narrated from someone else, from Sulaymān al-Taymī.”

I say: Al-Bayhaqī narrated it by way of al-Humaydī, from Sufyān: Sulaymān narrated to us, from Abū ʿUthmān, from Salman—may Allah be pleased with him—“I believe he traced it back to the Prophet.” He then cited the hadith, omitting the question.

The transmitters in its chain are reliable. However, the narrator—perhaps Sufyān—was not certain that it was traced back to the Prophet, especially since al-Bukhārī and al-Tirmidhī stated categorically that Sufyān’s narration from Sulaymān was Salman’s own statement. Al-Tirmidhī also indicated that transmitters other than Sufyān narrated it in the same manner. This is what al-ʿUqaylī meant by saying, “It is known only through him with this chain”—that is, as a report traced back to the Prophet. Ibn ʿAdī’s statement, “It has also been narrated from someone else, from Sulaymān al-Taymī,” perhaps means as Salman’s own statement. There would then be no disagreement between his statement and that of al-ʿUqaylī. Allah knows best.

I found another route in which it is traced back to the Prophet. Yūnus ibn Khabbāb narrated it from Abū ʿUbayd Allāh, from Salman—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was asked… and he cited the hadith.

Al-Bayhaqī narrated it (9/320).

I say: This chain is weak because of Yūnus ibn Khabbāb. A number of scholars declared him weak, and al-Hāfiz said in al-Taqrīb: “Truthful, but he made errors.”