“A man married a woman during the lifetime of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and then divorced her. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—asked him, ‘Did you divorce her?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked, ‘Was anything wrong with her?’ He replied, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah.’ He then married another woman and divorced her. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—asked him, ‘Did you divorce her?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked, ‘Was anything wrong with her?’ He replied, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah.’ He then married another woman and divorced her. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—asked him, ‘Did you divorce her?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked, ‘Was anything wrong with her?’ He replied, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah.’ Then, on the third occasion, the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said ...” He then quoted the hadith.

I say: This chain of transmission is weak because both Layth—namely, Ibn Abī Sulaym—and Shahr ibn Hawshab are weak. Qatāda corroborated Layth by narrating it from Shahr ibn Hawshab, but only the words attributed to the Prophet. Al-Tabarī reported it in his Tafsīr (5/139/5244). Al-Khattābī likewise reported it in Gharīb al-Hadīth (fol. 94/1) from Qatāda as a Successor’s direct attribution to the Prophet, without mentioning Shahr ibn Hawshab in its chain. It was also narrated through connected chains from Abū Mūsā al-Asharī, Abū Hurayra, and Ubāda ibn al-Sāmit.

As for the hadith of Abū Mūsā, al-Tabarānī reported it in al-Awsat, saying (1/176–1, Zawā’id): Mahmūd ibn Muhammad al-Wāsitī narrated to us: Wahb ibn Baqiyya narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik narrated to us, from Amr ibn Qays al-Mulāī, from Abd Allah ibn Isā, from Umāra ibn Rāshid, from Ubāda ibn Nusay, who said that Abū Mūsā al-Asharī narrated the same hadith to him, tracing it back to the Prophet. Al-Tabarānī said: “Only Muhammad narrated it from Amr, and Wahb alone narrated it.”

I say: Wahb is trustworthy, was one of Muslim’s teachers, and was from Wāsit. The flaw instead lies with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik, who appears to be Abū Jābir al-Azdī, a student of Shuba. He was originally from Wāsit and later settled in Mecca. Abū Hātim said: “He is not strong. I met him, and he died not long before our time.” Ibn Hibbān included him in al-Thiqāt.

I say: Muhammad was not alone in narrating it. Ibn Abī Hātim said in al-Ilal (1/427/1284): “I asked my father about a hadith narrated by Ismāīl ibn Abān al-Warrāq, from Hafs ibn Umar al-Burjī, from Abd Allah ibn Isā,” and he cited the hadith. He then said: “My father said: ‘Ubāda’s transmission from Abū Mūsā does not hold.’” That is, it is not known that he heard from him. Ibn al-Qattān said in his book: “Its chain of transmission is not strong. Al-Bazzār narrated it from al-Fallās, who said: Abū Muāwiya narrated to us: