but he lived during the Prophet’s time (peace and blessings be upon him) and would say, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to us.”
I say: Ibn Abī Laylā had a poor memory. This was apparently why al-Hākim and al-Dhahabī passed over the hadith without comment. Al-Mundhirī, in al-Targhīb (4/157), indicated that it was defective because of Ibn Abī Laylā.
Nevertheless, I consider the hadith good, for it has a corroborating mursal report from al-Hasan al-Basrī. Ibn Wahb recorded it in al-Jāmi (p. 113): “Jarīr ibn Hāzim informed me that he heard al-Hasan say…” He then cited the hadith, tracing it back to the Prophet. This is a sound mursal chain. Some weak narrators also related it from al-Hasan, from Abū Hurayra, traced back to the Prophet. It appeared above under no. 286.
(Important note) The wording of the hadith in this book agrees with its wording in al-Targhīb (4/157). There, al-Mundhirī attributed the first version to Abū Dāwūd and the other version to al-Tirmidhī. This contains several errors:
First: There is no narrator named Īsā ibn Hamza. The correct name is Īsā ibn Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Laylā, as is evident from the preceding references.
Second: The name “Abd Allāh ibn Hakīm” agrees with what appears in al-Mustadrak, but it is an error. The correct name is Abd Allāh ibn Ukaym, as stated above.
Third: Its attribution to Abū Dāwūd is mistaken, for none of the authors of the Six Books recorded the hadith except al-Tirmidhī.
298 – (It is reported from Ibn Masūd that he entered upon his wife and found something knotted around her neck. He pulled it off and cut it, then said, “The household of Abd Allāh is surely above associating with Allah anything for which He has sent down no authority.” He then said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Incantations, amulets, and love charms are shirk.’ They asked, ‘Abū Abd al-Rahmān, we know what incantations and amulets are, but what are love charms?’ He replied, ‘Something women make to endear themselves to their husbands.’”)