I say: Both versions are correctly preserved—the one in which the Companion is omitted and the one with a connected chain. The defect lies with Abū Yahyā himself: because of his weakness and poor memory, he would sometimes omit the Companion and at other times give the report a connected chain. Al-Amash therefore narrated it from him in both forms; Qutbah accurately retained one and Sufyān the other.

As for Sharīk’s omission of Abū Yahyā, it is anomalous—indeed, objectionable—for Sharīk, in addition to his weakness and the poor memory for which he was notorious, contradicted the two trustworthy narrators, Qutbah and Sufyān.

In sum, the hadith is weak because of al-Qattāt’s weakness and his inconsistency in narrating its chain: sometimes he gave it a connected chain, and at other times he omitted the Companion. Through his route, al-Tabarānī narrated it in al-Mujam al-Kabīr (2/110/3). I later saw that Ibn Abī Hātim included it in al-Ilal (2/242) through Sharīk with the same chain, except that he said: “From Ibn Abbas or another Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).” He also cited it through another route from him with the same chain, except that he reversed the attribution in the chain and said: “From Ibn Umar or another Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).” He also narrated it by way of Ubayd Allah ibn Mūsā, from al-Amash, from Mujāhid, directly from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with the Companion omitted. I say: It is as though he intended to point out the hadith’s defect and weakness arising from the conflicting chains and the omission of the Companion. Allah knows best.

Another form of this inconsistency is the report narrated by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Harashī: Ziyād ibn Abdullah narrated to us, from al-Amash, from al-Minhāl ibn Amr, from Mujāhid, from Ibn Abbas.

Ibn Adī narrated it (1/143).

Another is what Abū Jafar al-Rāzī narrated from Layth, from Mujāhid, from Ibn Umar:

“He disliked inciting animals against one another.”

Al-Bukhārī narrated it in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1232).

384 — (The two Sahīh collections narrate from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “While the Abyssinians