and al-Miqdām ibn Madīkarib and Abū Umāma, from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him.

I say: This chain is authentic. All its narrators are trustworthy, and Ismāīl ibn Ayyāsh’s transmission is sound when he narrates from the Syrians; this is one such narration.

426 — (He—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Do you know what backbiting is?” They replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “Speaking of your brother in a way he dislikes.” It was asked: “What if what I say is indeed true of my brother?” He replied: “If he is as you say, you have backbitten him; and if he is not as you say, you have slandered him.” Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Nasāī.) p. 308.

Authentic. Muslim (8/21), Abū Dāwūd (4874), and al-Tirmidhī (1/351–352) narrated it, as did al-Dārimī (2/299) and Ahmad (2/284, 286), through several routes from al-Alā ibn Abd al-Rahmān, from his father, from Abū Hurayra, who traced it back to the Prophet with this wording. Al-Tirmidhī said: “A fair and authentic hadith.” It also has a corroborating report through al-Muttalib ibn Abd Allāh ibn Hantab al-Makhzūmī, according to which a man asked the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him… Mālik (2/987/10) narrated it in this form as a disconnected report. The author’s attribution of the hadith to al-Nasāī follows al-Mundhirī (3/302).

427 — (Āisha said: “I said to the Prophet, ‘It is enough for you regarding Safiyya”—the Prophet’s wife—“that she is such-and-such,’ meaning that she was short. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: ‘You have uttered a word which, if mixed with the water of the sea, would taint it.’” Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Bayhaqī.) p. 309.

Authentic. Abū Dāwūd (4875) and al-Tirmidhī (2/82) narrated it, as did Ahmad (6/189) and al-Tahāwī (2/19), through Abū Hudhayfa, from Āisha. Al-Tirmidhī said: