438 — (ʿĀʾisha reported that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—asked his Companions: “Do you know what the gravest form of usury is in Allah’s sight?” They replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “The gravest form of usury in Allah’s sight is to regard a Muslim’s honor as lawful to violate.” The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—then recited: “Those who harm believing men and women for something they have not done bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.”) Surah al-Ahzāb: 58. pp. 313–314.

Weak. Ibn Abī Hātim, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān narrated it from ʿĀʾisha—may Allah be pleased with her—who said: “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said…” and then cited the report. This is how it appears in al-Durr al-Manthūr. Al-Mundhirī (3/297), followed by al-Haythamī (8/92), said: “Abū Yaʿlā narrated it, and its transmitters are transmitters of the Sahīh.”

I say: I came across Ibn Abī Hātim’s chain for it in Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr. It reads: Ahmad ibn Salama narrated to us: Abū Kurayb narrated to us: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām narrated to us, from ʿAmmār ibn Anas, from Ibn Abī Mulayka, from ʿĀʾisha, with the same report.

I say: The men in this chain are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators, with the exception of Ahmad ibn Salama, namely Abū al-Fadl al-Naysābūrī. Ibn Abī Hātim included a biographical entry for him in al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdīl (1/54) and said: “I recorded hadith from him in Rayy. He came to us during my father’s lifetime, and my father and Muhammad ibn Muslim recorded hadith from him, as did we.”

Further to what has preceded, I say: We still need to determine the status of ʿAmmār ibn Anas, whom I could not identify. I suspect, however, that the name was corrupted by the copyist or printer, and that the correct reading is “ʿImrān ibn Anas.” If so, this ʿImrān ibn Anas is weak, as stated in al-Taqrīb, and of the compilers of the Six Books, only Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī narrated from him. Therefore, the assertion that the men in Abū Yaʿlā’s chain are transmitters of the Sahīh is incorrect, if his chain follows this route. Allah knows best.

I later came across its chain in Abū Yaʿlā’s Musnad, where he says: Abū … narrated to us—