Al-Nasāī and Ibn Maīn said: “Trustworthy.” Al-Ijlī said: “Trustworthy and firmly reliable in hadith transmission. He was a righteous and devout man.” No one criticized him apart from Ibn Hibbān, as we have seen, so no heed should be paid to his criticism—particularly since he is among the transmitters used by Muslim. The agreement of these scholars in declaring him trustworthy undermines Ibn Hibbān’s criticism. Al-Dhahabī was entirely right when he said in al-Mīzān: “As for Ibn Hibbān, he went to excess and made the audacious claim that he used to transpose chains of transmission…” Al-Dhahabī then forgot this and included him in al-Duafā on account of this very statement by Ibn Hibbān! Al-Hāfiz said in al-Taqrīb: “Ibn Hibbān spoke outrageously harshly about him without producing any evidence.” Al-Khazrajī therefore paid no heed to that criticism, mentioning in his biographical entry only the declarations of trustworthiness by the three imams we have cited. This is correct, Allah willing. The chain is therefore authentic, and al-Tirmidhī had no grounds for deeming the hadith singular. Al-Manāwī accordingly said: “Al-Hāfiz al-Irāqī challenged al-Tirmidhī’s claim that it was singular and weak, saying: ‘I say: Its narrators are transmitters used by Muslim, although the narrator was uncertain whether he traced it back to the Prophet.’ End quote. The compiler—meaning al-Suyūtī—marked it with the symbol indicating a good hadith.”

I did not see the uncertainty he mentioned about tracing it back to the Prophet in any of its routes from Abū Hurayra. Then it occurred to me that he was referring to the words, “I believe he traced it back to the Prophet.” Allah knows best.

I also found another route from Ibn Sīrīn, narrated from him by al-Hasan ibn Dīnār with the same hadith. It was transmitted by Tammām and Abū al-Hasan al-Harbī in al-Fawāid al-Muntaqāh (3/1/153), Ibn Adī in al-Kāmil (fol. 84/2), and al-Khatīb in Tārīkh Baghdād (11/427). Ibn Dīnār, however, is an abandoned transmitter, so his narration cannot serve as supporting evidence. Reliance must therefore be placed on the first route.

The second route is from Ali ibn Abī Tālib. Al-Hasan ibn Abī Jafar narrates it from Ayyūb, from Humayd ibn Abd al-Rahmān al-Himyarī, from Ali.

It was transmitted by Tammām (1/241), while al-Tirmidhī cited it without a chain, as noted above, and said: “It is a weak hadith.” Al-Hasan ibn Abī Jafar was weak in hadith despite his devotion, as al-Hāfiz stated.