I say: The narrators in its chain are trustworthy, with the exception of Abū Aflah al-Hamdānī. Ibn Hibbān declared him trustworthy, while Ibn al-Qattān said, “He is unknown.” It does, however, have a corroborating report from Abū Mūsā, according to which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Gold and silk have been made lawful for the females of my nation and forbidden to its males.”

It was narrated by al-Nasā’ī, al-Tirmidhī (1/321), and Ahmad (4/392–394, 407), through Sa‘īd ibn Abī Hind, from Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī. Al-Tirmidhī said, “It is a good, authentic hadith.” It was deemed defective because of a break in the chain between Sa‘īd ibn Abī Hind and Abū Mūsā, as explained by al-Zayla‘ī (4/223–224). This is supported by a version narrated by Ahmad from Sa‘īd, from an unnamed man, from Abū Mūsā.

There is another corroborating report from Ibn ‘Abbās, narrated by Ismā‘īl ibn Muslim, who said: ‘Amr ibn Dīnār related to me, from Tāwūs, from Ibn ‘Abbās. Ibn al-A‘rābī narrated it in al-Mu‘jam (fol. 64/1), as did al-Bazzār and al-Tabarānī in al-Kabīr and al-Awsat, as cited in al-Majma‘ (5/143), where he said:

“Ismā‘īl ibn Muslim al-Makkī is weak, though it has also been said of him that he is truthful but prone to error.”

A third corroborating report is narrated by Yahyā ibn Sulaym, from ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, from Nāfi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, traced back to the Prophet with the same report. Abū al-Hasan al-Harbī narrated it in A Fascicle Containing the Recension of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn al-Mukhtār (fol. 166/1): Muhammad—namely, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sulaymān al-Bāghandī—narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Salām narrated to us; Yahyā ibn Sulaym narrated to us.

I say: The narrators in this chain are trustworthy if Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Salām is Ibn Sahnūn; if he is someone else, I do not recognize him. However, Yahyā ibn Sulaym al-Tā’ifī, although among the narrators used by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, suffered from weakness in his memory. Al-Hāfiz said in al-Taqrīb, “Truthful, but of poor memory.” Although he was not alone in narrating it—for Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd corroborated him in reporting it from ‘Ubayd Allāh—al-Dāraqutnī stated unequivocally that it was an error on both their parts, and that the correct chain is from ‘Ubayd Allāh, from Nāfi‘