Fourth: Their claim that Dhū al-Yadayn was killed at Badr is mistaken. The scholars explain that the man killed at Badr was Dhū al-Shimālayn, the son of ʿAmr, from Nadlah ibn ʿAbsān—a man of Khuzāʿah allied to Banū Zuhrah. He was killed at Badr. As for Dhū al-Yadayn, his name was al-Khirbāq, and his kunyah was Abū al-ʿUryān. He outlived the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and narrated his account of forgetfulness in prayer. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad included it in his father’s Musnad, reporting from Nasr ibn Maʿdī ibn Sulaymān, a trustworthy narrator, who said:

“I went to Matar to ask him about the hadith of Dhū al-Yadayn. When I came and asked him, I found that he was an elderly man whose advanced age prevented him from recounting the hadith.”

His son Shuʿayb said:

“Yes, Father, you told me that Dhū al-Yadayn met you at Dhū Khashab and related to you that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, led them in one of the two afternoon prayers—namely, ʿAsr—praying two rakʿahs and then giving the salām. Those who were quick to leave went out, saying, ‘The prayer has been shortened.’ Abū Bakr and ʿUmar were among those present.

“Dhū al-Yadayn asked, ‘Has the prayer been shortened, or have you forgotten?’

“He replied, ‘The prayer has not been shortened, nor have I forgotten.’ Then he turned to Abū Bakr and ʿUmar and asked, ‘What is Dhū al-Yadayn saying?’

“They replied, ‘He has spoken the truth, O Messenger of Allah.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returned, and the people gathered again. He led them in two rakʿahs and then gave the salām, after which he performed the two prostrations for forgetfulness.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad also related it from Muhammad ibn al-Muthannā, from Maʿdī ibn Sulaymān, from Shuʿayb ibn Matar. Someone thus came forward to confirm Matar’s account.

This version agrees with the accounts of Abū Hurayrah and Ibn ʿUmar in stating that the salām was given after