some of them. I understood what he intended and said: “It seems you have prepared yourself to impugn the hadith of the mountain goats—the hadith narrated by al-'Abbās ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.”

They had persisted in finding fault until they came upon Zakī al-Dīn 'Abd al-'Azīm’s discussion of al-Bukhārī’s statement in his History: “'Abd Allāh ibn 'Amīrah is not known to have heard directly from al-Ahnaf.”

I said: “Besides being narrated by the compilers of the Sunan collections, such as Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, al-Tirmidhī and others, this hadith is transmitted through two well-known routes. Discrediting one does not discredit the other.”

He said: “Does its transmission not hinge on Ibn 'Amīrah? Al-Bukhārī said that he is not known to have heard directly from al-Ahnaf.”

I replied: “The imam of imams, Ibn Khuzaymah, narrated it in his Book of Divine Oneness, with the stipulation that he would cite as evidence only what one upright narrator transmitted from another through an unbroken chain back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

I added: “Affirmation takes precedence over negation. Al-Bukhārī only denied knowing that he had heard directly from al-Ahnaf; he did not deny that others knew this. Thus, if someone else—such as the imam of imams, Ibn Khuzaymah—knows what establishes the chain of transmission, his knowledge and affirmation take precedence over another person’s negation and lack of knowledge.”

Those present agreed with this. Some of them then began praising me in terms that it would be inappropriate for me to repeat. They began debating matters that were not in the creed, but were related to answers I had given on certain questions and to what they might understand from