and its chain includes 'Amr ibn Muslim, who is of no standing. As for the reports of al-Rubayyi' and Habībah, had no other reports been transmitted, they would have constituted decisive proof. However, they were also narrated through al-Bukhārī.”

He then cited the Prophet’s previously mentioned words, peace and blessings be upon him:

“Accept the garden and divorce her once.”

He said: “This report contains an addition to the two reports mentioned above, which cannot be disregarded. Since it is a divorce, and Allah has prescribed the waiting period for divorce, this adds to what is contained in the hadith of al-Rubayyi'; such an addition cannot be disregarded.”

The response to him is as follows:

As for your statement that the report of 'Abd al-Razzāq has a disconnected chain, Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī narrated it through Hammām ibn Yūsuf with a connected chain, as noted above. According to your own principle, this is an addition supplied by a trustworthy narrator and must therefore be accepted. Moreover, al-Tirmidhī graded the hadith as good.

As for your remarks about 'Amr ibn Muslim, the response is that Muslim included his narrations in his Sahīh, as did al-Bukhārī in The Book of Human Acts, and Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and al-Nasā'ī. Ibn Hibbān included him in The Trustworthy Narrators. According to the account transmitted by Ibrāhīm ibn al-Musnid, Yahyā ibn Ma'īn said: “There is nothing wrong with him.” Abū Ahmad ibn 'Adī said: “He has no highly objectionable hadith.”

As for the other hadith, whose authenticity you acknowledged and which you deemed decisive proof were it not for the conflicting report, it explicitly settles the issue: the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed her

“to observe a waiting period of one menstrual period and return to her family.”