about this, and he replied, ‘Write, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, nothing but truth has come from between them’—meaning his two noble lips.”

It is authentically reported that Abū Hurayrah said: “None of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, retained more in memory than I did, except ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr. He would write with his hand and retain it in his heart, whereas I retained it in my heart but did not write with my hand.”

The family of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs possessed a written collection that he had recorded from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. On this basis, some people challenged the reports transmitted by ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father Shuʿayb, from his grandfather, saying: “It is a written collection.” Shuʿayb is Shuʿayb ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs. They said: “If ‘his grandfather’ means his nearer grandfather, Muhammad, then the report is disconnected, since he did not live to meet the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If he means his more distant grandfather, then its chain is interrupted, since Shuʿayb did not live to meet him.”

The leading scholars of Islam and the majority of scholars, however, accept the reports of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, as evidence when the transmission back to him is authentic. These include Mālik ibn Anas, Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah and others like them, as well as al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh and others. They said: “The grandfather is ʿAbdullāh, for he is explicitly named in some transmissions, and Muhammad lived during his lifetime.” They also said: “If it is a collection written during the lifetime of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, this lends it greater authority and provides stronger evidence of its authenticity.” For this reason, the written collection of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb contained