Al-Ḥākim ruled one of the two chains authentic according to the criteria of the Two Shaykhs, and al-Dhahabī concurred. Even so, the chain warrants further scrutiny, which I have outlined in Takhrīj al-Targhīb (4/47).
Note. — One of the two routes just mentioned runs from Abū Idrīs to Muʿādh. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr cited it while explicitly affirming that Abū Idrīs had actually heard the report from Muʿādh, and his view deserves preference. For this very ḥadith Abū Idrīs’ hearing from Muʿādh is proven through two independent isnāds:
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The first: Shuʿbah – Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ – al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān – Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, who said: “I was sitting in a gathering that included twenty Companions of Muhammad ﷺ when I noticed among them a handsome youth … and he was none other than Muʿādh ibn Jabal. The next day I came and found him praying beside a pillar. He abbreviated his prayer, then sat hugging his knees and kept silent. I said, ‘I love you for the Majesty of Allah.’ He asked, ‘By Allah?’ I replied, ‘By Allah.’ He then related the ḥadith, stopping with Muʿādh.” Aḥmad and al-Ḥākim recorded it.
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The second: ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurasānī said, “I heard Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī say: ‘I entered the mosque of Ḥimṣ and sat in a circle where everyone was narrating from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and among them was a youth …’ ”—the report continues in words similar to the first. Al-Ḥākim recorded it.
A third route exists in another ḥadith: Mālik relates it in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (2/953/16), and after him Ibn Ḥibbān (2510), through Abū Ḥāzim ibn Dīnār – Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, who said:
“I entered the mosque of Damascus and saw a young man with radiant teeth; whenever people disagreed about something they referred it to him and accepted his opinion. I asked who he was and was told, ‘That is Muʿādh ibn Jabal.’ The next morning I came early but found that he had arrived before me and was praying. I waited until he finished, then approached him from the front, greeted him, and said, ‘By Allah, I love you for the sake of Allah.’ He replied, ‘By Allah?’ … The rest of the narration is as in the first route, except that its wording states: ‘Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: My love is due to those who love one another for My sake, sit together for My sake, visit one another for My sake, and give to one another for My sake.’ ”
I say: With three reliable narrators unanimously confirming that Abū Idrīs heard directly from Muʿādh ibn Jabal, it is extremely difficult to disregard their testimony or to allege that they were mistaken. Allah knows best.
- Ḥadith of Anas: al-Rubayyiʿ bint al-Naḍr came to the Prophet ﷺ—her son Ḥārithah ibn Surāqah had been struck down on the Day of Badr—and said, “Messenger of Allah, inform me about Ḥārithah. If he is in …”