(1) Abu Dawud (2/199) and Ahmad (2/378) record this hadith with the chain: 'Abd al-Aziz b. Muhammad – Usayd b. Abi Usayd al-Barrad – Nafi' b. 'Abbas – Abu Hurayrah, as a marfu' report. This isnad is good: all its transmitters are those relied upon by Muslim except Usayd, whom Ibn Hibban declared trustworthy; a number of reliable narrators reported from him, al-Tirmidhi graded his report hasan (al-Jana'iz, no. 1003), and the rest of the Sunan compilers judged it sahih. Hence al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar both said he is “saduq” (reliable). Al-Shawkani affirmed the hadith’s soundness in Nayl al-Awtar 2/70, which is also the implicit view of Ibn Hazm (10/83–84). Al-Mundhiri states in al-Targhib 1/273: “Its isnad is sahih.” I add: Zuhr b. Muhammad al-Tamimi corroborates Usayd in Ahmad 2/233, and the alternative version with an additional phrase is likewise his. Ibn Abi Dhi’b also corroborates him; Abu al-Hasan al-Ikhmiymi cites this in his Ahadith 2/9/2. Ahmad (4/414) transmits it through another route from Usayd but with the wording: “from Abu Musa or Abu Qatadah,” expressing uncertainty. Ibn 'Adi (1/233) also narrates it, and Abu Nu'aym gives a shortened version in Akhbar Isbahan 1/104–105 from Abu Qatadah without any doubt.