“…I attended the Friday prayer with Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq: his sermon and the prayer itself were concluded before midday. We then attended with ʿUmar, and his sermon and prayer lasted until—so I would say—the sun was at its midpoint. After that we attended with ʿUthmān, and his sermon and prayer continued until—so I would say—the sun had already begun to decline past the zenith. I never saw anyone criticize or object to any of these timings.”

It was narrated by Ibn Abī Shaybah (1/206/2) and al-Dāraqutnī (169).

I say: Its chain can reasonably be upgraded; indeed, it is ḥasan according to the approach of some scholars, such as Ibn Rajab and others, for all its transmitters are reliable except ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīdān. Al-Ḥāfiẓ states in Fatḥ (2/321): “He is a senior Successor, but his uprightness is unknown.”

I say further: Four trustworthy narrators reported from him—Thābit ibn al-Ḥajjāj and Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, as listed in al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl (2/2/86), and Maymūn ibn Mihrān and Ḥabīb ibn Abī Marzūq, as recorded in Ibn Ḥibbān’s Thiqat (5/31–32).

And al-Ḥāfiẓ’s words after he cited this report are: