as do Aḥmad, 5/59, 362, and 365, and al-Baghawī in Sharḥ al-Sunnah, 3760. In these compilations the report is linked with the narration of Thābit al-Banānī, which has already been cited on p. 23.

Notice. — Dr. Khalīl al-Harrās (may Allah have mercy upon him), in his commentary on al-Khaṣāʾiṣ al-Kubrā, 1/389, cast doubt on the soundness of this ḥadīth, saying: “The transmission of this report from Anas is inconsistent: sometimes it is related as a narration traced back to the Prophet (marfūʿ), sometimes it stops with Anas himself (mawqūf), and at other times Anas narrates it from another Companion. Allah knows best.”

I reply: While recognising the doctor’s scholarship and merit (may Allah have mercy upon him), I am compelled to state that this criticism bears no relation to the principles of this noble science. The mere fact that Anas transmits the report—whether directly from the Prophet ﷺ on one occasion or through an intermediary on another—does not constitute a flaw at all in the eyes of the ḥadīth authorities. Should it be the case (as appears most likely) that he did not hear it from the Prophet ﷺ himself, the narration is then a Companion’s mursal report, and such mursal transmissions are accepted as proof. Moreover, the unnamed Companion from whom he heard it is, by definition, reliable, for all the Companions are upright.