(59) “Whenever he put on a turban, he would let its tail hang between his shoulders.” (ḥasan) — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 4676; al-Ṣaḥīḥah 717.
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Ṣaḥīḥah: “It is transmitted by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsat; its narrators are those of the two Ṣaḥīḥs except for Abū ʿAbd al-Salām, and he is reliable… In short, taken together, its routes render the report authentic.”
The same ḥadith appears in al-Ḍaʿīfah 4267 with the wording:
“He would wind the folds of the turban around his head, secure it at the back, and let a part of it hang between his shoulders.”
The Shaykh comments in al-Ḍaʿīfah: “This wording is munkar, but its final clause—his letting the turban hang between his shoulders—is sound, for it is supported by corroborations from Ibn ʿUmar and others, one of which I cited in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 717, and it includes this very route of Abū ʿAbd al-Salām. Then Allah, by His grace, enabled me to locate the isnād of the report, so I hastened to reproduce it here and disclose its flaw, namely the unknown status of Abū Salām.” See also al-Tirmidhī 1736; Mishkāt 4338.

(60) “No prayer a woman performs is more beloved to Allah than the one she offers in the darkest corner of her house.” Al-Ḍaʿīfah 4453.
The Shaykh writes: “Ibn Khuzaymah recorded it in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1691)… through Ibrāhīm ibn Muslim al-Hijrī, from Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, from ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said….” I say: this isnād is weak. Al-Hijrī, al-Ḥāfiẓ states, is ‘soft in ḥadīth; he raises halted narrations.’ This is indeed one of those mawqūf reports that he elevated to marfūʿ. I had previously leaned toward grading it acceptable by combining its two routes when annotating Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah, but it has now become clear that this is mistaken because of al-Hijrī’s inconsistency in attributing it to the Prophet and because the other route is too deficient to support him. The ḥadith, however, is authentic from Abū al-Aḥwaṣ in another wording, and it is recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 1579.

(61) “Fear Allah, for the most treacherous of you in my sight is the one who seeks office.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 103.
The report is also listed in al-Ḍaʿīfah 3642 with the wording: “The most treacherous of you in my sight is the one who asks for it—meaning public office—so fear Allah.” The Shaykh remarks: “Munkar.” It is transmitted by Aḥmad. Al-Suyūṭī inserted it in his al-Jāmiʿayn with the wording “Fear Allah…,” marking it as ḥasan; al-Manāwī followed his lead in Fayḍ al-Qadīr. Relying on that symbol I had entered the report in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (103) in keeping with the principle spelled out in its introduction. Now that its chain and defect have become clear to me, it must be moved to Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ.

(62) “Friday is the chief of days and the greatest of them before Allah; it is greater with Allah than the Day of Sacrifice and the Day of Breaking Fast. On it there are five events: Allah created Adam on it, He sent Adam down to earth on it, He caused Adam to die on it, on it there is an hour in which no servant asks Allah for anything without His granting it so long as he does not ask for something unlawful, and on it the Hour will be established. There is no close angel, no heaven or earth, no wind or mountain or sea but that it trembles in fear of Friday lest the Hour be established on it.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb 695 (2nd ed.); Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 2279.
The narration is also found in al-Ḍaʿīfah 3726 and Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) 424. The Shaykh writes in al-Ḍaʿīfah: “A similar report—without the last addition—is authentic from Abū Hurayrah and is recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 961; the hour of response on Friday is agreed upon by the two Shaykhs. Although I had once graded the present narration ḥasan in some of my notes, now that I have re-examined its chain and text in detail, academic honesty obliges me to clarify its actual status.” See also Ibn Mājah 1084; Mishkāt 1363; Hidāyat al-Ruwwāt 1312.

(63) “He recited, despite his illness one night, the seven long surahs.” Ṣifat Ṣalāt al-Nabī ﷺ, p. 118. The report is listed in al-Ḍaʿīfah 3995.
The Shaykh says: “It is transmitted by Ibn Khuzaymah (1136), Ibn Ḥibbān (664), al-Ḥākim, and Abū Yaʿlā, all through the route of Muʿammal ibn Ismāʿīl, from Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah, from Thābit, from Anas, who said:
‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ suffered something one night; when morning came it was said, “Messenger of Allah, the traces of pain upon you are plainly visible.” He replied, “Even so, as you see, by Allah’s grace I recited last night the seven long surahs.”’
Al-Ḥākim declared it ‘ṣaḥīḥ on the conditions of Muslim,’ and al-Dhahabī agreed; al-Haythamī, after citing it from Abū Yaʿlā, said: ‘Its narrators are trustworthy.’ I say: For a time I was taken in by this authentication and therefore inserted the report in Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh… until I stated: ‘The report of this man—Muʿammal ibn Ismāʿīl—remains weak unless someone corroborates or supports him, and we have found no such corroboration. Whoever owns a copy of Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh that contains this narration should strike it out; may Allah reward him well.’

(64) “Beware the clothing of monks, for whoever adopts it in affectation or imitation is not of me.” Al-Ḍaʿīfah 3234. The report is cited in Ḥijāb al-Marʾah al-Muslimah, p. 93 (6th ed.), with the wording: “on the authority of ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him), traced back to the Prophet:”