I said: It was on the strength of these two narrators that al-Mundhirī declared the report defective in his Mukhtaṣar al-Sunan, and for that reason I myself listed it in Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd. When, however, I later found that Shuʿbah and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd al-Fazārī corroborated the second half of the narration, I resolved to move it to Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd, for the first half contains nothing of great consequence and is in any case mawqūf. I had likewise graded it weak in my commentary on the Mishkāt (1/306–307). Let it therefore be regarded as sound on account of the first chain. Allah is the One who grants success; He is the Guide—there is no deity but Him.]

4. Commentary: The exact wording of the corroborative ḥadīth by which the Shaykh authenticated the report of Abū Dāwūd is as follows:
   A man from among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led the ʿAṣr prayer. After the prayer a man stood up to offer another prayer. ʿUmar saw him, seized him by his cloak—or by his garment—and said, “Sit down! The People of the Book were ruined only because there was no interval between their prayers.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “Well done (in another wording: You have spoken truly), O son of al-Khattāb.”

Benefit: The report in Abū Dāwūd comes through the route of Ashʿath ibn Shuʿbah, from al-Minhāl, from al-Azraq …
Ashʿath, however, has a corroborator: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān follows him, as recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Awsat (2/316, no. 2088). Shaykh al-Albānī—may Allah have mercy on him—did not mention this corroboration at the cited place.
Thus the real weakness lies with al-Minhāl ibn Khalīfah.

Hadith Seven

1. Text: al-Aswad ibn Sarīʿ—may Allah be pleased with him—said: [I used to be a poet, so] I came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have composed praises and commendations of Allah—and of you.”
   He replied, “Indeed, your Lord loves ḥamd (praise—in another wording: al-madḥ, commendation). Recite what you have composed in praise of your Lord.”
   He continued: I began to recite my verses. A tall, bald man asked permission to enter, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ said to me, “Keep silent.” The man entered, spoke for a while, and then left. I resumed my recitation; he returned and the Prophet again silenced me, after which the man left. This occurred two or three times.
   I asked, “Who is this person for whom you keep silencing me?” He replied, “This is a man who hates falsehood—[this is ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb].” Classified as “ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”

2. The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—had previously judged the ḥadīth weak “in its entirety” in Ḍaʿīf al-Adab al-Mufrad (55/342), al-Ḍaʿīfah (6/469–470, no. 2922), and also hinted at its weakness in Taḥrīm Ālāt al-Ṭarab (p. 123).

3. He later revoked that verdict and graded it sound in al-Ṣilsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/544–547).

Shaykh al-Albānī—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, in al-Radd ʿalā al-Bakrī (p. 291), explicitly ascribed the ḥadīth to the Prophet ﷺ. I had referred to its weakness in Taḥrīm Ālāt al-Ṭarab (p. 123) and had unequivocally judged it weak in Ḍaʿīf al-Adab al-Mufrad (55/342), pointing readers to al-Ḍaʿīfah (no. 2922). At that time I was unaware that al-Zuhri corroborated Ibn Jadʿān. Glory be to the One whose knowledge encompasses everything; none is protected from error except whom Allah protects.”

4. Commentary: The corroboration by al-Zuhri cited by the Shaykh is traced to al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr; it is also reported by Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (1/46).

Hadith Eight

1. Text: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ—may Allah be pleased with them both—said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “There will be one migration after another. The best people on earth will be those who remain constant at the place to which Abraham migrated, while the worst of earth’s population will stay behind: their own lands will cast them out, Allah will detest them, and the Fire will gather them together with the apes and the swine.” Classified as “sound through corroboration (ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrih).”

2. The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—had formerly declared it weak in al-Ḍaʿīfah (no. 3697), in Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ (p. 479, no. 3259), and had branded its chain weak in the old abridged edition of Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd.

3. He later withdrew that judgment, deeming it ḥasan in his commentary on Manāqib al-Shām wa-Ahlihā by Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—(p. 82, footnote 2), and subsequently declaring it sound in al-Ṣilsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/611–619, no. 3203).

Shaykh al-Albānī—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Here are some necessary notes:
First: I had listed the ḥadīth in al-Ḍaʿīfah under no. 3697 via the first chain. When I later came across the second chain and a corroborating report, I deemed it impermissible to leave it there, so I relocated it to the present volume, asking the Almighty for further guidance and success.
Second: On that basis I also moved it from Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ (no. 3258) to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ. I therefore request anyone who owns these two works to do likewise.”

He also said: “Fifth: I had annotated the section just mentioned—namely, what was printed under the title Manāqib al-Shām wa-Ahlihā by Shaykh al-Islām—when the proprietor of Maktab al-Islāmī published it with my notes and appended it to my book Takhrīj Faḍāʾil al-Shām wa-Dimashq by al-Rabaʿī. That work includes this ḥadīth, as stated earlier. In my commentary I summed up that it is a ḥasan ḥadīth, then I produced it through the two chains from Ibn ʿAmr, briefly indicating the defect in each, and concluded by saying: ‘Nevertheless, taken together the ḥadīth is strong, Allah willing.’”