97—Kūhī ibn al-Hasan informed us; Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Harun ⦗92⦘ al-Hadrami informed us; Nasr ibn Ali narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Salim Abu al-Nadr—or Zayd ibn Aslam—from Abdullah ibn Abi Rafi, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—through another chain:

98—Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Yasawi informed us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim narrated to us; al-Rabi ibn Sulayman narrated to us; al-Shafi‘i informed us; Sufyan ibn Uyaynah informed us; Salim Abu al-Nadr informed us that he heard Ubaydullah ibn Abi Rafi relate from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Let me not find any of you reclining upon his couch when a directive of mine—something I have commanded or forbidden—comes to him, and he says, ‘Whatever we find in the Book of Allah, we follow.’” ⦗93⦘

Al-Shafi‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, added: Sufyan said, “Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir also related it to me from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the same manner.”

I say: Nasr’s inclusion of Zayd ibn Aslam in the chain of transmission is an error. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Nufayli, and others likewise narrated it from Sufyan according to al-Shafi‘i’s version, and that is the correct report.