568 — “Whoever brings barren land into cultivation will have a reward for it, and whatever any creature eats from it, he will be rewarded for that.”

Imam Aḥmad recorded it (3/313), saying: “Yahyā narrated to us from Hishām ibn Saʿīd—that is, ibn ʿUrwah—who told me that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Anṣārī said: ‘I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh say …’” He then cited it as attributed to the Prophet. He then said (3/326–327): “Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us: Abū ʿAqīl narrated to us”—ʿAbd Allāh said: “My father said: Abū ʿAqīl’s name is ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAqīl”—“Hishām ibn ʿUrwah narrated to us: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Rāfiʿ narrated to me from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh,” with the same wording.

I say: This makes clear that the first chain contains a textual corruption and a transposition. Its correct form is: “Yahyā ibn Saʿīd, from Hishām—that is, ibn ʿUrwah.” The printer and copyist erred by moving “ibn Saʿīd” from after “Yahyā” and placing it between “Hishām” and “that is, ibn ʿUrwah.” The narrators in this chain are trustworthy and are all narrators of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, apart from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Rāfiʿ al-Anṣārī, who is unknown. He is the narrator of the hadith concerning the well of Buḍāʿah.

However, the hadith has two other chains. One of them is through Hishām ibn ʿUrwah himself, with another chain of transmission: Aḥmad recorded it (3/304), saying: “ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbbād al-Muhallabī narrated to us from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from Wahb ibn Kaysān, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh,” attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “Whoever brings barren land into cultivation shall have a reward from it, and whatever creatures eat from it shall count as charity for him.” This chain is authentic according to the criteria of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim.