I say: It is weak. As for al-Haythamī’s statement in al-Majmaʿ (4/255): “Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it in al-Kabīr and al-Ṣaghīr, and its narrators are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ,” this is either an error or an instance of leniency on his part. For this Nuʿaym—who alone narrated it—was cited by al-Bukhārī only in a suspended form, and by Muslim in the introduction to his Ṣaḥīḥ. Thus, one should not unqualifiedly ascribe his hadith to the two of them, for this gives the impression that they relied upon him as proof.

His wording, “the daughter of al-Barāʾ ...,” is perhaps a typographical error. The correct wording is: “the wife of al-Barāʾ,” for two reasons. First, this is how it appears in al-Majmaʿ, whose wording is: “From Umm Mubashshir: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, proposed marriage to the wife of al-Barāʾ ibn Maʿrūr ...”

Apparently, this wording is from al-Ṭabarānī’s al-Kabīr.

Second, I found a detailed and strong supporting report for this hadith, and therefore included it in this book; otherwise, Nuʿaym properly belongs in the other book. Al-Bukhārī said in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (4/2/285):

Al-Juʿfī told us: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb informed us: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Qatādah informed us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād al-Anṣārī, from Umm Mubashshir al-Anṣāriyyah, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her on one occasion—she had been the wife of al-Barāʾ ibn Maʿrūr, who died and left her a widow—:

“Zayd ibn Ḥārithah’s wife has died, and I shall spare no effort in choosing a wife for him. I have chosen you for him.”

She said: “O Messenger of Allah, I swore to al-Barāʾ that I would not marry any man after him.”

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Are you disinclined toward him?”

She replied: “How could I be disinclined toward him when Allah has accorded him a rank alongside you? It is only jealousy.” She then said: “The matter is up to you.”

So he married her to Zayd ibn Ḥārithah and moved her in among his wives. The milch camels would be brought to be milked, and the milker would hand her some milk, which she would drink; then he would give it to whichever of his wives he wished.

She said: “He entered upon me while I was with ʿĀʾishah. He placed his hand on her knee and whispered something to her privately, excluding me; whereupon she placed her hand upon the chest of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,”