Al-Nasa’i (2/233), al-Hakim (2/36), and Ahmad (4/226) narrated it from Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ikrimah ibn Khalid informed me that Usayd ibn Hudayr al-Ansari, of the clan of Banu Harithah, told him:

“He was the governor of al-Yamamah, and Marwan wrote to him that Muawiyah had written to him: ‘Any man from whom something has been stolen has the greater right to it wherever he finds it.’ Marwan then wrote this to me, and I wrote to Marwan that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had ruled that if it was ... Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman subsequently gave the same ruling. Marwan sent my letter to Muawiyah, who wrote to Marwan: ‘Neither you nor Usayd is to pass judgment over me; rather, I pass judgment concerning the authority I have entrusted to you both. Therefore, carry out what I have commanded you.’ Marwan then sent Muawiyah’s letter, and I said: ‘So long as I remain in office, I shall not judge according to what Muawiyah said.’”

Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabi critiqued this, saying: “This Usayd died during Umar’s time; Ikrimah did not meet him, nor did he survive until the days of Muawiyah. So take note of this.”

I say: The correct conclusion is that the wording “Ibn Hudayr” is an error made by one of its narrators, and that the correct name is “Ibn Zuhayr.” Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, in his biographical entry on Ibn Hudayr, after citing the hadith through Harun ibn Abd Allah, from Hammad ibn Masadah, from Ibn Jurayj, said: “It is an error. Harun said: Ahmad said: ‘In Ibn Jurayj’s book it is Usayd ibn Zuhayr, but this is how he narrated it to them in Basra.’ Abd al-Razzaq and others narrated it from Ibn Jurayj, from Ikrimah, from Usayd ibn Zuhayr, and that is correct.”

I say: Abd al-Razzaq’s narration is found in al-Nasa’i: Amr ibn Mansur informed us; Sa‘id ibn Dhu’ayb related to us; Abd al-Razzaq related to us from Ibn Jurayj: “Ikrimah informed me ...,” to the end of the account cited at the beginning of the source documentation. Yet, as you can see, it reads: “Usayd ibn Hudayr.” This conflicts with what al-Mizzi attributed to Abd al-Razzaq’s narration. So is his version in al-Nasa’i different from his version found with—