is the former, because Ayyūb also narrated it from Abū al-ʿAlāʾ in agreement with them. However, al-Ḥasan—that is, al-Baṣrī—differed from him, reporting it from Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr, from his father, attributed to the Prophet with the same wording. Aḥmad (4/25) narrated it, as did al-Ḍiyāʾ from him in al-Mukhtārah (58/182/2), Ibn Mājah (2502), Ibn Ḥibbān (1171), Ibn Saʿd (7/34), Abū ʿUbayd in Gharīb al-Ḥadīth (5/1), al-Bayhaqī (6/191), and al-Ḍiyāʾ as well, through the route of Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl from him.

Qatādah also corroborated him, narrating it from Muṭarrif with the same wording. Abū Nuʿaym narrated it in al-Ḥilyah (9/33), as did al-Ḍiyāʾ.

Perhaps this narration from Muṭarrif, from his father, is more preponderant than the narration of Muṭarrif from Abū Muslim al-Jadhmī, from al-Jārūd, since two trustworthy narrators—al-Ḥasan and Qatādah—agree upon it. This is unlike the other narration, which Abū al-ʿAlāʾ alone reported, as you have seen. If so, then its chain of transmission is authentic. As for the route through Abū Muslim, it is not well known. Yet he was not alone in narrating it: al-Ṭabarānī (3/102/1–2) narrated it through Abū Maʿshar al-Barrāʾ, who said: Al-Muthannā ibn Saʿīd informed us, from Qatādah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bābī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, that al-Jārūd Abū al-Mundhir related it to him.

I say: This is a strong corroborating narration, and its chain is good; it meets Muslim’s criteria. The hadith also has a supporting report from ʿIṣmah, attributed to the Prophet with the same wording, with the addition: