whom al-Dhahabī mentioned in al-Mīzān, saying:

“Unknown; to my knowledge, no one narrated from him except Mustalim ibn Saʿīd, who transmitted from him a rejected report from Anas: that the Prophets are alive in their graves, praying. Al-Bayhaqī narrated it.”

However, al-Ḥāfiẓ took issue with this in al-Lisān, stating immediately afterward: “Rather, he is al-Ḥajjāj ibn Abī Ziyād al-Aswad, known as Ziq al-ʿAsal. He was a Basran who resided in al-Qasāmil. He narrated from Thābit, Jābir ibn Zayd, Abū Naḍrah, and a group of others. Among those who narrated from him were Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, Ḥammād ibn Salamah, Rūḥ ibn ʿUbādah, and others. Aḥmad said: ‘Trustworthy, and a righteous man.’ Ibn Maʿīn said: ‘Trustworthy.’ Abū Ḥātim said: ‘Sound in hadith.’ Ibn Maʿīn said: ‘Trustworthy.’ Abū Ḥātim said: ‘Sound in hadith.’ Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in al-Thiqāt, saying: ‘Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Abī Ziyād al-Aswad was from the people of Basra … He is the one from whom Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrates, saying: “Al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Aswad narrated to me.”’”

I say: It follows from this that this Ḥajjāj was unquestionably trustworthy, and that al-Dhahabī mistakenly supposed him to be someone else and therefore did not recognize him, which is why he rejected his hadith. It appears that he recognized him later, for al-Ḥākim included another hadith of his in al-Mustadrak (4/332), and al-Dhahabī said in his abridgment: “I say: Ḥajjāj is trustworthy.” Perhaps this is why he did not include him in his book al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, nor in its supplement. And Allah knows best.

In sum, the hadith through this chain of transmission is weak, and its hidden defect lies solely in al-Ḥasan ibn Qutaybah al-Madāʾinī. Yet he was not alone in narrating it, contrary to what was previously cited from al-Bayhaqī. For Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī said in his Musnad (fol. 168/1): Abū al-Jahm al-Azraq ibn ʿAlī narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr narrated to us; Mustalim ibn Saʿīd narrated to us by the same chain.