guaranteed—or a forcible seizure?” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, then gave the response already mentioned. Al-Bayhaqī then said: “Although some of these reports are mursal, they are strengthened by their corroborating reports, along with the connected report cited earlier.”
By his words “their corroborating reports,” he was referring to the hadith of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh and that of Ibn ʿAbbās. As for Jābir’s hadith, al-Ḥākim recorded it (3/48–49), and al-Bayhaqī narrated it from him (6/89), through Ibn Isḥāq, who said: ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah related to me from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jābir, from his father, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, marched to Ḥunayn—then he related the hadith, which includes the following: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, sent for Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah and asked him for one hundred coats of mail that he possessed, together with the equipment needed for them. Ṣafwān said, “Are you taking them by force, Muhammad?” He replied, “Rather, it is a guaranteed loan, until we return them to you.” Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, set out. Al-Ḥākim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabī concurred with him.
I say: It is only good, because of the well-known criticism concerning Ibn Isḥāq. The established view is that his hadith is good when he explicitly states that he heard it narrated, as he has done here.
As for the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Bayhaqī recorded it (6/88) from al-Ḥākim, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Qurashī, who said: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us from Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, borrowed coats of mail and weapons from Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah during the expedition of Ḥunayn. Ṣafwān said, “Messenger of Allah, is it a loan to be returned?” He replied, “A loan to be returned.”
I say: This is a weak chain of transmission; its flaw is this Isḥāq. Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “His hadith is abandoned.” Al-Khaṭīb said: