“There is no harm in him.” Al-Dhahabī rebutted this, saying: “Rather, he is very weak.”

For this reason, al-Ḥāfiẓ said in Bulūgh al-Marām, following this hadith of Ṣafwān: “Al-Ḥākim declared it authentic, and he cited a weak corroborating report for it from Ibn ʿAbbās.”

The hadith indicates that a borrowed item entails liability. This does not conflict with the preceding hadith, for it indicates liability where the borrower has undertaken it, whereas the hadith referred to applies when he has given no such undertaking. There is therefore no contradiction. That is, the basic rule concerning a borrowed item, if it is lost or damaged, is that the borrower is not liable for it unless he has undertaken liability.

Al-Ṣanʿānī said: “The hadith indicates that a borrowed item entails liability, for its description as ‘guaranteed’ may be an explanatory description, meaning that liability is inherent to its nature, thus indicating that it entails liability without qualification. Or it may be a restrictive description, which is more apparent, since it adds a new qualification and such descriptions are common. Its apparent meaning, then, is: a borrowed item for which we have guaranteed restitution to you. In that case, it may be binding, or it may be non-binding, like a promise—though that is unlikely. Thus, the hadith establishes the proof for the view that a borrowed item entails liability; yet the more apparent view is that this is where liability has been undertaken, either at the owner’s request or voluntarily by the borrower.”

632 — “Women who seek khulʿ (divorce in return for compensation) and those who wrench themselves free from marriage are hypocrites.”

Al-Nasāʾī (2/104), al-Bayhaqī (7/316), and Aḥmad (2/414) narrated it through Ayyūb, from al-Ḥasan, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, who said this.

Al-Nasāʾī said: “Al-Ḥasan said: ‘I heard it from no one other than Abū Hurayrah.’”

I say: This is an explicit statement from him that he heard it from Abū Hurayrah. He was trustworthy and truthful, so I do not know why al-Nasāʾī, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, categorically denied that he heard it from him, especially since the chain to him is authentic according to the criterion of