through Abū Marḥūm, ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Maymūn, from Sahl ibn Muʿādh ibn Anas al-Juhanī, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—and he then cited it.

Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good hadith. The meaning of his words, ‘the garments of faith,’ is the garments of Paradise granted to the people of faith.” Al-Hākim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabī concurred.

I say: The view closer to what is correct is that it is good, as al-Tirmidhī said. There has been some criticism of Abū Marḥūm, but it does not detract from his reports, as I have explained in al-Irwāʾ (1989). This is especially so since he was not alone in narrating it; rather, Zabān ibn Fāʾid corroborated him from Sahl ibn Muʿādh, relating the same report.

It was narrated by Aḥmad (3/438) and Abū Nuʿaym. Al-Hākim also cited it as corroborative evidence (1/61) and said: “Zabān alone narrates it!” That is what he said, as though he had forgotten the preceding route through Abū Marḥūm.

Zabān is weak on account of his poor retention. He was corroborated by Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, from Sahl ibn Muʿādh, relating the same report. Abū Nuʿaym narrated it (8/47) through Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd, from Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān. Baqiyyah practised tadlīs and narrated it using the ambiguous “from” formula. Khayr ibn Nuʿaym also corroborated him from Sahl ibn Muʿādh, relating the same report. Abū Nuʿaym likewise narrated it through Ibn Lahīʿah, from him.