over ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr: whether he narrated it from Umm ʿAṭiyyah through an intermediary or not; whether al-Ḍaḥḥāk narrated it from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and heard it from him, or narrated it as mursal; whether he took it from Umm ʿAṭiyyah, or narrated it from her as mursal. All of these possibilities exist.”

I say: Yet the fact that the hadith comes through multiple chains and disparate routes may well lend it sufficient strength to raise it to the level of good, especially since al-Haythamī graded the first chain as good, as mentioned above. Allah knows best.

I then found a corroborating narration for the Kufan narrator. Al-Ḥākim transmitted it (3/525) through Hilāl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ al-Raqqī, who said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Abī Unaysah, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays, who said: “There was a woman in Medina who performed circumcision ...” He then cited the hadith.

Al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī made no comment on it. Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Hilāl al-Raqqī, Hilāl’s father, concerning whom al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “There is some weakness in him.” Zayd ibn Abī Unaysah was from Harran, so Muḥammad ibn Ḥassān al-Kūfī was not alone in narrating it. Allah knows best. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays was a Companion, and his having heard from the Prophet has been established in more than one hadith; one of them will appear under no. 1189.

I also found another supporting narration, transmitted by Mandal ibn ʿAlī, from Ibn Jurayj, from Ismāʿīl ibn Umayyah, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: “Women of the Anṣār entered upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said: ‘O women of the Anṣār, dye yourselves by immersion and perform circumcision, but do not cut excessively, for that is more pleasing to your husbands. Beware of ingratitude toward those who show you kindness.’” Mandal said: “That is, the husband.”