780 — “There is no contagion, no hāmah (the pre-Islamic belief concerning an owl), and no Ṣafar (a pre-Islamic superstition associated with the month of Ṣafar). Keep away from a person afflicted with leprosy as one keeps away from a lion.”
Ibn Wahb narrated it (106): ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād told me, from his father, who said: Men of accepted standing and trustworthiness, from among the sons of the Companions and the foremost people, told me that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it.’ He then mentioned the hadith.
I say: This is a good chain of transmission, but it is mursal. It has, however, been authentically reported with a connected chain. Al-Bukhārī said in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (1/1/155–460): “Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamzah narrated from al-Dārāwardī, from Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Zinād—and Ibrāhīm said: He was Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād; he used to seek knowledge along with his father—from Abī al-Zinād, from al-A‘raj, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: ‘Keep away from a person afflicted with leprosy.’”
Al-Khaṭīb narrated it through al-Bukhārī’s route, then said (2/307): “There are errors in two places in this hadith:
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The first is al-Dārāwardī’s narration from Abī al-Zinād.
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The second is Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān’s narration from his grandfather, Abī al-Zinād. It has been mentioned that Muḥammad did not narrate it from his grandfather, and that al-Wāqidī alone narrated it from Muḥammad.
This hadith of al-Dārāwardī was narrated correctly by someone other than al-Bukhārī. It was transmitted to us”—then he cited his chain to Ismā‘īl ibn Isḥāq, who said: Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamzah narrated to us; and through the route of Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥārithī, who said: ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, from Abī al-Zinād, from al-A‘raj, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—then he related the hadith in full. He then narrated it through the route of Abū Ya‘lā al-Mawṣilī: ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Salām narrated to us; ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, through the same chain. He then said: