Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArʿarah informed us: Muʿādh ibn Hishām said: “I found in my father’s book … the hadith.”

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators. Abū Ḥassān was al-Aʿraj al-Baṣrī, better known by his appellation; his name was Muslim ibn ʿAbd Allāh. An objection has been raised against this hadith, but on grounds that do not impair it. Al-Khaṭīb related in History (6/149), on the authority of al-Athram, who said:

“I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh—that is, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—‘Do you know a narration from Qatādah, from Abū Ḥassān …?’” He then mentioned the hadith. “He replied, ‘They copied it from Muʿādh’s book and did not hear it from him.’

“I said, ‘There is a man here who claims that he heard it from Muʿādh.’ He rejected this and asked, ‘Who is he?’ I replied, ‘Ibrāhīm ibn ʿArʿarah.’ His expression changed, and he waved his hand, saying, ‘Lies and falsehood! Glory be to Allah! They did not hear it from him. Rather, so-and-so merely said: “We copied it from his book, but did not hear it from him.” Glory be to Allah!’” He considered this a grave matter on his part.

Perhaps Imam Aḥmad, in saying, “So-and-so …,” was referring to ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī. For al-Khaṭīb transmitted it through Ismāʿīl al-Qāḍī, from him, that he said: “Qatādah narrated a singular hadith that is not known from any of Qatādah’s students except through Hishām’s narration. I copied it from the book of his son, Muʿādh ibn Hishām, while he was present, but I did not hear it from him as a narration from Qatādah. Muʿādh said to me, ‘Bring it here so that I may read it.’ I said, ‘Leave it for today.’ It states: ‘Abū Ḥassān narrated to us …’” He then mentioned it. ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said: “This is how it appears in the book.”

Al-Khaṭīb then commented: “What prevents Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArʿarah from having heard this hadith from Muʿādh, along with other material that he heard from him? Ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī said in his book Narrator Criticism and Accreditation that his father was asked about Ibrāhīm ibn ʿArʿarah, and he replied: ‘Truthful.’” Al-Khaṭīb then related from Ibn Maʿīn that he said: “He was trustworthy and well known for hadith. Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd used to honor him. He was well known for pursuing hadith and meticulous with books, but he compromised himself by involving himself in every