I say: It is as he said, although Ibn Abī Labīd was contradicted concerning its chain of transmission, as I have established in al-Irwāʾ. Sufyān is al-Thawrī. Usāmah ibn Zayd differed from him in its chain, saying: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Labīd related to me from al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥanṭab, who said: I heard Abū Hurayrah say that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Gabriel commanded me to raise the voice in the talbiyah, for it is among the rites of Hajj.’” Aḥmad recorded it (2/325).
Usāmah ibn Zayd is al-Laythī, their freedman. He has been criticized with respect to his retention, and the established view is that his hadith is good when he does not contradict others. However, when there is a contradiction—as here—he cannot be used as evidence.
Note: Al-Suyūṭī cited the hadith on the authority of the four sources we mentioned with the wording: “Gabriel came to me and said to me: ‘Indeed, Allah commands you to instruct your Companions to raise ...’” Yet none of them narrated it with this wording; rather, they narrated it with the wording cited above. I do not know where al-Suyūṭī obtained it.
- “Gabriel came to me and said: ‘O Muhammad, live as you wish, for you will die; love whomever you wish, for you will part from him; and do whatever you wish, for you will be recompensed for it. Know that the believer’s honor lies in standing in prayer at night, and his dignity lies in being independent of people.’”
It has been narrated from the hadiths of Sahl ibn Saʿd, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.
- As for the hadith of ʿAlī, it is narrated by Zāfir ibn Sulaymān, from Muḥammad ibn ʿUyaynah, from Abū Ḥāzim, from him, attributed to the Prophet. Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Awsaṭ (1/61/2, in the edition combining it with al-Ṣaghīr), al-Sahmī in Tārīkh Jurjān (62), Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (3/253), and al-Ḥākim (4/324–325).