“Its chain is authentic!” Al-Dhahabī rebutted him, saying: “I say: Zakariyyā was declared weak.”

I say: The correct view is that the hadith is authentic on account of supporting reports, for it has corroborating narrations that strengthen it.

The first is from Ibn ʿUmar, who reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the above. It was narrated by al-Khaṭīb in al-Tārīkh (4/92) and al-Quḍāʿī in Musnad al-Shihāb (folio 116/1), through ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā, who said: Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī ʿAwn narrated to us; Abū Muṣʿab narrated to us; from Mālik, from Nāfiʿ, from him. Al-Khaṭīb said: “It is extremely singular among Mālik’s narrations. I know of no one who narrated it from Abū Muṣʿab other than Abū Jaʿfar ibn Abī ʿAwn, and from him, ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā al-Mālinī, who was trustworthy.”

I say: His teacher, Abū Jaʿfar, was likewise trustworthy, as al-Khaṭīb stated in his biographical notice (1/311). Abū Muṣʿab was Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Zuhrī al-Madanī, and he was trustworthy, among the narrators relied upon by both Shaykhs, as were those above him. Thus, despite its singularity, the chain is authentic.

The second is from Ibn ʿAbbās, traced back to the Prophet, with similar wording. Abū Nuʿaym narrated it in al-Ḥilyah (3/304, 8/290) through al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmārah, from al-Ḥakam, from Mujāhid, from him. He said: “It is singular among al-Ḥakam’s narrations; we have only recorded it through al-Ḥasan from him.” I say: Al-Ḥasan is abandoned.

The third: Ibn al-Mubārak said in al-Zuhd (509): Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh informed us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rāfiʿ related to me that a number of the Prophet’s Companions reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the above.