“The reports from Abu Ishaq differ: Abu Ishaq narrated it from Abu Juhayfah; it was also narrated from him, from Amr ibn Shurahbil, from Abu Bakr; from him, from Masruq, from Abu Bakr; from him, from Musʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father; from him, from Amir ibn Saʿd, from Abu Bakr; and from him, from Abu al-Ahwas, from Abdullah—may Allah Most High be pleased with them all.”

I say: Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned some of these differing versions in al-ʿIlal (2/110, 124), then quoted his father as saying: “Shayban narrated it from Abu Ishaq, from ʿIkrimah, that Abu Bakr said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This is closer to what is correct.” This is how he stated it: he did not mention Ibn ʿAbbas between them. Yet the correct view is to affirm his mention, as established above through the reports transmitted by the group from him. I do not know whether the copyist omitted his name, or whether this is how it occurred in Abu Hatim’s wording. If the latter is the case, then he means that the correct version is mursal; but this does not accord with his statement in the first passage referred to, where he said: “My father was asked about the hadith of Abu Ishaq, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: Abu Bakr said … Is the hadith with a continuous chain, as Shayban narrated it, more sound; or is it mursal, as Abu al-Ahwas narrated it?” He replied: “The mursal version is more sound.”

I say: Perhaps his statement in the other passage, “Shayban narrated it …,” was a slip of the pen: he intended to say Abu al-Ahwas, but wrote Shayban. Yet Abu al-Ahwas’s report in al-Hakim also has a continuous chain, as mentioned above. Thus, the matter is problematic and requires further investigation; perhaps Allah will facilitate that for us later. Then I saw that Ibn Saʿd narrated from two trustworthy men, who said: “Abu al-Ahwas informed us; Abu Ishaq informed us, from ʿIkrimah, who said: Abu Bakr said …” I thus learned that the reports from Abu al-Ahwas differ as to whether he transmitted it with a continuous chain or as a mursal report. Al-Hakim narrated it from him