in al-Zuhd (fol. 238/2); by al-Tirmidhī (2/42–43), al-ʿUqaylī in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (408), Ibn ʿAdī in al-Kāmil (1/323), Abū Nuʿaym in Akhbār Iṣfahān (1/308), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil (vol. 2), through various routes from Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said—and then cited it.

Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is a singular hadith. Abū Muʿāwiyah also narrated it from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī. Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Wāsiṭī related to us: Abū Muʿāwiyah related to us from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār, from Ibn ʿUmar, from the Prophet ﷺ, with similar wording. No basis is known for Abū Muʿāwiyah’s hadith from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd. The known report is that of Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah. Mālik ibn Anas narrated this hadith from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd in mursal form, without mentioning ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār or Ibn ʿUmar in it.”

I say: Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah is weak, but Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd’s corroborating narration supports the authenticity of his hadith. Al-Tirmidhī’s statement that it has no basis from him seems to me manifestly rash, for the chain to Abū Muʿāwiyah through that route is authentic: Abū Muʿāwiyah is trustworthy and among the narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections, while Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Wāsiṭī is a trustworthy memorizer, as al-Ḥāfiẓ stated. Moreover, Mālik frequently narrates in mursal form reports whose continuous chains are otherwise known, as is well known to those versed in this noble discipline.

Furthermore, it appears that the transmissions from Mālik differ. Naṣr al-Maqdisī recorded it in Session 347 of al-Amālī through al-Qaʿnabī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maslamah ibn Qaʿnab, who said: Mālik informed us from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Yaḥnas, the client of al-Zubayr, attributing it to the Prophet ﷺ, except that he said: “Some of them will be given power over others.” Thus, Yahnas is added to the chain. Al-Dānī likewise recorded it in al-Fitan (188/1–2), as did al-Bayhaqī in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah (vol. 2), through another route from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd with the same report. Faraj ibn Faḍālah differed from them, narrating it from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī as directly attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.