Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “My father related to me: Ibn al-Ashja‘i gave us his father’s book, from Sufyan, from al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh, from his grandfather, who said: ‘I said, “O Messenger of Allah, direct me to a deed that will admit me to Paradise.” He said: ...’” He then cited it.
Al-Quda‘i also narrated it (fol. 94/2) through Ahmad, with this chain.
I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy. Ibn al-Ashja‘i is Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman. A number of trustworthy scholars narrated from him, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat, calling him ‘Abbad. Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Acceptable”—that is, when corroborated. However, Ahmad’s narration here from his father’s book is a sound instance of wijadah (transmission from a written source); thus, the fact that his son Abu ‘Ubaydah handed it to him does not detract from the hadith. Moreover, I am inclined to regard his hadith as strengthened, since those trustworthy scholars narrated from him—including Imam Ahmad—together with Ibn Hibban’s declaring him trustworthy.
Al-Manawi made a gross error regarding him. After attributing it to al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, he quoted al-Haythami as saying: “Its chain includes Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn ‘Abd Allah (1) al-Ashja‘i. Ahmad narrated from him, and no one declared him weak; the rest of its narrators are narrators of the Sahih collections.” Al-Manawi then objected: “This is an oversight, for this al-Ashja‘i is among the narrators of both Sahihs.” Yet the one who was mistaken was al-Manawi himself, for none of the six compilers narrated from this Abu ‘Ubaydah except Abu Dawud. His father, however, was among the narrators of the two Sahihs, so al-Manawi seems to have confused one with the other.
He then said: “Al-Hafiz al-‘Iraqi said: Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Tabarani, al-Khara’iti, and al-Bayhaqi narrated it from Hani’ ibn Yazid, through a good chain of transmission.” Hani’ ibn Yazid was the grandfather of al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh.
- “The Emigrants are allies of one another in this world and the Hereafter