- Ibn Lahi'ah informed me, from Abdullah ibn Hubayrah, from Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Ma'afiri, from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, to the same effect.
I say: These are three chains of transmission. The first and third are authentic, for all their narrators are trustworthy. Abu al-Husayn was named al-Haytham ibn Shafi al-Misri. Outwardly, they appear to be attributed to the Companion; however, Ibn al-Sunni recorded the third in ‘The Deeds of Day and Night’ (287), through Ibn Wahb with this chain, attributing it to the Prophet, and added:
“They said, ‘What is the expiation for that, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘One of them should say: O Allah, there is no omen but Yours, no good but Yours, and no god besides You.’”
Ahmad likewise recorded it (2/220): “Hasan narrated to us; Ibn Lahi'ah narrated to us,” with this chain. Al-Haythami said in ‘The Compendium’ (5/105): “It was narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabarani. Its chain includes Ibn Lahi'ah; his hadith is good, though he has some weakness, while the rest of its narrators are trustworthy.”
I say: The weakness in Ibn Lahi'ah’s hadith applies only to reports other than those transmitted from him by the ʿAbādilah—the narrators named Abdullah. Their narrations from him are authentic, as the scholars established in his biography. Among them was Abdullah ibn Wahb, who narrated this report from him, as you have seen. This is one of the benefits of this book; praise be to Allah, by whose grace righteous deeds are brought to completion.
I say: This should have been pointed out in the annotation to ‘Fath al-Majid,’ where the hadith was attributed to Ahmad and then declared defective because of Ibn Lahi'ah, thereby giving the impression that the hadith is weak. As for the second chain, it is weak, because Ibn Abi Hatim included Imran ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Shurahbil and Abu Khirash al-Himyari in his work (2/1/301 and 4/2/367), without mentioning any criticism or accreditation for either of them.
The hadith also has a supporting report from Ruwayfi' ibn Thabit, attributed to the Prophet. Al-Haythami said in ‘The Compendium’ (5/105): “It was narrated by al-Bazzar. Its chain includes Sa'id ibn Asad ibn Musa, from whom Abu Zur'ah al-Razi narrated, and no one declared him weak. Al-Bazzar’s shaykh, Ibrahim, is not further identified, while the rest of its narrators are trustworthy.”